(C5 gen was the wrong place for this. Ignore the other thread.)

Leaving work tonight and went to crank up my '02 coupe when the dash starts flicking on and off rapidly in synchronization with what sounded like a relay in the battery area. I turned the key back off and then on again and all was well. She cranked right up (not slow) and I drove home without issue.

Battery seems to check out fine, putting out 12.5 volts with the car off. I also hooked up a charger to it, and there was very little draw (< 1 amp) after a few minutes. I'm going to get it load tested tomorrow just as a sanity check.

Charging also seems fine, 13.7 with the lights on & jumped right up to 14 when I turned them off.

Ignition switch was cleaned and the guts coated with silicone grease about half a year ago.

No codes whatsoever.

I pulled the accordian tubes out the doors, and there no bare wires. Actually my wires were well bundled up with thick, orange electrical tape. This isn't what I expected to see after looking at the pics in the big electrical thread.

Soooo am I looking at a dieing relay? Is there any one in particular that likes to go **** up?

TIA!

 

"BILL"ttt

 

Oh BILL.....

 

You guys are killing me! Im POSITIVE you would have the EXACT SAME recommendations!:o

I hear the SAME noises when I connect the battery to the car and it makes a poor connection.

Sounds like you have a poor connection in the main battery circuit somewhere. Start at the battery terminals on the battery. Remove both terminals. Inspect the battery post for damage/acid leaks. Clean them with a wire brush

CAREFULLY examine the battery cable negative and positive terminal ends. Pull the red and black rubber covers back and inspect the copper crimped connections that secure the wire to the terminal end. Look for loose, corroded or burnt terminals.

The positive battery cable goes to TWO locations. The B+ terminal on the under hood fuse center & the starter solenoid power terminal. The B+ terminal would be the one that could cause those symptoms but its always a good idea to check and make sure that starter solenoid terminal is clean and sound. Make sure that that nut is clean and tight

Follow the NEGATIVE battery cable and you will see that it goes to TWO locations. The small negative wire goes to the frame and connects to a stud and is secured with a 10mm nut. Its Chassis ground G-104/108. Make sure that connection is clean and tight. The battery ground wire also goes to the passengers side of the engine block above the starter.

Until you check and make sure that all of the above high current connections are clean and tight, I cant give you much more guidance.

When you have the battery tested, make sure that they load it down properly and insure that it has the correct rated current capacity.

 

Oh forgot to mention, the battery terminals were clean and tight. I cleaned the 104/108 terminal not too long ago but not the other 3 you mentioned. I will check those tonight.

It just occured to me that I replaced my surge tank 2 weeks ago because the old one was leaking. There was coolant all over the 101 ground behind the pass. headlight which I pulled apart and cleaned (again). I did not however look at the B+ terminal. I wonder if some coolant worked its way up there and mucked with things.

thanks!

 

Ok, I checked all 4 of the terminals you mentioned, and all of them were very clean and tight. I swapped out the battery just to be sure. And it still acted up again this morning. This time it actually threw a code though...

P1518 - PCM to TAC Module Serial Data Circuit

 

Been in any water lately or washed car ?

Maybe a bad seal or connection. PCM & TAC module located under front passenger fender.

 

Nope, it's been dry here for awhile.

Found this writeup...
http://www.gearchatter.com/viewtopic9438.php

which claims...
"TC P1518 sets when there is a short to B+ on the TAC module ground circuit."

Which sure sounds like my problem with the flickering dash.

 

Maybe the ignition switch is litterally failing even though you previously cleaned it. Contacts do wear out over time.

 

Yeah, I think I might yank that thing out again tonight just as another sanity check.

 

I had the identical problem. The battery leaked. Big mess. New battery---all OK

 

I wanted to blame it on the battery because it felt a low voltage condition, but it's acted the exact same way with 2 batteries now both of which were successfully load tested.

 

Well DGrant, I think you and your 300k miles of experience wins the prize, and I owe you a few beers. Check this out...

Like I said, I cleaned these contacts until there were SPARKLING no more than half a year ago and here we have 2 of them covered in carbon again.



I thought about what you said, and took a real close look at the 2 that had carboned over again...



It would appear that it arced long enough to actually screw up the surface of the contact. See how the one on the left looks gouged out whereas the one on the right is still flat? So instead of just cleaning them again, this time I brought out a sharpening stone and flattened the contacts. We'll see how long it lasts this time! If it goes out again I'll get a new one.

 

Cool, Glad you found it!