DIC readout quirk - any ideas why???? Electrical gurus???
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 6,101
Likes: 44
From: ABQ NM
Cruise-In II Veteran
DIC readout quirk - any ideas why???? Electrical gurus???
This is something odd that just started occurring, and I wonder if anyone might know why it's happening with my '01 coupe. Normally I drive with the DIC readout set to display the oil temp. When I shut 'er down, that is what would be last showing, and that is what reappeared upon restarting, whether an hour or two days later. Lately when I've stopped and later started the car, the DIC is defaulting to and now shows the odometer reading. I can manually change it to show the oil temp (or any other function - they all work), but it switches back to the odometer upon restart. I'll concede it's nothing more than an annoyance, but if I could get it to stop doing it, that would be nice!! If anyone has any thoughts or (constructive 
) suggestions, it would be most appreciated.
) suggestions, it would be most appreciated.
Drifting
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 1,720
Likes: 3
From: East Hampton CT
Look at the long thread regarding grounds and battery issues by bill curlee...I suspect you have a slowly draining battery, weak battery, or ground issue.
My car will do the same thing if I start it with the door opened (go figure) or have a low battery.
One way to test your issue is to leave a trickle charger on the car and then go to start it a few days later and see if the odometer pops up again.
On my car when it does the odometer thing, it also loses the avg fuel economy and trip.....supposedly the problem is related to the grounds but I have replaced the battery and gone thru EVERY ground point (including cutting and soldering eyelets like everyone says to do) and I still have a few funky electrical issues.
My car will do the same thing if I start it with the door opened (go figure) or have a low battery.
One way to test your issue is to leave a trickle charger on the car and then go to start it a few days later and see if the odometer pops up again.
On my car when it does the odometer thing, it also loses the avg fuel economy and trip.....supposedly the problem is related to the grounds but I have replaced the battery and gone thru EVERY ground point (including cutting and soldering eyelets like everyone says to do) and I still have a few funky electrical issues.
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 6,101
Likes: 44
From: ABQ NM
Cruise-In II Veteran
Hi Billdog,
Thanks for the input. I'm not clear from your reply, but I'm not "losing" any info in the sense of it disappearing. It's just as if the DIC setting somehow switched itself when the car was shut off (or upon it being restarted).
Thanks for the input. I'm not clear from your reply, but I'm not "losing" any info in the sense of it disappearing. It's just as if the DIC setting somehow switched itself when the car was shut off (or upon it being restarted).
Burning Brakes
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 1,066
Likes: 9
From: Eddy Texas
Look at the long thread regarding grounds and battery issues by bill curlee...I suspect you have a slowly draining battery, weak battery, or ground issue.
My car will do the same thing if I start it with the door opened (go figure) or have a low battery.
One way to test your issue is to leave a trickle charger on the car and then go to start it a few days later and see if the odometer pops up again.
On my car when it does the odometer thing, it also loses the avg fuel economy and trip.....supposedly the problem is related to the grounds but I have replaced the battery and gone thru EVERY ground point (including cutting and soldering eyelets like everyone says to do) and I still have a few funky electrical issues.
My car will do the same thing if I start it with the door opened (go figure) or have a low battery.
One way to test your issue is to leave a trickle charger on the car and then go to start it a few days later and see if the odometer pops up again.
On my car when it does the odometer thing, it also loses the avg fuel economy and trip.....supposedly the problem is related to the grounds but I have replaced the battery and gone thru EVERY ground point (including cutting and soldering eyelets like everyone says to do) and I still have a few funky electrical issues.
Also reports of oil life resetting and losing some memory settings, all due to low battery voltage. If the battery drops below a certain voltage when cranking, it causes these issues. Anyone else?
Tech Contributor
Joined: Dec 1999
Posts: 32,910
Likes: 2,402
From: Anthony TX
CI 6,7,8,9,11 Vet
St. Jude Donor '08
Billdog350 is 100% correct. Put a meter on the battery terminals and monitor the battery voltage during a cold start. If if drops below 9 ish volts,,thats your issue.
A marginal battery will start the car BUT,,,not maintain the proper voltage to allow the different modules to work correctly. Check your DTCs and see if you have a bunch of U series DTCs. Thats a dead give away that the battery isn't doing its job.
The IPC will reset and go to the default settings if it senses a voltage lower than its operating requirements. Check your battery voltage during cold starting and see what it dropping down to. A good battery will maintain at least 11 VDC.
A marginal battery will start the car BUT,,,not maintain the proper voltage to allow the different modules to work correctly. Check your DTCs and see if you have a bunch of U series DTCs. Thats a dead give away that the battery isn't doing its job.
The IPC will reset and go to the default settings if it senses a voltage lower than its operating requirements. Check your battery voltage during cold starting and see what it dropping down to. A good battery will maintain at least 11 VDC.
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 6,101
Likes: 44
From: ABQ NM
Cruise-In II Veteran
Thanks for the reply Bill. My Red Top is only about 3 years old, which in my book is pretty poor performance for a battery 
On the other hand, a lot of cold starting this winter may have taken its toll on it....
On the other hand, a lot of cold starting this winter may have taken its toll on it....
