Eleanor_tC05

To make things short and sweet. I had a security system and subwoofer PROFESSIONALLY installed... and I installed HID's myself a few years ago.

Problem: Headlights on- NO cruise control, abs light and tpms light on cluster, and third brake light is on.

Headlights OFF: Cruise control works, abs & tpms light off, tbl off.. but works with brakes.

Stealership claims that "The vehicle has erratic electrical issues. Further testing and inspection reveals after-market components spliced into eng. wiring harness and instrument wiring harness. Skid ECU is testing okay."

Solution: Replace engine wiring harness- $2.642.10 + tax
Replace instrument wiring harness- $3,055.14 + tax
Replace Skid ECU- $2,619.00 + tax

Seriously? what. the. ____.
The car is a 2005 so the repairs probably cost more than what the car is worth and it's just a few harnesses.

Necromancer

Might as well get a new car lol.

thendawg

iTrader: (2)

Were the HID's plug and play? Or did they require wiring in a relay? Try disconnecting the HID's and test the cruise with headlight switch on to isolate that. This can be fixed without replacing any of that, but will require testing and isolation. My off the top of my head guess would be something in the wiring of the security system. Alot of the "professionals" that install security systems arent too familiar with the wiring and electronics in newer cars and just go by the wiring guide they print out and hope its right. Ive installed security systems/remote start/etc for 7 or 8 years now and Ive seen it all when it comes to installs working for a long while, than a bad connection that finally comes loose or shorts out causes all kinds of issues with the vehicle.

As for the dealership, the second they see anything aftermarket wired into the vehicles wiring they will say it all needs to be replaced to return the vehicle to stock condition and they have no interest in actually trying to isolate and correct the issue itself, instead theyd rather just replace it all (which obviousely would fix it, but is far from an economical solution).

If it still has the same issue with the HID's disconnected, Id take it to whoever installed the alarm and let them take a look at it. Ill look over the body wiring diagrams here shortly and see if I can notice any common points of failure to look for. Also is it a basic alarm? Remote start?

thendawg

iTrader: (2)

This is a long shot, but without physically diagnosing the car its the best guess I can give.

Every symptom you describe leads me to believe when you turn on the headlights you are somehow disrupting power to the Skid Control ECU (Which provides TPMS on 05/06, ABS, and also triggers the brake light when the handle brake is pulled). The only circuit I could see having the issue is the 7.5A ECU-IG circuit.

If you go to the skid control ECU (The abs box on the left hand side of the engine bay) and locate a yellow wire in pin 25, hook a DMM up to it and turn the car on, it should show +12vdc, than turn on the headlights and see what happens, it shouldnt change, if it does you found your problem, now you have to see whats causing the short or excessive current draw. FWIW the SCECU only has 2 yellow wires coming into its harness, one is a wheel sensor (which you wont see a voltage on while the vehicle is stopped) and the other is the ignition power source I am talking about.

If thats not it, also check the grounds on the skid control ecu. They are white with a black stripe and there should be 2 of them. Connect the ground lead from the dmm to each, while the + lead is on the + on the battery - check for changes in voltage when turning on the headlights. If this occurs, its a grounding issue.

thendawg

iTrader: (2)

Another option is the possibility that the illumination circuit in the cluster is shorting with one of the 3 or 4 signal wires coming in from the skid control ecu causing the fault. That would be harder to trace but not impossible.

TTCCC

Not a bad deal if they throw in a car wash.

testa422

iTrader: (6)

kinda happened to me...went to the dealership bc when i turned on the headlights, they popped a fuse. when i came home i noticed that in the process they rewired my rear fog light back to being a reverse light and didnt even bother telline me. and btw, their wiring job is a complete piece of ____ lol

Spicy_McHaggiz

iTrader: (1)

Wiring harnesses are not at all cheap, and can be labor intensive to remove and replace. While it may seem like it costs a lot, if you reference it to cost of parts and flat rate book, it should be on par seeing as a dealership will charge between $85 and 97$ per hour flat rate labor.

OP, is there any evidence supporting what you've had done is NOT the cause of the problems? Honestly unless you can prove your sub, security, and HID's don't cause it then you'll be footing the bill.

Esh Darkstar

Actually you need to read up on the Magnusson-Moss Act. Under this act it is the responsibility of the dealer to prove (not just say) that the aftermarket parts caused the problem nor is it the responsibility of the owner to prove that the parts did not cause the problem. Now most people either don't know that or they don't have the intestinal fortitude to make sure their rights are not trampled on (or they know the aftermarket parts caused the problem so they know they are in the wrong). HOWEVER, given the age of this car in particular the owner will be footing the bill regardless because this will be out of warranty repair work. It isn't the fact they they are charging over $8K to do some work, it's the fact that they even suggested $8K to repair what is probably at most a $150 job. That's also not to say that the OP should even be paying for it because if I understand what happened here it sounds like the 'professionals' jacked up their install and should be footing the bill for the repair anyways.

Eleanor_tC05

thendawg: I reaaally appreciate the length that you've gone to help me figure out the problem. The most I can do is probably disconnect the HID's but I've had those on so long and I've never had this issue since I had them. I dont have much knowledge when it comes to car electronics, thats why I always took my car to the professionals for the work. I'll probably be going to another shop that my dad knows so they can look at it. I dont know what else to do. :/

sciontc_mich

hey you can use this experience as an opportunity to learn more about electronics. When they do the work you can pick up some of the ideas they use to locate the problem. that will help you with your knowledge, gotta start somewhere! and i hope this new shop your dad knows will fix it and it's not that expensive!

Dam262a

iTrader: (2)

Take out the HIDS go to another dealership

Eleanor_tC05

Yeh I took out the HIDs today and tried it out and I still have the same problem. :/ I'll probably end up throwing them out if I find out it contributed to the problem. We'll see. I'll check back with updates.

torqueTc

iTrader: (11)

Take the car to a reputable stereo shop (not a dealership). Find the person that has either a) been there the longest, or b) has done the most extensive setups on vehicles.

Thats the person I would have try to troubleshoot this. The dealership thought process is always to take everything "suspected" bad out, and replace with all new stuff. Someone else, will try to fix the issue.

Under no circumstance would I tell the shop however, that the dealership wanted you to spend $3,000.... they might take that as a "well, atleast we did it for $1500". There is no way this should cost you that much money. Its as simple as taking a multi-meter to find the short or problematic wires usually.

Eleanor_tC05

Problem solved!!! So the issue was an accessory brake light that we had installed a few weeks ago. Turns out that the light had a short circuit in it somewhere. We took it to a repair shop across the street and they figured thats what was causing the problem. What would've costed me 8 grand for stupid techs to work on at the dealership... only costed me 60 bucks for this place to fix everything. Thank God.

Oh and I wouldnt recommend buying this.... just sayin>>>>
http://www.ebay.com/itm/380390170503...ht_5683wt_1163

Esh Darkstar

The better part is that I don't think that the $8000 would have even fixed it either.

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Eleanor_tC05

Yeh I thought about that as soon as I found out that the light was the issue. I hate dealerships..

Esh Darkstar

The better part is that I don't think that the $8000 would have even fixed it either.

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