Hello and electrical help!

[ZaxLC100]

Greeting from Woodstock, GA!! I just picked up my first LC a couple days ago, 2002 Black and Tan with 165k. First bout of rain and I’m running into some electrical issues. I have scoured the forum for like issues but alas nothing quite so similar. So, here goes- First, when leaving work last night the airbag light was on, I’d press the brake and it would turn off, that stopped after a while then the Red battery light was on, it dimmed out slowly after a while. Next up, the door locks would ‘sound’ like they’re locking/unlocking from just a rear door actuator and then quit. Coming to a stop and releasing the brake would engage the same actuator from that area. Happened about a dozen times. Result-no power locks at all once I stopped. Today, same lock issue, but driving tonight same actuator sound, but more rapidly, from the driver footwell, happened twice.

I have checked for water intrusion on both footwell fuse boxes and ECU’s, and pulled all fuses to confirm that they are in good shape. I’ll pull fuses under the hood tomorrow, but my assumption is it’s a ground fault somewhere (great).

With the wealth of knowledge on this forum I was hoping someone might have run into a similar issue.

BTW, less than 12 hours after owing the truck I had to have some Tundra wheels. Here she is.

 

[nissanh]

Could be water entry into the fuse box. Check the fuses near the foot rest. Also clean the sunroof drains. though I never experienced this before, I've read many thread similar to this.

 

[fireball]

Start with the sunroof drains and go from there.

 

[ZaxLC100]

How’s about an update. Today we have a new feature, door lock actuator randomly going off and on for about 5 minutes at a time. Source of sound is from the driver footwell. I checked all fuses and even the sunroof drains, all is ‘visually’ well and still no signs of intrusion. It was dry all day today when this new gremlin arose.

The driver door lock will only lock when I hit the switch, will not unlock. Is it possible that the actuators all failed at the same time? The noise sounds like someone is just flicking the switch on the door lock/unlock over and over again.

 

[fireball]

What are you doing when this is happening? Driving down the road or sitting still?

If when driving down the road perhaps you have a loose wire or loose ground somewhere that is bouncing up and down.

 

[ZaxLC100]

So far it starts only when moving, though it continues even if I come to a stop during the ‘show’

 

[Palmer]

this still sounds like a "wet" issue to me. I had to pull panels and run a heater and fan for a day, now I'm back to normal.

I also pulled the a-pillar covers to check the drain hose, and found water on the back of them as well, in all the little shelves/molded bits inside the pillar.

Dumb question: Are your roof rack bolts tight? Does it still happen if the keys are out?

 

[ZaxLC100]

I agree that it could still be an issue with moisture. After the second full dry day I had no symptoms of a gremlin, but still have no use of the power locks other than the driver door will only lock using the switch. All others are manual use only. I guess there is a chance that whatever caused the issue ended up failing all the actuators. I found a couple threads on the relay but couldn’t source where exactly it is in the footwell travesty of wires.

 

[Palmer]

If you haven’t, try unhooking the battery overnight. My locks were the last things to come back on. My theory is that particular relay or actuator gets hung up when the power gets weird.

There is also an ecu behind the radio that can take some time to dry out as well. I ran my heater on the floor, pointed upward until the top of the dash got warm. Took probably 3-4 hours in total for both sides. Then I blasted a fan in there too. Only place I saw any evidence of water was the a-pillars and slightly damp carpet on the passenger side.


Side note, I just ran through the wash with the a pillar off and was surprised at how little water ran down the drain lines.

That’s probably saying good things about my sunroof seals, but I still plan to check the drains anyway in case those are clogged.

Also, check your roofrack bolts under the pastic covers. They basically are open to the inside of the vehicle if they are loose.

 

[ZaxLC100]

So I went ahead and ordered new actuator motors for the locks, hoping that resolves the issue. However last night a fun thing happened. After replacing the missing fuse for the horn, at around 530pm (yeah it was weird that it was pulled out) it functioned properly and a buttoned up the car. At 1130pm the horn was running full tilt into the night, startled me out of bed and I had to run outside to pull the fuse before I woke up the whole neighborhood. Time for a new diagnosis....

 

[Palmer]

Have you pulled out all the relays and brought them inside to dry?

 

[ZaxLC100]

The relays are behind the fuse panel? I have read numerous threads but when I look in that area all I see are wire looms and fuses.

 

[Palmer]

They are in the engine bay, in a box, on the drivers side.

 

[ZaxLC100]

Well, I just went out to the truck to head to lunch and all door locks are functioning properly sans passenger front.

 

[Palmer]

So it's still wet. My locks were the last thing to "Activate"

 

[ZaxLC100]

So is it the relays in the engine bay that are wet and not something in the kick panel?

 

[Palmer]

Could be both. Simple insurance to take 10 min and pull em out. As well as leaving the battery unhooked for 30 min or so.

 

[ZaxLC100]

This just keeps getting better. I open the rear doors or the hatch and the rear wiper turns on. Manually push the sensor to mimic the door being closed and it stops.

 

[100 TD]

Pull all roof rack bolts, put lots of sealer/silicone or similar over the threads and screw them back in. Get an air compressor and blow out your sunroof drains backwards, then blow around sunroof, then use water jug and pour water down drains and ensure it flows FREELY. Most electrical gremlins are from a drop of water in a connector shorting one pin to another. Leaky windscreen can also cause it.
Also check your alternator, unplug connector, clean, spray with wd40 or something, shove it back in, check voltage output. Many gremlins are cause by a bad alt/low battery.
Drive car with A/C on recirc with heat on as well for a week, this drys the air in the cab and removes moisture.
Also REMOVE/CLEAN ground terminal at battery and at body and engine.
Rear wiper, get other things fixed first, then if it still happening, search this forum for rear wiper ecu, as not sure on years but some pre 08/2002 are controlled by the body ecu and fail.

 

[LCtygrys]

I have been plagued by this gremlin for years. One sunroof drain was open , one not. Passenger side won't unclog. Electrical hijinks start after every rain and have morphed over time. Symptoms include alarm going off, all lights staying on, locks actuating randomly, idiot lights randomly coming and staying on regardless of ignition being on, relays clicking randomly under hood and inside car, etc.
It's funny how much contradictory information one gets here. Some say sun roof, some say roof rack. My mechanic took all this info from here (albeit with a grain of salt) and said he could find no evidence of water inside the car. I noticed my antenna isn't going down all the way. Could that be a water entrance point too? Trading it in this week and would really like to know what is going on beforehand...