I returned to the car after getting shopping for groceries. The car will start and drive OK, but the headlights stay on, the instrument cluster is dead, the interior lights stay on, the turn signals don't work, and the door ajar light on the dash panel is on. The automatic door locks won't work, and the trunk unlatch button won't work. Likewise, the key remote buttons won't work. I had to crawl thru the back seat to unlatch the trunk from the inside. I took the car to my dealer, and he could find no cause for the failure. However, he was able to make everything work again by disconnecting the battery, touching the two battery cables together a few times, and then reconnecting the battery. All was well for about 10 months and the same thing happened again, this time while the car was parked in my garage. I took it back and the mechanic report says he found two codes (U01SS and U11OH), both of which refer to lost communications -- with cluster and with SCM C. Battery voltage was fine and it passed load test. Charging system voltage was fine (14.47v). I did NOT do anything I know of to draw down the battery, like jump starting another car' leaving the lights on, or leaving something plugged into the cigarette lighter. Again, doing the battery reset restored all functions to normal. The mechanic has no idea why this happened or how to prevent it. So do I have to keep a wrench for my battery cables in the car to do an emergency repair, or does someone know why this happens?
Although it may be a computer glitch My advice would be to start with the simplest things first.I this case the ground would be the first thing to check.Check the cable from the battery to the engine first then check any ground wires from the engine to the firewall or frame of the vehicle.Bad ground connections are the cause of most electrical problems check all of them you can find remove and inspect the connection points as sometimes corrosion may be hidden from view.
Hope this helps.
Bob
If there are U codes one of the modules on the communication network is at fault , power integration module comes to mind . Chrysler has had a problem with these . All the problems you list are controlled by this module . If the car starts an runs fine I wouldn't worry about battery cables ! Myself I would check power an grounds at the module ! An look for water intrusion into the module an corrosion at the module connectors !
Testimonial: "Thanks. I'll check out the PIM for corrosion, water, and other problems. Yes, when the problem occurs the car starts and runs fine, but without a speedometer and turn signals, I'm asking for a ticket."
My guess is a bad ground connection from the battery cable.. if it is a side post, acid from the battery will seep into the cable.. and cause havoc.. when the dealer took the cables off, he really didn't need to short them together, it would have drained any power left in the system, pretty quickly.. I would start looking at age of my cables.
Testimonial: "Thanks for the suggestion. I checked the cables and the connections myself, and there is NO PROBLEM there."
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