EDIT 5/19/10: Photos posted starting on thread #22. Skip to there if you like pictures rather than reading.

This headlight problem is getting ever more serious. I'm starting a new thread to keep from hijacking the the one I was posting on.

A quick re-cap...
Mom ( a 71 year old RN who still works full time and loves fast cars) parked the srt at work one evening and later found out the fog lights and side marker lights would not turn off. I could find no solution but to pull the negative terminal from the battery when it is parked. Another symptom of the problem was that the interior lights would not turn off if you park it and lock up, although they would turn off if you start it and drive away. These two problems happened about three weeks apart.

The dealer replaced the headlight switch (illumination control module) under Dad's extended waranty, but the problem persisted. Today I get the call that a leak has flooded some components in the trunk (he owns a coupe) and caused the problem. No coverage for this repair, and the high cost of repairs could mean parking the car for a while.

I think I'm going to be looking for some parts for Dad's car. I will find out more about which parts and their location on the car tomorrow.

This is a great group of crossfire fans and I hope someone out there knows of a parts car we could have access to. I have done a search and contacted a couple of members, so we'll see what happens.

Don't take it lightly if you find water in you trunk.

Updates as they become available.

 

I got a look at the car today. The passenger side trunk well has about 2" of water in it and has ruined the central lock module and the alarm module. The connectors are corroded with some pins broken. The mechanic was puzzled that so many of the functions were still working. I suspect that the modules might still be good, but the connectors are messing up the system.

Does anyone have some experience with these parts?

I'm looking for the parts and connectors, so any help is appreciated.

As the repairs proceed and we locate the leak I will post for posterity.

 

I'm bumping this because it disappears from the new post list after about 5 hours.

 

New post list? I wish I could help, how did you get water in the boot?

 

There have been previous posts on trunk leaks, in one case the water came from the rear light and in another it came from a seam between the trunk floor and the side panel. I would also think that the rear window seal could be at fault allowing water to run down behind the bulkhead.
I have never looked in this area but there is supposedly a drain in this area and it was plugged with silt in one of the reports.
https://www.crossfireforum.org/forum...tml#post434389
https://www.crossfireforum.org/forum...tml#post436629
https://www.crossfireforum.org/forum...tml#post189889

 

I gave the car only a brief inspection but one thing I did check for was a drain hole. There was no hole that I could see, either from the inside or underneath. I will check the areas for leaks as mentioned by one80 (and thank you for the links to those threads). I will also check to see why the fender well had no water in it, only the inboard trunk well. Maybe the fender well has a drain hole.

As an aside, did you know the mid-mounted fuel tank is protected by a 1/4 inch thick cast magnesium plate? When I first saw it I thought it was just another form fitted interior panel. Its a very impressive hunk of metal, held in by bolts around its perimeter, apparently designed to stop an intrusion and maybe also to add stiffness to the bulkhead. It looks like a skid plate from under a 4 wheel drive pickup truck, except more expensive.

 

Get a good couple of pictures of this area, the ones I have seen were not too detailed and were in most cases in audio related threads.

 

The repairs were going to be over $2000 so we decided to bring it home and look it over before proceeding. There is water in both sides of the trunk, so I pulled the rubber plugs and will be adding some sort of cover to keep road water out but let the tubs drain any future moisture. We will be looking for the leak before any interior panels are installed.

I opened the plastic shell of the central locking pump and it was moist inside but was not holding water. I dried the circuit board and cleaned off some surface corrosion (powdery and light green) and it looks like everything is good. It should work, as it was functioning before it was removed. I will be replacing two pins of an array of 18 that connect to the wiring harness of the car. They corroded away and broke off when the connector was unplugged. The connector itself is a bit corroded, but I hope a cleaning is all it needs.

I opened the alarm module and it was dry inside. I think the only problem here is a broken wire on the wiring harness. The alarm was working before the module was removed.

Once I fix these three bad connections I hope Dad's lights will work properly. And it will be a lot cheaper than all the parts and labor that the dealership was quoting.

I enjoyed reading the RCM no-start sticky that showed how to resolder some bad spots on the RCM circuit board. It helped me to decide to try fixing this one before spending money on replacement parts. Thanks to Tighed 1 for that encouragement.

Updates to come.

 

Let us have some pictures please.

 

Another source for the leak can be the rear wing.
There are small o-rings that if torn or out of position will cause a leak.
If they leak, water will follow the plastic trim and drip in to the rear well.
I removed my rear wing cleaned the area and used silicone gasket maker instead of the o-rings to seal the wing bolts.
Worth a look. You will know if they been leaking because the area will be a bit rusty.

 

I've achieved some progress but still have some problems

First, i was able to loosen the broken pins by heating them with a soldering iron and shoving them through with a straight pin from my sewing basket. the chrome plated straight pins were a tight fit, so I soldered two of them into the holes as replacements. I inserted them from the back of the board, adjusting them to the right length to match the other pins, and cut off the excess from the backside after soldering. It worked well enough for me to recommend it as a fix. It is important to get your replacements aligned with the other pins so the connectors will fit together smoothly.

The 18-pin wiring harness connectors for the central lock module have a cool lever action rack and pinion type device that engages when you slide the connector into the mating connector on the module. When you rotate the lever over the top into the locked position it drives the connector halves firmly and smoothly together. It also works in reverse to pull them apart. A really cool bit of German over engineering.


The broken wire on the alarm module posed a different problem. Upon inspection of the connector on the harness, I discovered a plastic cover that I was able to unsnap (it was not a pretty result as I damaged a bit of the plastic.) I uncovered a slot through which I could, using a paper clip, press down on the locking tabs on the tiny metal sleeves that make up the contacts. I inserted a straight pin into the metal sleeve through the same hole the connector pin would use, and simultaneously pushed down on the locking tab and shoved the sleeve out of the back of the connector. To be more clear, the locking tabs for most of the sleeves are accessable through this slot. The two center sleeves are unlocked through small holes at the face of the connector, alongside where the pin goes in.
The sleeve is a tiny little thing, and I was unable to open the crimped tabs that clasp the broken wire. I gently flattened the tabs a bit with a few taps of a hammer and punch, and soldered the wire back on, keeping the joint as slender as possible because it all has to fit back inside the connector. The sleeve slides back into the connector with a faint but satisfying click, and the wiring harness for the entire car is back to working condition.

More to come...

 

I installed the central lock module and the alarm module into the trunk. Upon testing the locking system I discovered a new problem. The pump motor, which produces vaccuum for locking and pressure for unlocking, was not shutting off properly in the unlocking mode. It was running on for up to 30 seconds and getting very hot to the touch. To make a long story short...

On the circuit board within the central locking module is a curiuos little assembly consisting of a vaccuum diaphram chamber, an actuator rod with two adjustable wheels on it, and a tiny reed switch extending between the wheels. When the chamber gets pressure the rod moves out and the switch closes against a contact. Vaccuum pulls the rod in and the reed closes against an opposite contact. The at rest position is center, with both contacts open. Since the chamber has a pipe connecting it to the pump, I guessed that this device generates a signal to stop the motor in both the lock and unlock mode. I checked for electrical continuity and found that the contact on the vaccum side was indeed in need of a thorough cleaning. As the parts are very small and close together, I was barely able to administer a thorough scratching with the point of a #11 Exacto blade. However, it was enough, and upon testing the locking system seems to be restored. I only hope the chips, diodes resistors, etc. are all working, as this board works in harmony with at least 5 other modules throughout the car to make all the bells and whistles work properly.

As it now stands, the locks and alarm now work as they should. And the fog lights and marker lights go off when I turn off the ignition. I still cannot get the auto dim-to-off feature to work, so the interior light switch must remain in the off position to save the battery. I have checked the side door switches and they both are operable. I have not yet located the hatchback light switch to see if it is stuck in the "on" mode. I suspect I have some dirty contacts in a connector in the trunk, or maybe something on the board was ruined by moisture. It's not the illumination control module, since they replaced it under Dad's waranty last week.

I also cannot get the headlights to come back on after locking the doors with the remote, as they do on my wife's srt. I hope it is dirty contacts and is related to the other problem.

And I still have to find the leak.

More to come...

 

Regarding pictures, I have none. I will try to take a complete set before I put it all back together. Maybe someone can tell me how to add them to my posts, as I am a bit challenged if it cannot be done with a hammer, a knife, or a table saw.

 

I found 2 VERY SIGNIFICANT leaks that I think all owners should look for on their cars.

Under the gas filler door is a plastic bowl that fits into the bodywork. It has a narrow gasket around its perimeter that contacts the body and seals out water. This gasket, although appearing to be in good shape, was a total failure on Dad's car. When viewed from inside the trunk (with the interior trunk side panel removed) water streamed into the fender cavity and disappeared down the wheel housing. I do not think it was the source for the water in the trunk, but it is a problem that must be fixed to prevent water damage and rust in other areas. I'll describe how I fixed it when I have a bit more time and can add pictures.

The second leak was the cause of the water in the trunk. The flat panel and fixed wing on the hatch was leaking quite dramatically. With the interior panel below the hatch opening removed, it was easy to see copious amounts of water flowing into the interior when a garden hose was directed across the rear glass. After removing the wing and the flat panel it sits on, I discovered that the gasket material of the flat panel was either degraded or had become displaced and water was getting into the structure if the hatch itself. The 4 studs on the wing have little O rings to seal out water, and by the weathered condition of the studs it was evident that the O rings had also failed. I will show how I fixed the problem in a later post.

As our cars age I'm sure these two leaks will show up on many other cars. The evidence is well hidden by interior panels, however, and may go unnoticed until thousands of dollars of damage is done. The repair bill to Dad's electrical system was over $3000 if we had let the dealership do what they had planned. And we hadn't even discussed fixing the leaks. I don't know what parts and labor would run on that repair.

Check you trunk for water. remove the carpet and floor panel, looking for any moisture underneath. Unfortunately, removing the foam blocks requires disassembling the interior panels, so actually finding water in the wells is a bit of trouble. While you are at it, locate the rubber plugs at the bottom of the wells (there are 3 on each side) and determine which is at the lowest point and work it out to create a drain hole. I have driven ours at highway speeds in a hard rain and have had no road water come in through the drain holes.

Pictures and solutions to come...

 

Just saw your post again and wanted to say thanks for the info.

 

Great posts! Thanks for writing these up. It's posts like this that make the forum great and save people a lot of money.

 

Don't forget the photos, we need photos as there are no photos of the bare trunk on this site that I have seen.

 

Coming soon. I've run them through photoshop and now have to find time to add them to the thread. I've been rather busy with work lately.

 

Where was the leak?

 

See post #14.