HELP vx commodore electrical problems

lifeofcrimeguy · Post by **lifeofcrimeguy** » Tue Oct 25, 2011 8:29 pm

Hey all, this afternoon my alarm started sounding for no apparent reason. Looked out the window and actually figured it was not my car for a couple of hours, because the lights weren't flashing. Eventually go for a wonder because the alarm has been sounding non-stop for 2 hours, and it is my car. No power to doors or boot, etc. Attempt to jumpt start and nothing happens except inside, all of the dash lights start going crazy. And the alarm gets a little louder. Now the car doesn't get much use, so I'm pretty used to dead batteries 2-3 times year (260 000 on the clock). I've bought a solar trickle charger from supercheap and recently had my crank angle sensor replaced (holden serviced just a few months ago). So I was hoping that all my gremlins were taken care of. Tell me this is something simple like a replacement battery or something (which is < 12 months old btw), and not something more costly. Can't even lock the damn thing when hooked up to the other car via jumper leads...

Forgot to mention, VX series 1 V6 sedan.

mike-s · Post by **mike-s** » Wed Oct 26, 2011 2:02 am

The only thing i can think of is to open the hood and reseat every single eleectrical connector, relay and fuse i can find with a contact cleaner like this. It's a lightweight one, which is good for minor problems, but [url=http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=NS1434]this[url] is heavier duty and what i would use to try and make sure. Aside from that, i have no idea. I take it that there weren't any dramatic let-the-magic-smoke-out moments immediately preceeding the alarm going off, so i doubt there is anything like that happening here.

red_dave · Post by **red_dave** » Wed Oct 26, 2011 7:56 am

Sounds like your polariser...

Post by **Wattie** » Wed Oct 26, 2011 9:38 am

red_dave wrote:Sounds like your polariser...

Or lack of polariser.

Seriously though, ask Madkaw about solar trickle chargers.

His was actually re-charging the sun. And flattening the battery. He had 2 batteries and one on the solar and one not, the one on the solar lost charge the other didn't

born green · Post by **born green** » Wed Oct 26, 2011 5:25 pm

Easy fix, buy a ford, hehe

Smitty · Post by **Smitty** » Wed Oct 26, 2011 9:43 pm

lifeofcrimeguy wrote:Hey all, this afternoon my alarm started sounding for no apparent reason. Looked out the window and actually figured it was not my car for a couple of hours, because the lights weren't flashing. Eventually go for a wonder because the alarm has been sounding non-stop for 2 hours, and it is my car. No power to doors or boot, etc. Attempt to jumpt start and nothing happens except inside, all of the dash lights start going crazy. And the alarm gets a little louder. Now the car doesn't get much use, so I'm pretty used to dead batteries 2-3 times year (260 000 on the clock). I've bought a solar trickle charger from supercheap and recently had my crank angle sensor replaced (holden serviced just a few months ago). So I was hoping that all my gremlins were taken care of. Tell me this is something simple like a replacement battery or something (which is < 12 months old btw), and not something more costly. Can't even lock the damn thing when hooked up to the other car via jumper leads...

Forgot to mention, VX series 1 V6 sedan.

get a decent (new/used) battery for it..and throw that in

on VTs and VXs if the battery charge drops below 8-9v the BCM gets the wobbles
BCM? Body control module- looks after lights alarms (everything cept for the engine and trans)

also if that does not fix it, get the ABS module checked (Holden or repair places can do it)
it died on my old VX, killed the battery and then I had all sorts of stoopids happening
dash lights flicking on and off etc (ps an ABS module is about $400 or was when I get mine replaced)

lifeofcrimeguy · Post by **lifeofcrimeguy** » Thu Oct 27, 2011 10:22 am

Thanks everyone, I hooked it up to another car direct, taking the battery out of it completely. and got it to start and it seems to work fine. For now it's just locked up with no battery. Hopefully will have time on the weekend to test that everything else is fine. I figured that the trickle charger was a bad idea, but this time of year she does about 4 kms a month, so figured it was worth a shot.

Smitty · Post by **Smitty** » Thu Oct 27, 2011 9:00 pm

I run a trickle charger on the race car
its needed as it goes out maybe 8 - 10 times a year for events
plus the battery is trying to start a hi compression V8 race engine
with very advanced ignition ..and no choke
and its usually ok

I would have another go with one....

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