Can anyone make sense of these electrical gremlins that went away?

[johnboy00]

First the background. My Jetta wagon was T-boned (drivers door) about a year ago in a relatively low speed collision by a Prius. There was enough damage that it would have ben totaled if anyone looked at, but the accident was my fault, and the car was drivable. A friend who's a body guy said he wouldn't touch it, it would take two much time to pull and straighten the b-pillar and bottom rail. I took it too a tree with a come-along ratchet and go it to the point that the doors close and seal and it looks ok from 20ft. I also replaced the front brakes and a wheel bearing around the same time.

Not long after this was done, every now and then, about 2 minutes after I would start driving, the ABS and brake light (dash) would beep and flash for a few seconds, go out, and then never return. This began in Jan or Feb. No codes (I have VCDS) were stored, and brake fluid level was fine.

About a month or two later, my radio (aftermarket Pioneer) would restart and every now and then, do a complete factory reset, as if you disconnected the power. As time went on I noticed that sometimes the radio would reset when I turned the lights on, and occasionally the dash lights would dim for just a second.

These symptoms began to happen more over time to the point where the brake lights flashed 8 out of 10 times in the morning by August. It was becoming clear, or so I thought, that maybe I had some wires got nicked from the accident, or here was a loose ground somewhere. Although I did think that the radio might just be dying.

Towards the end of August, I noticed that my starter was beginning to act up and be slow to start. I tapped on the starter and it got better. Diagnosis: Dust needs a new starter. I have a 99 parts car with a replaced Valeo starter built in 2012. I put that in last weekend.

ALL PROBLEMS WENT AWAY!

How can this be? I only touched the battery terminals, nothing was loose, to my recollection, and if it was, I would think starter problems would be the first to show up. I've been scratching my head for a couple of days now, trying to understand how changing the starter could have fixed what might have been some other electrical problem. Now I'm actually questioning if the other starter was bad, though at 220,000 miles and 19 years, I'm sure it was tired. Luckily I didn't pay for it, and I'm keeping the one I pulled.

Any thoughts? Or anything I should check so my gremlins don't return?

 

[BobnOH]

Thoughts? Yea, You've got to be kidding, the very nature of pure electrical issues (aka Gremlins) makes it impossible to answer your question. Some of the wires and connects are so small it doesn't take much for them to lose integrity. Perhaps just using the vehicle has jostled them around enough to make them happy again.
Nice work on the repairs. You may want to take it to a frame/chassis alignment specialist for a look over..

 

[ghohouston]

Did you happen to check the battery cables before you removed them? I have seen countless issues caused by loose battery cables.

 

[wonneber]

When I installed a Kenwood in my 03 JSW I ran new power and ground wires to the radio.
I used a power wire that was 'hot in run' (not cranking) for the radio on wire, and an always hot wire from the fuses under the hood for the radio memory.
The above should cure your factory reset issue.

I also yanked the booster in the quarter panel and ran all new speaker wires to all the speakers.
The original VW wires were to thin for my liking.
I used 18 gauge wire iIrc.
The radio is in my 2014 JSW now.
Some day I want to replace the speaker wires in it.

 

[johnboy00]

Did you happen to check the battery cables before you removed them? I have seen countless issues caused by loose battery cables.

It did seem that the battery cables were tight. Additionally, Just after I posted, the brake/abs light blinking came back. It seems as if disconnecting the battery and then reconnecting, improved the situation for a time. I hope to determine what's going on this weekend. I've been just ignoring the issue, but I probably should deal with it. It's not like I don't know what I'm doing. I'm an Electrical engineer who has been building and troubleshooting electronic circuits for 30+ years.

I'm beginning to lean towards a ground or loose connector somewhere. I did change the door so I was moving wires around to get to the three door wire harness connectors.

 

[johnboy00]

When I installed a Kenwood in my 03 JSW I ran new power and ground wires to the radio.
I used a power wire that was 'hot in run' (not cranking) for the radio on wire, and an always hot wire from the fuses under the hood for the radio memory.
The above should cure your factory reset issue.

I also yanked the booster in the quarter panel and ran all new speaker wires to all the speakers.
The original VW wires were to thin for my liking.
I used 18 gauge wire iIrc.
The radio is in my 2014 JSW now.
Some day I want to replace the speaker wires in it.

That's a good suggestion, I'll look into doing that. The brake/abs light problem came back, so I'm going to probably try to resolve that first. If and when I go at the radio, I want to add a back-up camera, and I have a replacement back hatch to install due to some rust. But I don't want to do any of this until I resolve the other issues.

 

[johnboy00]

Thoughts? Yea, You've got to be kidding, the very nature of pure electrical issues (aka Gremlins) makes it impossible to answer your question. Some of the wires and connects are so small it doesn't take much for them to lose integrity. Perhaps just using the vehicle has jostled them around enough to make them happy again.
Nice work on the repairs. You may want to take it to a frame/chassis alignment specialist for a look over..

One of the reasons I posted is because the knowledge here is immense. In the rare possibility that someone might come back and say check this cable located here, it may be loose. or look at the ground here. This is just the start of the process, especially now that the problem is back.

The frame is completely straight as far as the wheels/corners are concerned. The drivers door (which was replaced) took the majority of the hit but the B-pillar was pushed in a an inch or two, as was the sill under the door. The guy I brought it to does frame straightening, but the way to professionally repair it would be to cut and weld in a replacement B-pillar, as well as a few other pieces. It would have been in the thousands. I'm beginning to think the issue may be more related to moving wires around while replacing the door harness connectors.

 

[Fahrvegnugen]

I had abs lights randomly appearing etc and replaced battery cables alternator and starter cables and it went away. They didn't look too bad but I think a little corrosion may have been the issue, though barely visible. Deoxit spray has really helped me fix wires in places where I can see metal but don't see a problem. I recently took my door apart and sprayed any connectors while I had them open. One did have a little corrosion inside.

 

[Zak99b5]

Have you scanned the ABS module to look for any codes? That should help you.

 

[BobnOH]

One of the reasons I posted is because the knowledge here is immense. In the rare possibility that someone might come back and say check this cable located here, it may be loose. or look at the ground here. This is just the start of the process, especially now that the problem is bac

Yes, good idea. I meant no criticism of the posting, hopefully you will get anecdotal ideas.

 

[Nevada_TDI]

When the problem returned was the ambient temperature about the same? Same time of year?

 

[JohnTF]

If someone had access to what we called a " component locator book " , not sure I ever saw one for foreign cars ?
Spent many yrs. chasing auto electrical issues for as many or more yrs. - would use locator for ALL ground connections - remove fasteners , wire brush & put back together with anti-seize --- then continue testing .

Now for other possibilities , I have some similar issues , no accident / but car is new to me , but no signs of .
All stock at this time , California car not a spot of rust , do not drive in winter .
Dash lights do not light more often than do , keyfob does not always work either lock or unlock , only trouble code was rt. rear window code .
A couple of times no low gear or overdrive Autotrans.
Seems I'm forgetting one or two others .
Does not seem to have turbo boost - and no codes there either .
Almost like the computer gets lost or forgets - is there an age thing like humans / dogs - maybe computer has oldfarters

 

[johnboy00]

When the problem returned was the ambient temperature about the same? Same time of year?

No correlation with temperature, humidity, or anything I can think of. I feel I'm pretty good at noticing subtleties like that.

I've been busy and haven't had time to look at it yet but twice in the last couple of days I noticed that I had to turn the key twice to engage the starter. I think I may start back at the battery, then hunt down the ground connections.

 

[johnboy00]

I think I've found my problem. Although the bolt that connect the red wire from the battery to all the power connections at the top of the battery was tight, the connection itself was not. I need to replace the nut and bolt and clean up the contacts. I tightened it up a bit last night and ands been good since.

I'm now thinking that my starter was good, but that's ok, since I didn't have to buy one, and none of this was accident related.

I'll have it cleaned up and secure later today and in about 2 weeks I should know for sure.

 

[johnboy00]

Just to put closure to this. When I went to look at the battery. The stud that holds the red wire going to the top of the battery broke off. I must have overtightened it at some point. All has been good for several weeks now and the gremlins are gone.

 

[coh]

I'm having some similar problems with my ABS and brake warning lights on my 2002 Golf. No accidents, but had my engine replaced about 2.5 years ago after the engine blew up(runaway). Since then I've had occasional issues with the ABS light and BRAKE light flashing and beeping. It doesn't occur every time I drive, and usually only lasts a short while (few minutes at most). Brake fluid is at max and fuses look OK. No other systems seem to be affected, no other lights flashing or dimming, etc.

Had the car scanned earlier this summer, there were 2 ABS codes:

00283 Left front ABS wheel speed sensor - electrical error in circuit

00668 Passive/Sporadic - vehicle voltage terminal 30 - implausible signal

Had the sensor replaced but still seeing the same symptoms (though I should note, before the sensor was replaced the ABS light was always on, now it's only intermittent). After reading your experience, I'm wondering if some electrical connections might have been messed up during the engine replacement. Will take a closer look at those but if anyone has any other thoughts/suggestions, please let me know. Thanks.

 

[P2B]

I'm having some similar problems with my ABS and brake warning lights on my 2002 Golf. No accidents, but had my engine replaced about 2.5 years ago after the engine blew up(runaway). Since then I've had occasional issues with the ABS light and BRAKE light flashing and beeping. It doesn't occur every time I drive, and usually only lasts a short while (few minutes at most). Brake fluid is at max and fuses look OK. No other systems seem to be affected, no other lights flashing or dimming, etc.

Had the car scanned earlier this summer, there were 2 ABS codes:

00283 Left front ABS wheel speed sensor - electrical error in circuit

00668 Passive/Sporadic - vehicle voltage terminal 30 - implausible signal

Had the sensor replaced but still seeing the same symptoms (though I should note, before the sensor was replaced the ABS light was always on, now it's only intermittent). After reading your experience, I'm wondering if some electrical connections might have been messed up during the engine replacement. Will take a closer look at those but if anyone has any other thoughts/suggestions, please let me know. Thanks.

BRAKE flashing and beeping means either e-brake engaged, low fluid level, or two simultaneous ABS faults.

Intermittent ABS light can be caused by rusty rear tone rings coming in contact with the sensors. Eventually the contact will cause hard failure of the sensor, but it can cause the ABS light to come on intermittently (especially at low speeds) for quite some time before the sensor is completely destroyed.

 

[coh]

BRAKE flashing and beeping means either e-brake engaged, low fluid level, or two simultaneous ABS faults.

Intermittent ABS light can be caused by rusty rear tone rings coming in contact with the sensors. Eventually the contact will cause hard failure of the sensor, but it can cause the ABS light to come on intermittently (especially at low speeds) for quite some time before the sensor is completely destroyed.

Thanks for your thoughts.

As I noted, the brake fluid is at max. And the beeping I get is NOT the warning tone you get when the e-brake is engaged while driving, which is a solid/continuous tone. This is the beep-beep-beep at a higher pitch that others have described.

I do have to put snow tires on soon so will take a look at those rear sensors, provided I can figure out where they are.

 

[Zak99b5]

To get a good look youll have to remove the rotors.

 

[coh]

To get a good look youll have to remove the rotors.

Ugh...probably something I'm not going to be able to do. Thanks for the tip.

 

[Zak99b5]

After the wheel is off, just two bolts for the caliper, remove (or drill out) rotor screw, and take out the outer pad.

 

[coh]

After the wheel is off, just two bolts for the caliper, remove (or drill out) rotor screw, and take out the outer pad.

I will look at it and determine whether I want to do that. Right now, this is the only working car we have since my wife's car crapped out, and I don't tend to be very good with this kind of stuff.

Of course, drove for almost an hour this morning, almost 40 miles, and not a single beeping or flashing light was seen...LOL.