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2003 Oldsmobile Alero has quirks during cold seasons


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Smurfkong
New User

Nov 27, 2017, 2:03 AM

Post #1 of 6 (1623 views)
2003 Oldsmobile Alero has quirks during cold seasons Sign In

Hey guys, this is the first time I've posted this in a forum. I'm getting really tired of this.

Synopsis: When it gets cold out my car won't start, or half the lights on the dash come on and meters won't show anything. 0 RPM, 0 MPH, no gas, cold engine. Even when car is on, obviously. Battery replaced, alternator good, starter good, fuses good, fuel pump good.

A couple other quirks, related to the cold
1. When my car is off sometimes the lights won't turn off. They're automatic and only has three settings. Full, Dim, or Auto. Pulling it is brights, pushing is locking brights on, up is right blinker and down is left blinker. No way to manually shut them off (that I know).
2. When my car is off sometimes all the lights on my dash come on as if it's that beginning test when you start a car, when all the lights come on for a sec.
3. When it gets cold, I know when there will be issues because I can't unlock, lock, pop the trunk, or use my panic button. None of them will work.

I would upload a picture of what I see but this site's picture uploading system is horrendous.

Specs:
2003 Oldsmobile Alero
~110,000 miles
2.2 L, 4 cylinder (In line?)

Thanks for any help. And after sinking about $3000 for mechanics to tell me they have no idea what's wrong, I'm aware that replacing this car would be more cost effective. But I want it fixed, not replaced.

UPDATE-----------
For the first time ever, my car started today but it didn't show ANY lights. Normally some lights would come on, check engine, trac off, battery, what have you. But today none of the lights came on and none of the meters were working. Blinker lights work and it shows mileage but that's it.


(This post was edited by Smurfkong on Nov 27, 2017, 3:27 PM)


Tom Greenleaf
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
Tom Greenleaf profile image

Nov 27, 2017, 2:46 AM

Post #2 of 6 (1617 views)
Re: 2003 Oldsmobile Alero has quirks during cold seasons Sign In

Oh boy! $3,000 bucks of working or checking why and no answers from mechanics! Wrong people find more qualified techs.
Define what is cold to you please and if warmer does everything then behave.


Can only suspect temp is cutting power out possible at main or first fuse box perhaps underside of it corrosion or something visible probably wrong there higher temps makes the connection work cold they shrink and don't.


Yes this is going to be hard on a forum if so much $$ came up with nothing and had this in person is hard to compete with.
As for pics - this site is and has been funky about that for ages now can't always use it's own set up. Try something like a hosting site then copy or post link to your own pics that are there works for many.
Any clues from what already was checked or did it just behave when others had it perfectly so nothing was found wrong?


T



Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
Hammer Time profile image

Nov 27, 2017, 6:17 AM

Post #3 of 6 (1609 views)
Re: 2003 Oldsmobile Alero has quirks during cold seasons Sign In

It needs to be troubleshooted further but it sounds like the Body Control Module is bad. It controls pretty much all of those things.

I would double check all of the power feeds and grounds first.



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We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.



Smurfkong
New User

Nov 27, 2017, 3:23 PM

Post #4 of 6 (1592 views)
Re: 2003 Oldsmobile Alero has quirks during cold seasons Sign In

these problems start around 10 celcius. warming it up doesn't seem to do anything but I haven't ever tried literally warming up the entire car. I have turned on my heater IN the car (for a while) and it helped when it was only barely cold, though.

I checked every individual fuse in box near drivers side and in box on engine. No corrosion there. As for anything else corroded, I just don't know.

I'll try to upload pics soon. Probably through puush.


Smurfkong
New User

Nov 27, 2017, 3:25 PM

Post #5 of 6 (1590 views)
Re: 2003 Oldsmobile Alero has quirks during cold seasons Sign In

That sounds different than what anyone else has said, so are there any suggestions on how to check these things?


Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
Hammer Time profile image

Nov 27, 2017, 3:31 PM

Post #6 of 6 (1584 views)
Re: 2003 Oldsmobile Alero has quirks during cold seasons Sign In

It will have to be diagnosed using a professional, bidirectional scan tool capable of accessing the BCM.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We offer help in answering questions, clarifying things or giving advice but we are not a substitute for an on-site inspection by a professional.







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