So....

Just jumped in the car to head into town briefly.

Phone kept pairing and unpairing with the bluetooth every 15 secs or so, matched with a hazard flash of both indicators and the climate control toggling between being on and off (and when I say 'off' I mean unpowered). When reversing into a space the sensors can be only described as going 'haywire'. The drive was no more than 10 mins. Radio was working fine throughout, save the constant flash of phone across the display and the bing of connection quickly followed by the bong of disconnection.

30 mins later I return to the car musing about what to do (such as leave the battery disconnected overnight to wipe the computer) if the symptoms are still there. Cue everything back to normal!

This has never happened before. Any thoughts as to what was going on? Can I just ignore it as a random one-off? I hope so!........

Niall

How old is the car?

My stereo does odd things now and then. At the moment it likes to occasionally eject the CD when you turn off the car. Previously it liked to lock and none of the buttons would work except the off/on for 15min. Then it was fine.

Not sure if the headunit is slowly going senile or it's a symptom of the battery getting old.

Weirdly yesterday my columbus stayed on for about 1-2 mins after me removing the key from the ignition, i was taking th dog a walk seemed odd mentioned it to the wife she mentioned that last week it had the speaker symbol with a line through it obviously a mute symbol but the music was still playing lol.

Need to look at cars again as it seems to behave its self when i look to replace it haha.

Car is an early Scout at May '07 so just over 5 years (which is odd 'cause I've had it for 4 years now and still think of it as my new car!)

Time flies and all that I guess!!

Niall

Same age as mine then.

It's back having been absent since the last post!

Though turning off Bluetooth on the phone to stop the constant 'hello/goodbye' cycling seemed to bring everything back to normal behaviour. Will have a look under the drivers seat for any obvious loose connections (and cross my fingers that I find something as simple as that!).

Niall

And here we are back again with the same gremlin after a years absence.

 

This time instead of just popping into town from the office and back at lunchtime I had a longer drive.

 

So after turning BT off on the phone to stop the pairing/unpairing cycle the Climate Control was off, indicators didn't work and the drivers electric window wasn't behaving itself. Also pulling the key out didn't immediately kill the stereo. As I drove the climate control started to come to life as did the indicators. After the client meeting all was back to normal again.

 

The preceding constant seems to be heavy rain followed by strong sunshine and the car being plenty hot when I get in. I'm guessing it's something to do with the computers but after that I'm not sure what to do/check!

 

Niall

I had something similar on a Toldeo. The CCU had a cold joint and gave weird behaviour before it gave up.

Back again.

This time it was a lot worse; last day of holiday and the preceding night had been constant heavy drizzle. Cue the climatronic display cycling as before, taking all stalk controls with it (lights, indicators, wipers and cruise) on start up. Brake lights thankfully unaffected. Considerably more severe than before.

 

Thankfully conditions allowed me to nurse it home over a 3h drive. After 2h or so the cycling of climate display was more in favour of on over off, then we said goodbye to the A-roads of the Highlands and hit the motorway. Within two to three minutes of motorway speed the 'cycling' was becoming increasingly intermittent and then we were back to normal for the remainder of the drive i.e. Climate on all the time and wipers, lights, indicators and everything behaving itself.

 

So.....

 

I'm guessing water ingress somewhere is the culprit and the act of driving dries the wet component out, though this time the soaking must have been more sustained. Door drains are clear, pollen filter dry as a bone. Some water seems to be leaking through the front passenger door seal (you can see a thin line of water on the plastic trim before the carpet) though carpets are far from being even damp to touch. Are there any electrics in the floor? Though I can't imagine motorway cruising drying that out rapidly?

 

I tried to check the drains underneath the scuttle this evening but my wiper arms are stuck to the threads. Took one wheel arch liner off at the base by the passenger door and there was 10cm of sandy topsoil and leaf mulch to be raked out, but couldn't see a drain hole.

 

Any ideas to stop this happening again (that don't involve a new convenience module!!!)?

Would water trapped in the scuttle but not seemingly entering the cabin come into contact with any relevant controllers?

 

Equally, I've previously noticed it as a humidity thing, and it was certainly humid overnight with warmish temperatures with the wetness (it rains plenty at home without causing the same issues, but generally isn't humid) So I suppose that there is a risk I'm barking up the wrong tree looking for water.

 

Any ideas from the collective? If I can avoid going to the garage after the last few months, then all the better!!

 

Thanks,

 

Niall

Sounds more like a low voltage issue. Driving it brings the battery voltage back up as the alternator boosts the battery. When its raining you have wipers, heaters etc on and these draw more power exacerbating the issue.

 

I would check the battery voltages and then get the battery load tested.

I would guess at the battery being past its best - especially if it's still on it's original battery. The control units are very sensitive to quite minor drops in voltages etc. If it was my car I'd be replacing the battery and see how I got on from there.

Could also be an earth issue, I'd be looking at a common earth for all of the circuits effected.

 

There is also a possibility that it would be related to the ignition switch.

 

Have you had it scanned to see if there is anything in the faults that indicate where to look ?

Haven't had it scanned, will see about getting that done too. 

 

But interesting point about the battery (still on original).

The three days prior had all been short journeys of no more than 3 miles at a time, whereas normally I do considerably more than that within a working week without even trying. Though if sat over a weekend at home, is fine come Monday. Would humidity affect the battery performance?

 

Thanks for the input.

 

Niall

Strangely my stereo had been behaving itself for the last year or so and then it started acting up again the other day locking it to one preset and not accepting any inputs.

Stopped misbehaving again for the moment.

I could probably do with changing the battery I suppose.

Could be a faulty ignition switch,my octy was doing some weird things & i replaced the ignition switch & its been find ever since. 

Get a scan done to see what faults come up