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Maintenance & Repair Electronic Gremlins: Electrical Problems That Are Driving You Crazy
1085 messages, Last post on Oct 29, 2009 at 11:41 AM
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About 30 days ago I leased an 07 Dodge Caliber SXT Sport factory equipped with the MusicGate Power 458 watt Boston Acoustics sound system. A few days after getting the car I noticed static would drown out the right channel only (Assuming the passenger side speakers are the right channel, that is.) of the sound system for 5 to 10 minutes after the car had been operational for about 20-30 minutes. The problem occurs intermittently no matter whether the tuner or CD player is in use and eventually I found that shutting the engine off while the sound system is on and then restarting the car solves the problem. (Versus shutting the sound system off first and then starting the engine up again which does nothing.) The car is at the dealership now and they of course can't duplicate the problem. An electrical diagnostic test checked out okay and the only possibility they can come up with is that the interference is caused by my cell phone. Why then doesn't it happen every time I use the car? My thought is it could be moisture related and it's been getting progressively colder and drier here in Chicago over the past 9 days so I have not had the static since Saturday Jan. 20th. I will have to wait and see if this occurs again but wondered in the interim: Has anyone else experienced this kind of problem? Heard of it? Could it really be cell phone related?? Any ideas would be most appreciated. Caerann |
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This is a weird one. Took a trip last weekend in my 93 Chevy full-size (G20) conversion van with 5 other happy skiers. First problem noticed was that the transmission downshifted when the headlights were switched to high beam. After this happened a couple of times we just left the brights off. Next evening, switching on the dome lights would kill all power - engine dies, radio resets, everything! No fuse blew, and when ignition was switched off for a few seconds you could start back up - strong battery, charging ok. So, checked battery connections (OK) and left dome lights off. Day after that, coming home, stopped for gas. Switching on headlights now killed all power. Further investigation found that switching on dome light, parking light, and horn would all cause this failure. Other things were ok (brake lights, turn signals, heater fan). Tryed removing fuses, but couldn't find a combo that would leave me with headlamps - finally came home with 4-way flashers on in the dark. So, what the heck could cause this?!? No fuse is blowing (that I can find), and everything resets once the ignition is switched off. Right now I don't know what to look for and suspect that the whole thing could die permanently at any time. Help!!! KJ
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Replying to: kjjones (Jan 30, 2007 5:29 pm)
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Replying to: kiawah (Jan 30, 2007 6:50 pm) Also, still don't know what component could "reset" after everything goes dead - I understand fuses and fusable links, but I am unaware of anything that works like an automatically resetting breaker. I will put getting the alternator checked out on the list of suspects, thanks!
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Replying to: kjjones (Jan 30, 2007 5:29 pm) Something is shorted out in there. This overloads the headlight circuit and trips a circuit breaker. Turning the ignition off and then back on resets the breaker and things work for a while. |
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Replying to: kjjones (Jan 30, 2007 7:35 pm) Once you are sure that your main power is good (if that isn't your problem), then you can start to isolate further by checking the voltages when it fails. The good thing (now that you are home), is that it apparantely is very easy to recreate the problem by turning things on....so you'll have an easier time in troubleshooting. Keep us posted, as to what you find.
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My 98 Infiniti QX4 (Nissan Pathfinder) has given me problems that started three days ago. First, my left turn signal was stuck (left on) when the lights were on. Few other lights were also off. After a while, the lights including the signal light worked again. What a relief.. Then today, everything started out okay. About 10 minutes later, all of the inside dashboard lights, turn signal lights, all rear lights, and lights for radio and climate buttons went out. It's still out. Anyone with any crazy problems like mine? Thanks.
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Replying to: dj69 (Feb 02, 2007 3:29 am) When you say the left turn signal was "stuck (left on)".....do you mean that the turn signal level was turned on and it didn't reset to neutral when you turned the wheel back, or do you mean the lever reset to neutral postion and the left turn signal light kept flashing, or do you mean the lever reset to netural position and the left turn signal was ON, but not flashing? And how does "Few other lights were also off" tie to the previous statement, because the previous statement was talking about lights being ON, not OFF. Confused by what you are trying to indicate. On your last statement about "all" rear lights. Are you referring to just the lights that come on when you turn on your headlights, or are you also referring to your brake lights, your turn signal lights, and your reverse lights as well. |
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| i just bought a 97 chrysler cirrus. i went to my mom's and parked the car on a hill so i pulled up the emergency brakes. well i took off the emergency brakes, the emergency brake light was still on. now it wont go off. my boyfriend thought it might need some brake fluid. any ideas of to why it wont go off??? | |
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Replying to: larry2906 (Oct 31, 2006 7:38 pm)
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