ozone Posted May 15, 2011 Share Posted May 15, 2011 We have an 01 LS430 with 161K miles. Very few issues ever. Just yesterday, the car started acting up. It still runs and drives, but a whole laundry list of accessories suddenly stopped working. Here is what stopped working: (1) when you turn the key on, the dash doesn't go through it's usual self check routine, (2) air bag light on dash stays lit, (3) brake light on dash stays lit, (4) No display of an outside temperature, (5) No climate control functions work (either heat, A/C, or rear defog), (6) driver position preset buttons do not function, (7) wipers only work on high, (8) ABS light stays lit on dash. There may be other things not working, but I haven't noticed them yet. This happened all at once. I started to check fuses, but haven't got very far. I am doubting I will find anything. Maybe a bad connector or one of the many computers on board? Someone suggested disconnecting the battery to reset the computers, but I haven't tried that yet. I'd like to fix this myself if I can. Thanks a lot for any suggestions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landar Posted May 15, 2011 Share Posted May 15, 2011 We have an 01 LS430 with 161K miles. Very few issues ever. Just yesterday, the car started acting up. It still runs and drives, but a whole laundry list of accessories suddenly stopped working. Here is what stopped working: (1) when you turn the key on, the dash doesn't go through it's usual self check routine, (2) air bag light on dash stays lit, (3) brake light on dash stays lit, (4) No display of an outside temperature, (5) No climate control functions work (either heat, A/C, or rear defog), (6) driver position preset buttons do not function, (7) wipers only work on high, (8) ABS light stays lit on dash. There may be other things not working, but I haven't noticed them yet. This happened all at once. I started to check fuses, but haven't got very far. I am doubting I will find anything. Maybe a bad connector or one of the many computers on board? Someone suggested disconnecting the battery to reset the computers, but I haven't tried that yet. I'd like to fix this myself if I can. Thanks a lot for any suggestions. After you check the fuses, put an OBDII reader on the port and see if there are any stored codes. How old is the battery? Original alternator? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curiousB Posted May 16, 2011 Share Posted May 16, 2011 I would disconnect the battery for 5 minutes to reset everything. I'd also ensure a good charge on battery via outboard battery charger before reconecting cable. Then see if the various lights come on. Battery clamps need to be tight, not simply touching. If you can wiggle the clamp with your hand it is not tight enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landar Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 I would disconnect the battery for 5 minutes to reset everything. I'd also ensure a good charge on battery via outboard battery charger before reconecting cable. Then see if the various lights come on. Battery clamps need to be tight, not simply touching. If you can wiggle the clamp with your hand it is not tight enough. I thought about the battery post connections but if it is good enough to supply the starter, it should be plenty good enough to supply auxiliary power. However, there is also the unknown as to what shape the auxiliary connection is in. One leg of the + goes directly to the starter and another to the fuse box (and also to the alt output). Sometimes that auxiliary connection is faulty within the main battery cable. However, it is also possible that a fusible link is acting up(hi-z or open altogether). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozone Posted May 18, 2011 Author Share Posted May 18, 2011 Thanks for the suggestions. As it turns out, the next morning everything was fine and hasn't acted up since. Sort of rules out any fuses. I'm thinking a suspect connection somewhere. I guess I'll wait until it acts up next time before I look into it further. By the way, is there a way for me to see what kind of codes this is throwing if I don't have an OBD II? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Micah.Berry Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 You can take your car to Autozone or O'Reilly's or whatever auto parts store you have near you. They will plug their reader in for you and give you the codes for free. I have done that before with another vehicle. I recently purchased an inexpensive one on Amazon.com just for convenience. I would remove the cables from the battery as well for a few minutes, which resets the computers. I'm glad our cars aren't like Windows Vista (or 95 or 2000). We'd have to pull the battery terminals about once per week for a reset. Pretty inconvenient... Micah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curiousB Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 I'm glad our cars aren't like Windows Vista (or 95 or 2000). We'd have to pull the battery terminals about once per week for a reset. Pretty inconvenient... Micah Not to mention the Bill Gates worldwide wait. You know the 5 minutes after power up while your system boots. :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landar Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 I'm glad our cars aren't like Windows Vista (or 95 or 2000). We'd have to pull the battery terminals about once per week for a reset. Pretty inconvenient... Micah Not to mention the Bill Gates worldwide wait. You know the 5 minutes after power up while your system boots. :( Or the 10 minutes for shutdown. That's why I use a MacBook Pro. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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