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A few weeks ago I pressed the power window button on the drivers side door. Immediately the check gauges light came on, the driver info center started displaying false messages, and the gauges such as the fuel gauge didn't work. Later on everything was working OK again. This has been happening intermittently, sometimes after pressing the power window button, sometimes just randomly. The battery and alternator appear to be working fine and the car drives as normal. Has anyone experienced this before or have any idea what is causing this to happen?
Open your door and separate the accordion in the door at the chassis side. Pull the wires out of the chassis and you'll find a connector in there. Open that connector and verify the pins fit snug. This is a common cause of the symptoms you're seeing.
Yes, this is not a common issue but it does happen on these cars...what happens is one of the modules and maybe in your case it may be the Drivers Door Module...below is a part of a video I will be publishing soon (I hope) and this is what you'll see if the module loses power or a ground...when power or a ground "jump" on the serial data line (this is where all the modules communicate with one another) you'll see a lot of crazy stuff !! )... so is this what you were seeing ??...what I did was take 12 volts and put it on that data line...car would start and stall...your condition was intermittent !!...you can see what happens to the fuel gauge (goes to empty) and the water temp (maxes out)...like was mentioned check the connections in your door !!
Yes! That looks very similar to what's happening! Fuel gauge drops to E even though the tank is full, temp gauge goes sky high, bogus messages like check tire pressure, etc.
I will check behind the door, thanks!
Yes, is that your video ??...if the problem is intermittent the car may start and run OK and then quit at some point !!...you can do what I did and put 12 volts to the data wire without causing any damage....pretty cool and if the checking the connections to the door module is OK we’ll look for either a power or a ground on that data line with a DVOM !!
Yes, it's a video I took after driving home the other day. It just started happening while driving on the freeway! I have not had any problems with the car quitting thank goodness. It drives fine all the time other than this. Not really sure how to check the data wire. DMOV?
DVOM... Digital Volt Ohm Meter...a volt meter !!...so you were seeing all that craziness while driving ??...well as was previously mentioned look at the door connections and if all looks OK and you have a volt meter we can go that route !!
Ahh... I gotcha. All I've got is a multimeter! Yes, was driving home, got some gas, the headlights came on due to weather, I got back on the road, and soon afterwards things went bonkers! I'm not sure when I'll get a chance as I am starting to works nights tomorrow. But soon I will scope things out!
My 02 ZO6 had a very similar issue but the serial data line was not shorted to ground or 12 VDC.
In my case the door control modules were receiving very intermittent power. The female pins inside the SIX PIN POWER CONNECTOR between the door and body were damaged and spread apart.
When that happens, the male and female pins in that connector have a very poor connection and ANY vibration causes the power to the module to turn ON AND OFF rapidly. That corrupts the data line and you get the whacked out gages, non functional door controls and other weirs issues..
When it happens to my 02 ZO6, the gages whack out, the windows and door controls don't function & the car will CRANK but not run. The earlier C5 usually just have whacked out gages and non operational window door controls.
The only way to properly inspect the female pins in the six pin connector is to do a female pin PUSH PULL TEST. Insert a male pin into the female pin and see if the male pin inserts and extracts with good friction between the two pins.
One of the MAIN AREAS that you can get that shorted serial data buss to 12 VDC is the drivers seat connector. If it comes loose from the seat frame the seat runs over it and damaged the connector and wiring. Check that plug/connector out..
Bill, GREAT info !!...now when I short the data line to power or ground it takes a good 5-7 seconds for the data line to "whack out"...if it's a intermittent connection the car will probably continue to run but you'll see all the other symptoms other than the "start and stall"...I'll see if I can re- create these symptoms at the DDM...I don't think I ever grounded out the data line while the car was running...I'll have to try this !!...I'll see if the car shuts down !!
Try this,, Apply rapid sporadic/intermittent power to one of the door control modules and see if the door module puts out a sporadic state of health message on the data line. That corrupted data is what causes mine to whack out.
Strange electrical issue
