ok have a big problem car was in storage over the winter took it out now a have an elect. problem lots of warning lights on abs, esp, service engine soon i cleared that for now speedometer doesnt work rear spoiler is in the up position light is blinking on dash for it ,car drives and works well no issues , all lights went out and spoiler was working again for about a day now everything is back on again please i need help any ideas im sure im not the first for this to happen too

 

Start with the battery!!!

 

You left way too much out, I know you think you went into great detail but you didn't give any timeline for when things were acting up, when they cleared, etc.

My only comment is this: You imply the car runs fine but the instrument panel and spoiler are going nuts. The most common cause for either is a bad battery or heavy corrosion on the battery cables, terminals, ground lug, etc.

I'd inspect the battery terminals, ground cable lug, etc. If I could find no obvious problms, I'd replace the battery and go from there.

 

Yup!! What pizzaguy said, have it tested and go from there. These cars are really really really picky about the battery and the connections.

 

I'd not test the battery at all - I'd change it.

We JUST had a guy on Facebook yesterday who had werid start issues. He had the battery tested it was "fine".

He did the RCM fix. He put in a CPS. He cleaned battery cables.

He prayed. He had the car repainted and bought four new tires. He left his wife and kids. NOTHING worked.

THEN, he grabbed the battery out of (what I think was) his Toyota - car started right up.

I had a similar thing with a mid 90's Durango. Had it towed, they goofed for an hour with it. It would start but not keep running. Put a battery in it and everything was fine. With all of the electronics in today's cars - the battery is actually more critical than it was back in the day.

 

can anybody help me with this

 

im having the same problem battery is brand new car wasnt charging put in new battery and new alternator and is charging 14.5 amps battery is holding 12.8 amps car works fine just all these crazy lights and spolier staying up car works normal drove it at least 100 km. hoping it would clear esp light is on but brakes seem great even my emergency brake light is on with the brake off, help lol

 

Rule No1, never store the car without a battery tender attached. Rule No2, same as rule No1.
With that many issues after not being driven, it's a good bet to change the battery, as has already been suggested. It isn't likely that the car actually developed that many problems sitting still!

 

ok ill trty this again car was in storage for the winter and your right broke rule number 1 lol so went to get it out of storage battery was dead boosted it drove it home car wasnt charging thought battery was toast it was put new in car still went dead. car wasnt charging by the way no warning lights on during this time , ok got new alternator car is charging fine now 14.5 amps then all these crazy lights started coming on took it home next time i drove it lights went out spoiler was working but only for a day then back to all the lights coming on again like i said car works great drove it 100 km thinking it would clear again and ya no speedometer either battery cables are clean not sure about the ground check that out tomorrow, any help to this its got me stumped

 

Take the alternator back and tell them it is defective it's feeding back through the idiot light connector. But before you do that disconnect the charge indicator connector from the alternator, disconnect the ground cable for 15 minutes or so then reconnect the ground cable but not the small connector on the alternator and take it for a drive and see what it does.

 

Not on it's own. But read on.

New Battery.
New Alternator.
You have 14.5 volts with engine running and 12.8 with engine off - sounds super good to me. Good job, sir!
But you have weirdo electrical issues. Issues that make NO sense, given that the car is running well with all these lights on.

I'm starting to think that this is another case of little four legged creatures chewing on the wiring harness while the car was in storage.

I do not WANT to say that, but I am hundreds of miles from you and I sure can't inspect the car - all I can do is go on the few posts you've made. After 35 years of electronic troubleshooting (it's how I earned a living and continue to earn a living) - I'd almost bet actual money on it.

To be clear, I want to be proven wrong - this can run into a lot of time and money and I don't wish that on anyone - but when these symptoms come right after long term storage, well... I only leave my car in a storage unit for up to three weeks at a time here in Georgia and I will tell you - this scares the CRAP out of me.

DAMN, I hope I am wrong. Take a GOOD look in the box that holds the PTCM/BCM/RCM (it's under the hood, the big black box next to the battery) see any chewed wires? Any fecal droppings?

Take the trim from below the dash out on both sides - see chewed wires?

Pull up the floor carpeting on the passenger side - how does the wiring to the sound system amplifier look? See chewed wires or fecal droppings?

Is the car a Roadster? If so, release the "D" handle, hit the button, and when the rear bow AND deck lid are both up, STOP and get OUT and look down in the wheel wells - see any chewed wires or fecal droppings?



Damn, I hope I am wrong............................................. .................................................. ..........................

 

If you stored the car in your garage, I am probably wrong.
If you stored it in a barn or something like that - I probably am right.



Do your best to prove me wrong. If I am right, you WILL find evidence.

 

My father has a 2005 Miata stored in his garage, and makes great efforts/provisions to keep mice away. This spring when he took the cover off, he found mice droppings/seeds inside his convertible top. Very frustrating, but also very fortunate not to have any wires chewed through. We later found a one inch in the exterior wall by the foundation where they were entering.

I too keep mine stored within my garage and utilize moth *****, and dryer sheets to help deter rodents as much as possible. I consistently pull the cover off every weekend when utilizing my battery tender, and check everything, like you said, you never know if and when they may start nesting.

 

As soon as I read the OP's first post, I thought 'varmints'. Hope it is not the issue, getting into where they get to repair wires is just too painful to think about!




.

 

ok why not everything thing ive had the neg cable off but not the connection on the alt, thanks will try that after i get home from work next week

 

doesnt seem to be mice ive looked everywhere for dropping and chewed off wires, the fan blower was seize i took it out and got it working again hmmmm unless i screwed something up there also put a new sound system in it last year but no problem with it then , keep it coming guys ill try anything lol could it be the alternator i did buy it online but it is charging good

 

I hope pizzaguy is wrong, that can get expensive, my solution is much cheaper lol!😉

 

If I remember right another xfire owner had a similar problem with an alternator he bought, don't remember where but his problem was that the car would not shut off when he turned the key off. He put another alternator on it and that fixed the problem.

 

And what did you find? How did you free it up?
Don't just blow by something like that, you may be ignoring a clue. The two reasons I can think of for this would be water intrusion due to clogged vents (happens all the time) or mice urine.

And my point is, if you had water intrusion, then you may have water damage under the carpet, passenger side. Yank up the carpeting, GET IN THERE, and look around. Any way water got on the transmission control module? (If yours is an auto). Remember, any compromised module can play hell with the CAN bus.

 

From experience, a defective RCM can result in all the symptoms you report:


BAS/ESP lights
e-brake light
speedometer not working
spoiler deployment and failure to retract, blinking light
service engine soon light