Electrical problems and battery drain
03-21-2007, 01:08 AM
#1
Racer
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Electrical problems and battery drain
A little background (actually a lot of background, sorry, there's not really a good way to shorten this story): got in an accident last december (some 16 year old kid hit the rear driver side of my car), AAA (my insurance company) recommended the local cadillac dealer's body shop so I went to them (first mistake - I'd never even consider buying american, I don't know why I let them work on my car...).
The body shop did a pretty poor job - forgot to install one of the grab rails in the car, and also forgot the piece of plastic where the sun visor clips into the roof. Unfortunately it's a real pain for me to get to the cadillac dealer (live in west LA, commute to glendale for work), so I just ordered the parts myself from one of the oem honda/acura part stores online (would have cost me more to miss work when I took it back to the body shop). I hoped that they did a better job with the main part of the work and just rushed the final finishing touches on the car.
Last week my instrumental panel stopped working, and my parking lights stopped flashing when I used the remote to unlock and lock the car. Brought it to my car place and they said the problem was a short in the wiring in the back of the car, amazingly enough the same area that was recently repaired by the body shop. I plan on calling AAA and having them reimburse me, but I've been busy at work.
Right before that problem, my head unit stopped working. The display worked fine but no sound came out. I went to the local audio store today and had them install a new unit and fix my subs, as the body shop had disconnected the ground wire for my amplifier and pulled the wires out of their crimped terminals. Right when I started my car at the audio place my TCS and ABS light came on and stayed on, the 30 seconds later they shut off. I figured it was just wierdness from the audio place disconnecting the battery, but when I tried to start my car a couple hours later it almost didn't make it, because the battery was drained.
Testing it out a little, it turns out if I drive the car around then turn the car off then right back on, it will start with no problem. Having it sit for a couple hours drains the battery severly. I can't figure out what's draining the battery, the amp and head unit are definitely off when the car is off, so I'm thinking the TCS and ABS light staying on have something to do with it. I'm not sure what the audio place could have done which could have screwed that up, so I'm wondering if it's more messed up work from the body shop.
Any ideas? Sorry for this really long post, but this has been a long and involved ordeal....
The body shop did a pretty poor job - forgot to install one of the grab rails in the car, and also forgot the piece of plastic where the sun visor clips into the roof. Unfortunately it's a real pain for me to get to the cadillac dealer (live in west LA, commute to glendale for work), so I just ordered the parts myself from one of the oem honda/acura part stores online (would have cost me more to miss work when I took it back to the body shop). I hoped that they did a better job with the main part of the work and just rushed the final finishing touches on the car.
Last week my instrumental panel stopped working, and my parking lights stopped flashing when I used the remote to unlock and lock the car. Brought it to my car place and they said the problem was a short in the wiring in the back of the car, amazingly enough the same area that was recently repaired by the body shop. I plan on calling AAA and having them reimburse me, but I've been busy at work.
Right before that problem, my head unit stopped working. The display worked fine but no sound came out. I went to the local audio store today and had them install a new unit and fix my subs, as the body shop had disconnected the ground wire for my amplifier and pulled the wires out of their crimped terminals. Right when I started my car at the audio place my TCS and ABS light came on and stayed on, the 30 seconds later they shut off. I figured it was just wierdness from the audio place disconnecting the battery, but when I tried to start my car a couple hours later it almost didn't make it, because the battery was drained.
Testing it out a little, it turns out if I drive the car around then turn the car off then right back on, it will start with no problem. Having it sit for a couple hours drains the battery severly. I can't figure out what's draining the battery, the amp and head unit are definitely off when the car is off, so I'm thinking the TCS and ABS light staying on have something to do with it. I'm not sure what the audio place could have done which could have screwed that up, so I'm wondering if it's more messed up work from the body shop.
Any ideas? Sorry for this really long post, but this has been a long and involved ordeal....
03-21-2007, 07:59 AM
#2
Senior Moderator
Id say bring it back to the body shp and make sure you dont get stuck with the bill if all these symptoms are reoccurring after the accident and supposed work from the repair shop.
(also little tip, never go where insurance recommends. They know whats going to be the cheapest. Do your own home work when it comes to repairs and where to bring your car)
And FWIW my Chevy/Caddy dealer has the best body shop in the area
so it doesnt matter if they are an american car company or not.
(also little tip, never go where insurance recommends. They know whats going to be the cheapest. Do your own home work when it comes to repairs and where to bring your car)
And FWIW my Chevy/Caddy dealer has the best body shop in the area
so it doesnt matter if they are an american car company or not.
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