Anyone willing to give me some advice??

Hi, my car has developed some electrical problems I think. I know what caused the problems... water leaking into on the passenger side, either from the door or under the dash, or both. we fixed the dash and all the leaky door needs is to replace the seals or whatever you want to call them.
but, well, the airbag light came on awhile back and then the last time I was taken out, the radio was turning off and on and the car doors were locking and unlocking. There is also a problem with it not registering when it is in park and refusing to give me key back.
it's been off the road for about a month and a half now, it needs inspection and won't pass with the airbag light on. and to be honest, I am kind of afraid to drive it or let anyone else.
so today, we got out my husband carmd, found some batteries for it and my son went out to see what it would register. He plugged it in, and it went beeb, beep, beeeeeeeeep, and died. the thing hasn't been used in a long time, it could have been jolted when we moved, but is it possible that the car killed it???

oh, and she started right up today,

It sounds to me like the battery used didn’t have a full charge or maybe it had a bad cell.

Try a different one and if you get the car running. Have someone take it to AutoZone and run a free diagnostic .

a reply to: dawnstar

Take it to whatever is like valvoline oil change (or whatever you may have been a customer of) and they can read the computer output for you and tell you what it means. Usually they do not charge for that.

a reply to: dawnstar

you should take it somewhere with a diagnostics machine, tring to find a fault with electrics after water damage can be a wild goose chase.
adding what make/model/yr might help get you anecdotal advice here.
but like i said having someone plug it in to a computer will give you the quickest answer.

What kind of car, do you have a sunroof?

Sounds like water in the pcm

I gotta run will chk bk later.

Have him check for water or moisture in the relay/fuse box under the hood, close to the firewall(back of engine bay)

Dash area leaks(doors and sunroofs) like to travel down the a pillar to that spot and cause random electrical gremlins.

-especially on jeeps

Sounds like you have gremlins.

a reply to: dawnstar

I had a sunroof leak on my 2002 SAAB 9 5. Killed the twice and dice module. I ordered a paired one with maatching key fob. Car would never pass security. I trashed it and have driven Chrysler. JKU, Cummins Ram, Liberty Renegade, and an Audi because I am a glutton for punishment.

It's a early 90's Monte Carlo.
we think the leak was from the air conditioning through the car vent... that's not really right, there's an air intake by the windshield that has a filter covering it. well anyway there was a video that explained how to fix it, so we think we did...
she runs great really, always has. which is why I'd rather fix her if I can. It's never failed to start and get me where I needed to go, never left me stranded. Since I took her off the road, I've used my sons truck a few times. It's newer, looks better, but well, for the first time in such a long time, I found myself stuck with around a hundred dollars of groceries loaded in it and it refusing to start...
I want my car back...

a reply to: dawnstar

Your problem is most likely corrosion from moisture. You have to unplug harnesses and find the corrosion and clean it off. Find the airbag control module. Under the center console or under middle of the dash and replace if you still want functioning airbags. Undo battery first. Pull the carpet up and make sure everything is dry. Very crappy problem and it's going to take some effort to get it back to normal if it's that bad. Use compressed air to blow out pigtails and check all contacts on harnesses. Good luck.

link


That was a write up about the fuse panels location, I,m sure you guys know that already, but it's the back side of that box that all your electronics plug into, if it gets moisture in it all hell breaks loose.

The ac overflow is due to a clogged condensate drain line. That is what probably hosed the fuse/relay block there.

Someone else said it above. Pull the relay box, unplug all harnesses, blast out plugs and back of fuse box connectors with electric parts cleaner from auto parts store. Inspect for corrosion on harness plug and where they plug in.

IDK about the ac line, need to locate, maybe clean box in dash where coil and fan are, so it doesn't re-clog, and change cabin air filter.

Good luck

Besides what some other posters have mentioned with having a defective battery it could also be a loose connector or frayed wire. Have fun with looking for it. The ECU module could be bad as well, while rare it does happen.

a reply to: Toolman18
have any idea just how much this would all cost...
if we did it ourselves...
if I had someone else do it???
also, there is something white now on the top of everything under the hood..
is that the beginning of corrosion, or something else?

a reply to: dawnstar

O.k. well, I looked online for some answers and found numerous complaints along the same line as yours, i.e., electrical problems and I found a lot of problems and no answers yet!

www.cargurus.com...

O.k, this loos promising:repairpal.com...-all-problems
But no solutions.

www.carproblemzoo.com...

Look, I don't want to be cruel, but............I've now read about 3 reports of fires behind/under the dashboard. You can't fix this yourself.

I'd suggest: www.edmunds.com...

a reply to: dawnstar

With this vehicle, it can not end well.

a reply to: dawnstar

A large percentage of Auto problems are due to electrical issues , first thing i do with a car is spray wd40 everywhere , engine bay wiring loom , never has a problem with my cars and all it cost was 10-15 $ every time