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Old 11-24-2013, 08:44 AM
Ripsco Ripsco is offline
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Default Strange Service Lights Car Went Haywire

I have had the service brakes light come on and off this past week. Today I went to start my car and I have never seen it do this before. The RPM needle would go up and down, however the car was idling normally. I had the service brakes light, ASC light, service engine light come on and off like crazy with a ticking sound. I test drove the car down my block and it ran fine but the lights just kept going on and off. I let it sit in my drive way to warm up and it seemed to have calmed it down. Not sure if it had anything to do with it being really cold outside. At this point I am posting this to see if anyone has seen anything like this before and what I should do?
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Old 11-24-2013, 09:31 AM
Ripsco Ripsco is offline
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I have had the service brakes light come on and off this past week. Today I went to start my car and I have never seen it do this before. The RPM needle would go up and down, however the car was idling normally. I had the service brakes light, ASC light, service engine light come on and off like crazy with a ticking sound. I test drove the car down my block and it ran fine but the lights just kept going on and off. I let it sit in my drive way to warm up and it seemed to have calmed it down. Not sure if it had anything to do with it being really cold outside. At this point I am posting this to see if anyone has seen anything like this before and what I should do?
Just a quick update. I went back to my car and started it backup. This time the rpm needle wasn't bouncing around, and no service lights were flashing back and forth every second. I do however have a check engine light on. I went through and reset the settings. Started the car back up and let it run for a few minutes. No service lights have come back up. I am really starting to think these cars suck in cold weather on first start up. I also saw there is a recommended relay kit from SSP. Mainly for us living in colder weather. Not sure if this is something worth investing in or not?
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Old 11-25-2013, 07:46 AM
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Jackal Jackal is offline
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Just a quick update. I went back to my car and started it backup. This time the rpm needle wasn't bouncing around, and no service lights were flashing back and forth every second. I do however have a check engine light on. I went through and reset the settings. Started the car back up and let it run for a few minutes. No service lights have come back up. I am really starting to think these cars suck in cold weather on first start up. I also saw there is a recommended relay kit from SSP. Mainly for us living in colder weather. Not sure if this is something worth investing in or not?
Just because you are having trouble with your particular car, I don't think you should come onto a public forum warning people that you don't think car is worth investing in if you live in a cold climate.

1. You don't list or mention as to where you live.
2. You don't include a reference as to what you believe is a cold temperature.
3. You have not even taken the time and effort to seek out a mechanic or automotive electrician who might be familiar with your car.

I live in Winnipeg, Manitoba ,Canada where temperatures in January can be -30 C and colder ( up to-50) if you include the wind-chill factor on a daily basis. I have daily driven my car for 3 winters and have done racing on the frozen lakes up here in the middle of no where. I have never had any electrical related issues including weird gauge readings etc.

My point is you should simply seek out a professional to check out your car and find out what the problem is. Not let your emotions take over and start broadcasting generic negative statements about our cars across the internet. My first step would be to check the battery connections and the voltage output of the alternator first then check your ground connections through out the car. Another thing to do is take the cover off the fuse box in the engine compartment and check all the fuses and relays. Make sure they are corrosion free then make sure they are all firmly seated and that cover isn't cracked or damaged where it might let in moisture" End Rant"

I do hope you find the source of the problem and go on to enjoy the car like the rest of us here have.
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Last edited by Jackal; 11-25-2013 at 07:52 AM.
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Old 11-29-2013, 03:48 PM
Ripsco Ripsco is offline
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Just because you are having trouble with your particular car, I don't think you should come onto a public forum warning people that you don't think car is worth investing in if you live in a cold climate.

1. You don't list or mention as to where you live.
2. You don't include a reference as to what you believe is a cold temperature.
3. You have not even taken the time and effort to seek out a mechanic or automotive electrician who might be familiar with your car.

I live in Winnipeg, Manitoba ,Canada where temperatures in January can be -30 C and colder ( up to-50) if you include the wind-chill factor on a daily basis. I have daily driven my car for 3 winters and have done racing on the frozen lakes up here in the middle of no where. I have never had any electrical related issues including weird gauge readings etc.

My point is you should simply seek out a professional to check out your car and find out what the problem is. Not let your emotions take over and start broadcasting generic negative statements about our cars across the internet. My first step would be to check the battery connections and the voltage output of the alternator first then check your ground connections through out the car. Another thing to do is take the cover off the fuse box in the engine compartment and check all the fuses and relays. Make sure they are corrosion free then make sure they are all firmly seated and that cover isn't cracked or damaged where it might let in moisture" End Rant"

I do hope you find the source of the problem and go on to enjoy the car like the rest of us here have.
Thanks Jackal, yes I did let the emotions get the best of me and I didn't mean to bad mouth the car like that. I love this car and going to keep it forever.

After researching more on the internet, it looked like I might have some faulty fuses. I did the salt shaker test on the common green ones that go bad and it was rocking and a rolling in there. I ended up ordering the whole SSP relay kit package and it came in a few days ago. I switched out the green fuses like recommended and the car is running awesome once again. I am now trouble free when starting the car in below freezing weather and it just drives overall much smoother.

So for anyone else having trouble starting the car in colder weather and experience jerky acceleration to look at the fuses/relays.

Below is the link to the relay package for those interested:
http://www.sspperformance.com/ssp-relay-package.html

Here is another link for more information about the relays:
http://www.evoxforums.com/forums/sho...uel+pump+relay

I think $65 is totally worth the investment. The one fuse that really scared me was the WOT that could cause your car to run too lean and lead to engine damage.

Once again sorry for ranting badly about the car. Was not my intension. I just let the emotions fuel my rant.
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Old 11-29-2013, 06:23 PM
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Yup Fuses and relays. That's what I thought it might be. Glad you put in the leg work and got it solved. I liked the fact you also provided a link other people with similar problems might use to order new fuses/relays.
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Old 12-02-2013, 08:09 AM
Ripsco Ripsco is offline
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Yup Fuses and relays. That's what I thought it might be. Glad you put in the leg work and got it solved. I liked the fact you also provided a link other people with similar problems might use to order new fuses/relays.
I thought my issue was resolved with the upgraded relays. However, I go to start it up this morning and running into the same problem. This time I recorded a video to show you guys what's going on.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sztbQ...ature=youtu.be

I ended up disconnecting the battery and have the car sit for a while. Reconnected the battery and let the car run for 10-15 minutes, followed by a 10-15 minutes test drive. Seems to be running fine again. I am planning on taking it into the dealer this weekend to see if they can find anything wrong. Will keep you all posted.

Quick video of the car running after reconnecting the battery.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sghr...ature=youtu.be

Last edited by Ripsco; 12-02-2013 at 08:13 AM.
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Old 12-02-2013, 09:56 AM
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Like I said in my first post. My first step would be to check the battery connections and the voltage output of the alternator first then check your ground connections through out the car. Another thing to do is take the cover off the fuse box in the engine compartment and check all the fuses and relays. Make sure they are corrosion free then make sure they are all firmly seated and that cover isn't cracked or damaged where it might let in moisture" End Rant

The flickering would seem to indicate either a weak battery or a bad connection to the battery if it is indeed still good. So this means check both cables to battery, but also all the ground straps. Load test battery and check voltage with a multi meter set to dc scale of 1-20 volts. If you have another battery you could try that.

My money is on just a loose connection.
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Old 12-02-2013, 11:46 AM
Ripsco Ripsco is offline
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Originally Posted by Jackal View Post
Like I said in my first post. My first step would be to check the battery connections and the voltage output of the alternator first then check your ground connections through out the car. Another thing to do is take the cover off the fuse box in the engine compartment and check all the fuses and relays. Make sure they are corrosion free then make sure they are all firmly seated and that cover isn't cracked or damaged where it might let in moisture" End Rant

The flickering would seem to indicate either a weak battery or a bad connection to the battery if it is indeed still good. So this means check both cables to battery, but also all the ground straps. Load test battery and check voltage with a multi meter set to dc scale of 1-20 volts. If you have another battery you could try that.

My money is on just a loose connection.
So I metered the battery while the car is off and I got 12.92 volts. I then turned the car on and metered the battery and got 14.55 volts. So it looks like my battery and alternator are in normal range. I turned off the car and disconnected the battery and cleaned both terminals/connectors. To the right of the battery and below the fuse box, I found what looks like 2 ground cables that are secured to the chassis. I saw the bolts were rusted, so I removed them and cleaned both the bolts and terminals. They had a bit of corrosion on them. I reconnected the ground cables, and then battery cables. I turned the car on and let it idle for about 10 minutes. Afterwards, I took the car for a spin around the neighborhood and have not seen any issues. Hopefully cleaning the battery terminals, ground cables, and reseating everything securely will be the end of my problem. I will keep you all posted.

Thanks for all the input Jackal, I really appreciate your help.

Last edited by Ripsco; 12-02-2013 at 11:52 AM.
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Old 12-06-2013, 10:31 AM
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I had something similar to this after my car was sitting for 4 months during my trans rebuild. I couldn't even jump the car. Replacing the battery fixed it for me.
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Old 12-07-2013, 10:04 AM
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SoCalRalliart SoCalRalliart is offline
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Just out of curiosity do you have a GST tune on the car?
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