2001 Gs430 Electrical Issues

[kmlit1]

I have a 2001 GS430 with 170,000 miles on it. I bought it 2 years ago and so far it's been a great car. Just this last week, I've had trouble starting it. No lights, sounds or anything, just dead. I'll put a charge on overnight and then it starts up just fine. It runs fine too, but now I have crazy audio issues. Sometimes I have no sound at all, then all of a sudden it breaks in with EXTREMELY loud jumbled audio/static. It is seriously so loud and startling that I'm not even comfortable driving it. This will occur on any audio setting I have it on, and it even happens when I turn the audio button off.

I have had the battery, alternator, and starter checked. All good.

I have been told it must just be an electrical short somewhere. But where???

I'm leary of taking it to a shop. I can't seem to trust anyone around here. When I bought the car, the engine light was on, scanner read catalytic converter bank 2 below efficiency. I did my research and refused to let the THREE different mechanic shops steal my cats and straight pipe it. Finally, on my fourth attempt, I found a great guy who listened to my request and replaced the o2 sensor. It has ran PERFECT ever since. Of course this guy is no longer available.

Finding this electrical short could be a $2 fix, but the hourly labor cost will kill me.

My boss had a guy working on his bmw this past week so I asked him to check it out. He started on the passenger side door because I had noticed the speaker on that side cutting in and out before the craziness started. He couldn't find the problem there.

He said he was going to go home and do some research. I'm still waiting to hear from him. In the meantime, I'm just letting my car sit in the garage. I'm going out of town next weekend and would really like to have this problem fixed soon. I can't drive it that far with the problems I've been having.

I don't know a thing about cars, so I can't just start taking apart things myself.

Any help, tips, guidance, words of wisdom, or just plain sympathy would be greatly appreciated!