Do All C5s Have Electrical Issues?
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 47
Likes: 2
From: atlanta ga
Do All C5s Have Electrical Issues?
My 98 only has 89K and I keep having to replace the same electrical parts over and over. In the past two years I've had to replace the battery three times with different brands, the wiper motor twice, the drivers side power window motor once and the passenger window motor twice,the key FOB twice, the DIC only works intermittently,the alarm stopped working, etc. In that time I've only drove the car 2K. It runs and drives great but constantly replacing the same parts over and over is driving me nuts! Someone has suggested to me that it might be because it's a fiberglass body and the electrical system isn't grounded properly. I owned two C4s before this one and NEVER had this many recurring problems. Is anyone else experiencing these problems? Do all C5s have electrical issues? Anyone? Bill?
Race Director
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 11,152
Likes: 890
From: South Western Ontario
Maybe you don't drive it enough. I've put about 50k miles on my car that already had >100k miles when I bought it and have only replaced the battery right after I got it because a cell failed.
Grounds can be an issue and bad grounds can appear to be all kinds of other things. It's a bad thing if you are taking it a "parts swapping" repair shop.
Grounds can be an issue and bad grounds can appear to be all kinds of other things. It's a bad thing if you are taking it a "parts swapping" repair shop.
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
C5s are well grounded. If the grounding system get compromised, well then,, thats a different story.
You are trying to solve problems without finding the ROOT CAUSE of the issue. You can throw a NEW battery in the car once a week but, if you have an excessive battery current draw its never going to fix the issue.
Check the battery current draw in the SLEEP MODE. Should be 25 milliamps or less. If it more, you will continue to have battery issues.
Do you have any DTCs???????? Read and post the DTCs Even if they are just history.
What specifically failed on the door module and the wiper motor?
What specifically is wrong with the IPC?
How did the FOBs fail Did you re-sync and relearn them??
Many Many questions????
Lets work on one thing at a time and see if we can resolve that.
Bill
You are trying to solve problems without finding the ROOT CAUSE of the issue. You can throw a NEW battery in the car once a week but, if you have an excessive battery current draw its never going to fix the issue.
Check the battery current draw in the SLEEP MODE. Should be 25 milliamps or less. If it more, you will continue to have battery issues.
Do you have any DTCs???????? Read and post the DTCs Even if they are just history.
What specifically failed on the door module and the wiper motor?
What specifically is wrong with the IPC?
How did the FOBs fail Did you re-sync and relearn them??
Many Many questions????
Lets work on one thing at a time and see if we can resolve that.
Bill
Pro
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 633
Likes: 0
From: Van Buren Arkansas
On the key FOB issue, you don't have to keep re-buying them. There's six points that eventually come out of contact and all you have to do is re-solder them back into place. Sounds scary to some but if the key fobs already screwed up you won't have anything to lose by trying, I've never soldered in my life and fixed mine last week, not the prettiest job but now my key fob and I'm not out $100 per fob because of some stupid passive lock feature.
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 47
Likes: 2
From: atlanta ga
First let me say thanks to Bill and everyone who's been posting and trying to help. This is a great community!
My biggest issue at the moment is that the DIC works very rarely. When I put the new battery in a couple of days ago, it came on briefly. I just drove it for about an hour and it never lit up. I need to get an emissions test in the next two weeks and they won't even test it without being able to see the mileage. This is also keeping me from checking the codes. Is there anything I can try short of removing the dash? Is there any other way to see the mileage?
My biggest issue at the moment is that the DIC works very rarely. When I put the new battery in a couple of days ago, it came on briefly. I just drove it for about an hour and it never lit up. I need to get an emissions test in the next two weeks and they won't even test it without being able to see the mileage. This is also keeping me from checking the codes. Is there anything I can try short of removing the dash? Is there any other way to see the mileage?
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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
If it were me, I would remove the IPC and disassemble it.. There are press in circuit boards and plenty of electrical connections to test.
If you don't feel comfortable disassembling it, take it to a local TV/Radio repair shop and ask them to do it for you and have them look for loose connections or cold solder joints.
Thats your best shot.. Take the car with you and when he reassembles it, just plug it in and see if it works.
Bill
If you don't feel comfortable disassembling it, take it to a local TV/Radio repair shop and ask them to do it for you and have them look for loose connections or cold solder joints.
Thats your best shot.. Take the car with you and when he reassembles it, just plug it in and see if it works.
Bill