Wierd Electrical Gremlins - any ideas?

[koda2000]

I've noticed that my '01 ST has some weird electric gremlins. They both seem to be related to the door locks.

The first thing I noticed was while programming a remote. After the locks cycled during programming, I was able to program the remote in the normal way, but afterwards I turned off the key, removed it and the dash lights kept turning on/off, a relay was clicking and there was a chime going on/off at the same time. It kept doing this until I reinserted the key and turned it to the ON position, then I turned it off and removed the key and it stopped. Weeks later it did something similar after turning the engine off (I don't recall the exact circumstances).

Last night I was removing my radio bezel in preparation of installing my new white HVAC control overlay. When I got out of the truck from the passenger side I locked the doors with the lock button and closed the passenger side door. When I did this the dash lights flashed once. I was able to repeat this, but only from the passenger door. It does not happen if I lock from the driver's door and close it. I don't know if any exterior lights also flashed. I'll check for that this evening.

The locks and remote work normally otherwise. BTW, when I had the lower LH dash off recently, I noticed some non-factory wire connections, so maybe the truck had an aftermarket alarm or other device hooked up at one point in time.

Do you think this is somehow GEM related? Everything else electrical works normally.

 

[01STrunner]

Just when you have everything running great on it!

Check the grounding straps from the frame to the body. Mine were shot and didn't help my battery issues a few years ago. There should be 1 on each side iirc. It could also be something with the aftermarket alarm or whatever was installed, but the ground straps are easy to check and replace if necessary.

 

[koda2000]

Just when you have everything running great on it!

Check the grounding straps from the frame to the body. Mine were shot and didn't help my battery issues a few years ago. There should be 1 on each side iirc. It could also be something with the aftermarket alarm or whatever was installed, but the ground straps are easy to check and replace if necessary.

I was looking at the ground straps today. They look fine.

 

[Kjhadfield]

I have always seen suggested to check battery, alt, then grounds. If you find your grounds are all good- could there be an exposed wire making contact every time you lock/close passenger door? Just trying to throw out ideas. But you also said the other time was when turning the key off, was this separate from you programming the remote. Was this an issue before or only after? And you got the confirmation of successful programming?

I have only seen 1 ground strap on each side- which I still need to replace/relocate on the drivers side. I had to replace the ground strap on the passenger side hood hinge. I have always wondered how many I should actually have to find out if any other have corroded and crumbled, if anyone knows?

 

[koda2000]

I only had the truck for a few days when I programmed the remote. Yes it programed normally, so I can't say if it ever did it before programming. The battery is good, so is the alternator and all the ground straps, I think it probably has something to do with the wiring connections I found under the dash. Maybe the remnants of an old aftermarket alarm, a Breathalyzer interface or used car lot buy-here/pay-here deactivation device/ Who knows?

 

[Kjhadfield]

I assumed battery and alt were good, not something I'd see you post about with your experience. Random issues are the worst- needle in a hay stack

 

[koda2000]

I assumed battery and alt were good, not something I'd see you post about with your experience. Random issues are the worst- needle in a hay stack

Agreed, random electrical problems take forever to diagnosis, and I'm good with auto electrics. I'll have to ponder this one for a while to come up with a way of tracking it down, but unless it becomes a real issue it's not a huge problem. Power is back-feeding through the system somehow. It could be a faulty relay. It might even be the power-saver relay. When I have the time I'll spend it studying the wiring diagrams so see if that gives me any clues. Bigger issues to deal with right now.

 

[koda2000]

It did it again last night. I had backed the truck into the garage last night and I got out and saw I wasn't back quite far enough for the garage door to close, so I got back in (might have had the door open) and restarted the engine to back another foot. After doing so I turned off the key (might have opened the door first) and the clicking started, the dash lights (all of them) started flashing on and off with each click. Even the THEFT light was flashing quickly and the engine would not even turn over. I think the exterior lights may have been flashing too, but not sure. It took multiple try's of turning the key ON/OFF to make it stop. This is really starting to bug me. I'm fairly certain this is some remnant of an alarm system. When I pull the driver' seat to re-torque the body mounts I plan to lay on the floor and stick my head under the dash to see if I see anything that doesn't look like it doesn't belong there.