abs/brake/airbag lights, no turn signal & windows won't work

[MJJax]

Your thoughts would be appreciated..

I have a 2001 RT/10.. saturday, when I started the car, the abs, brake & airbag lights stayed on. Also the windows did not work at all, and the turning signals did not work. This lasted a few minutes - then the lights went off and the windows and turn signals worked again.
Sunday and Monday nothing happened.
Today the same thing happened, but corrected itself within a few minutes again.

Thanks in advance,
~MJ

[-FROG-]

So the car was actually running at idle when all this happened? Did it seem to run ok?

[FE065]

I'll guess the ignition switch is on the fritz.


(Or you bought a car that'd been through Hurricane Katrina the hard way)


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2001 ACR Bumblebee
Chrome ACR wheels SOLD

[MJJax]

Saturday I noticed the abs/brake/airbag lights were on when I started the car, and sat at idle waiting for it to go off, but when it didn't I wanted to get it home.
The abs/brake/airbag lights turned off & the windows & turn signals started working during a few minutes of my driving around.
I actually didn't notice that the windows & signals weren't working until my friend (who was following me) came up beside me & I couldn't roll the window down.. he was trying to tell me the turn signals weren't working. :-\
Sunday & Monday this problem didn't manifest.
Then today it did the same thing as it did Saturday.

Maybe it's my imagination (and it very well might be), but it feels like it's slightly louder and rougher.

I bought the car in January 2008 & have since replaced the water pump & power steering pump.. no other problems than those 2 pumps leaking.. until now. Thank you for the ignition switch idea.

[-FROG-]

Interesting.... I thought your turn signals were on an independent circuit, running from your actual switch to the relay, to the dash and on out to the lights. Originally, this sounds like some sort of problem with the PCM causing everything to freak out a bit, but it your turn signals truly are on it's own dedicated circuit, not connected to the PCM in any way, then the problem would have to be with some sort of power line or major ground wire.

No other symptoms anywhere else in the car?

[MJJax]

Nothing else is affected, as far as I can tell... radio, horn, wipers & lights work.

[-FROG-]

abs/brake/airbag lights, turn signal & windows won't work
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radio, horn, wipers & lights do work


Just brainstorming a little here.... abs/brake/airbag could possible run through the "Power train Control Module" - PCM Computer (but I kinda doubt it). The turn signals and windows should be on their own circuit, passing from the actual switch to a fuse/relay and then to the actual device (no need for PCM intervention with these).

radio, horn, wipers & lights are definitely on their own individual circuits, with a fuse and relay in their path as well.

So what are the common devices in the path of these circuits?

1. - Well the actual individual on/off switch, blinker switch etc...

2. - then a fuse.

3. - next a relay.

4. - and finally the bulb, wiper or window.

Pretty simple actually. No need to get all technical and run processors through these circuits.

We can rule out any PCM or ICM play in this problem and focus more on the individual circuits. We know all of your switches are not going to all break at the same time, so lets move on to the fuses. What does a fuse do...? Well it either creates an "open" (when it's blown) or "shorts" the circuits path (as it should to connect the path in a working order to it's ground source). So for a faulty fuse to be the problem, well, the device would stop working all together and never "start working" again until the broken fuse is replaced. So we can rule out the actual fuses.

Next in line would be an array of Relays. This can possibly be the problem, because unlike fuses that are confined to a single path to ground for that dedicated circuit... The Relay has a few more wires involved AND SOME OF THE WIRES TIE ALL OF THE RELAYS TOGETHER (IN AN ARRAY) USING THE SAME POWER OR GROUND SOURCE. So if the source to the array of relays is having issues, it can cause all of the relays to have issues therefore causing problems to each circuit in that array.

Here's a quick sketch of the relay array I was talking about. It would be good to inspect that area. On my car, it's under my heater blower fan, by the PCM on the passenger side. For you it may be on the other side, I'm not sure. Though you may not see any problem on the actual relays, it could be the power source to the relays or the grounds. Like I said... just brainstorming here...

[Johnnyviper]

You might check to see if any oil or fluid is dripping on to the top of the alternator as this can affect the voltage output. An increase in voltage can trigger some of the noted lights.

[MJJax]

In case anyone is interested, the problem was solved by replacing the ignition switch.
Thank you everyone for your suggestions! :-)

[-FROG-]

Originally Posted by MJJax

In case anyone is interested, the problem was solved by replacing the ignition switch.
Thank you everyone for your suggestions! :-)

Great find! Glad you got it fixed!