Electrical gremlins, and fog light removal

[Tbay LX]

Hey all, I've been creeping the forums since I purchased my 98 LX 470 in November, it seems like a great community here.
I have been having some strange electrical issues, particularly with the door locks, which occasionally lock and unlock themselves while driving. I'm also unable to lock the passenger doors from the drivers door. The key works fine to lock and unlock all doors though. I also recently discovered (my first time trying to use it) that the seat memory doesn't work. Anyway, yesterday I got the fast turn signal, which normally indicates a burnt out bulb. Later in the day it was working fine, and then today it was back to not working. I took it to be a sign of continuing electrical problems, however, when I decided to pull the bulb out to check if it was dead, water poured out. After drying the bulb and cleaning the terminals, it is back to working. I decided to pull the fog light too, after discovering it was dead, and discovered a mess of water, salt, and corrosion.

Anyway, I guess I have to pull out the whole housing, and try to figure out where the leak is. I see two bolts, so it looks pretty simple, however, I can not figure out how to disconnect the wiring. There is some sort of strange screw, which I thought was a cap, but it does not seem to come off.

Could someone please advise? Any thoughts as to whether this could be causing my other electrical issues, or for that matter, any thought on what may be? Thanks, and sorry about the length of the post.

 

[Bretthn]

It sounds like you may have multiple problems. The door locks and seat memory could be due to some broken wiring in the drivers door boot. This is a common issue on older vehicles due to the wires being flexed back and forth thousands of times over the years. Good luck.

 

[Tbay LX]

I was initially thinking the same thing, however, I can unlock the other doors from the drivers side, I just can't lock them. The locks make the sound, like they are attempting to lock, however, they don't. The one time that they did decide to work, the doors then repeatedly locked and unlocked themselves for the remainder of my 20 min drive.

 

[uHu]

For the lock issue, I would start with the basics: How is the voltage, charging and starting? Then check all ground connections, of engine, battery, body, alternator, all ECUs involved, and the door harness.

The cap/screw on the lamp could be the adjuster screws.

 

[Tbay LX]

Thanks! I've never had any problems starting, even at -40c (I use a block heater though), however, there is a ton of corrosion on my battery terminals. I've cleaned the terminals, and it comes back within a few days. Also, the voltage gauge in the dash, which I believe indicates charging voltage, is always at about 3/4, should it ideally be all the way at 18? Would there be any possible benefit to disconnecting the battery, could that possibly reset the ECU and solve the issue? Or, would that potentially cause me more headaches?
I attempted to attach images of the screw-thingy and the corrosion/salt in the fog light to my original post, however it did not work. I'm new to forums, so I think I did it wrong, and will attempt to do so again here.

Screw?

Salt/corrosion in fog light

 

[farinvail]

Welcome. Ask one question and post one or 2 pic of it. Then we can help. Otherwise we get lost.

Volt meter at 3/4 sounds about right.

get some electric grease (dioelectsomething?) Go though many of the wire harness connections and clean/grease them.

Don't know anything about memory seats. I'd guess a small broken piece of plastic or poor connections somewhere.

Fog light looks like a mess. Post a larger picture.

Not sure what your question is about the screw?

Welcome to the Forum

 

[Tbay LX]

Thanks, I'm a bit nervous about diving into trouble shooting anything electrical. I don't have much experience with this kind of thing, and have only worked on bikes before, they are much less intimidating. I do want to learn, however, this is my only vehicle. How much of a can of worms am I opening doing what you suggest? Is it the sort of thing a novice can handle if I go slowly and carefully?
As requested, I have included a larger photo of the fog light mess.