To all,

I need your help.

I have a 2008 TL Type-S with 15k on it (about 1 year old). Two nights ago I woke up at 2am because my alarm was blarring. It was raining pretty good that night (a rare event in CA). Came outside, car is in the driveway, turned off the alarm from my FOB, checked the car, nothing wrong (doors shut, windows closed, sunroof closed), locked the car, turned on alarm, alarm goes off again!

Turned off alarm from FOB again. Now the cabin light starts coming on and going off over and over. Get in car, drive around the block, no issues. Park in driveway, attempt to lock car, FOB no longer works. Try other FOB, no good. Manually lock car, turn on alarm, alarm goes off. Use FOB to unlock and disable alarm. FOB will unlock, but not lock anymore. BUT WAIT, IT GETS BETTER.

Fast forward 6 hours, headed to the office. Call the local dealership on the car system. While I am discussing with them my ABS and VSA alarms go off. Then my cabin light begins to come on and go off. Naturally, I go directly to the dealership instead of the office. En route to the dealership I get a call on the car system, when I click the answer button, the doors unlock, the cabin light comes on AND my car says the driver door is open (no it is not open and NO is it not loose). As I continue to drive the doors lock and unlock randomly, the cabin lights continue to come on and go off and now the alarm says that the driver and driver's side passenger doors are open. Fortunately all the same problems are occuring when the tech looks at it.

You are probably thinking what I was, that water had gotten somewhere and was shorting a sensor or something. But, guess what....after a couple hours of looking the tech cannot find any water at all! Not only that but the engine is now throwing 15 codes and even after being reset the codes return.
They kept the car and they have no idea what is wrong or when the will have it fixed.

The dealership I go to is great, love them. But, I am very concerned. Does anyone have any clues as to what this might be. A friend of mine recommended an exorsism.

I would be very appreciative of any info. Prior to this, I have had NO problems with this car whatsoever. I did have the windshield replaced about 2 months ago for a crack after a rock hit it and I had a taillight replaced because a spider had crawled in it and was building webs, but that's all.

 

What the hell? A spyder inside the Tailight? Wow never heard that one.

Well i have the same car and i havent had any problems. I have no idea to tell you.

 

just a thought, might want to try to disconnect the battery for an hour or so and connect it back up to see if this may reset the whole electrical system.

 

Honestly, this is one of the craziest things I've ever heard. I think I would be in the hospital right now if I was in your position, knowing my car has gone mental.

Anyways, on a more serious note, the car was fine for the 1st year having it? Then one night all these problems occurred?

I've never heard or seen anything like this, keep us informed.

 

Maybe a rat got into ur engine bay and chewed up some wires it has been known to happen, but I would have thought ur tech would have found it. Hopefully they will lemon the car for u if they can't figure it out and u can get into a fourth gen hahahaha ... I feel bad for u man I hope they gave u a nice loaner

 

They'll swap the ecu and see if the problems persist, doubt they'll lemon it

Hope you never had anything spliced anywhere

 

bad ground, rat or water in a fuse box or pcm.

 

check all the grounds for the car, esp the ones for the alarm system since that controls most of the problems you are having (door sensors, cabin lights, etc.)

 

your cars secretly a transformer!!

 

What the...? Hope this problem gets figured out, good luck! Spider in the taillight...that'd be a trip!

 

I would let your dealer know (if you haven't already) that the winshied has been replaced. There is a VERY good chance that it is leaking. If it hasn't rained good since you have replaced the winshield even more reason to believe it started leaking on the first rain.

 

Honestly based on experience....replaced windshield, now leaking down the A pillar to the under dash fuse box (drivers side) and MULTIPLEX <--- heart of your electrical system. Causing all your issues. When you say "no water" did you pull up the carpet and check the actual floor pan? It takes a long time for water to make it up from the pan to the carpet area. It would only take a small amount of water getting into the fuse box to cause a world of issues.

 

Thanks for your replies!

Spoke to the tech yesterday. They ordered a new fuse box and are installing it today. They still haven't found any water. They aren't sure that will fix the problem, it is just a first step.

Here is my problem: I agree with RACINGHART03 & NAPLESTL, it is water, no question. It is likely because of the windshield replacement. Fortunately, I paid the big money and had the dealership replace the windshield about 2 months ago. So it if is the windshield they will have to take care of it. So, that said, how can I prove that it is leaking if they can't find water. I don't want to come back next time it rains with all the same problems or worse. I don't want to lemon it. I really (really) like this car, but I don't want it to have tons of problems after this is over either (I know..I know..I'm stressing a little).

Any suggestions on finding a leak? It rained on and off for 4 days before this happened.

 

You know, I would check grounds like csmean stated. My previous car started acting funny; randomly turning on lights on the dashboard, doors locking, etc. I was even driving on the highway one day and the entire electrical system seem to just reset itself, lights and all!

 

I'd try hosing down the windshield section by section since that seems like a likely source. Start at the base and maybe have a friend hunkered down by the fuse box. If it's a small leak it might take a while to show up.

 

An easier method is to spray a soapy water solution around the windshield and hit it with compressed air from the inside around the edges of the glass. Have a friend watch and follow your air stream from the outside. If he sees bubbles than you are homefree.

 

 

x2

that would be text book way to find a leak. I would do it yourself without letting the dealer you are looking to prove that the winshield has a leak. If they know there might be a leak in the winshield then they might be trying to fix that before you find a leak to prove they screwed up. It only takes a few drops in the fuse box to make anything go haywire. I have seen leaks in the in TL's by the kick panel on the drivers side. You can take all of it off to get to the sheet metal and look at the pinch welds while someone sprays water to look for leaks. BUT never has that particular leak caused electrical problems.