2002 3.5 RL 225,000+ miles

Preface:
Last week I had the VCA ABS and "!" light all on in my car. I brought it to my mechanic who has always worked on my car, he said that everything seemed fine, and maybe I just needed a new balljoint. However his computer could not read the computer in my car for some reason. He brought it to another mechanic down the street and the same thing happened. Anyway, when I got my car back the next time the lights were on, but then after driving they turned off and I haven't seen them since.

Over the last couple of weeks sometimes I would go into my car and it was like the battery was reset or unplugged. The radio stations, trip mileage meters, and interior clock would all be reset. I would also have to punch in my radio code in every time since it was like it got disconnected. The power locks would pop up and down quickly then not work, and the auto steering wheel when you turn the car on and off to get into better position to get in would not move.

Then on Saturday morning I got into my car turned it on and the alarm went off non stop, the radio did not come on, and the analog clock was out along with the power locks. I would take the keys out turn it off/on and nothing would happen, the alarm would continue to go off even when I drove it. That happened twice, I had AAA come to look at it, he said the battery was a little loose and out of place so maybe that was it (the alarm did not go off when AAA came). He ran a test on my battery, alternator, and starter, all passed with above average ratings.

The rest of Saturday and Sunday the car was completely fine. No problems with the battery, alarm, radio, trip mileage meters or anything.

Then today this problem with the alarm, radio, analog clock, and power locks, has been a constant. I turn it on to drive to school and the alarm went off for 2 mins, while I drove and shut it off. On my way to school, about 20 minutes in, I stopped at a red light and decided to turn my car off and on to see if it would happen again and it did, for about 2 mins. I continued to drive and pulled into parking lot and disconnected the horns just for the sake of not being obnoxious with this loud horn. The radio is dead, the clock is out, and the power locks do not work and now the check engine light is on, and when the check engine light is off the ABS, VCA, and "!" are back on.

I haven't the slightest clue about cars; don't know if this is a wiring issue, electrical, fuse, computer or what, so I am looking for some idea of what the problem could be before I bring it in again.

Thanks.

 

So right now your radio and clock is dead? If so, there is a fuse box in the engine next to the battery that will get the radio work again. Also you need to check for the fuse box in the kicker panel. For the alarm keeps going off, I think there is a short some where. Is your negative cable looses on the battery terminal? You need to tighten it, but don't over do it. You'll notice this by turning the key on, but all the lights in the cluster turn off. Hope that's help.