HELP! battery in message center, haywire gauges, and limp mode!!!

[Silver Bullet]

On the way home from work today my message center flashed the red battery for a couple seconds and the gauges went dead for a split second. I don't think the truck lost power, but I was not in the throttle when this happened.

I checked the batteries and the DS appears fine, but the PS side is not really showing the "green glow". I have my stereo wired to the PS side battery.

Any ideas??? :confused:

Thanks.

[ 06-06-2003, 10:07 AM: Message edited by: Silver Bullet ]

[imported_]

load test your non green eye battery.....i think its dead houston... and if that is the case you might want to upgrade both of them to optima's...unless they are still under warranty

[2DAMAX]

T

[Silver Bullet]

Well, I think I have it figured out...

I stopped by Autozone...the batteries and alternator check out fine. All was well except for the dash instruments going crazy and then it happened...LIMP MODE!!! :mad: Stuck in 4th gear and no reverse...4th was better than 3rd for the 25 mile drive home!!! It did not throw a SES...does this mean there are no codes?

My previous NBSU adventure...

http://forum.thedieselpage.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=7;t=004742

http://forum.thedieselpage.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=7;t=004749#000000

[Silver Bullet]

I thought it was the NBSU, but I was wrong! My ignition switch (26098763) went south. After paying twice the GMPD price for the part and an arm and a leg for 2 hours labor, the Silver Bullet is good as new.

[FirstDiesel]

How does that explain the batteryt green eye?? And why wasn't that warrantied?

[Silver Bullet]

I stopped and had the batteries and alt. checked at Autozone...they checked out OK. I am not sure why the green eye is weak in the PS battery.

It was not warrantied b/c I have 44,500 miles...in 16 months.

I thought it was fixed...all was well until a mile from the office this morning...back it goes after lunch!!! :mad:

The symptoms are limp mode, gauges going haywire (going dead...like I turned the key off but the truck still has power, idiot lights flashing, and the the red battery in the message center).

[ 06-06-2003, 10:06 AM: Message edited by: Silver Bullet ]

[Silver Bullet]

I found out late Friday it looks like a bad connection with a fuse in the fuse block in the passenger compartment...I'll know more Monday afternoon when I pick it up.

[HotShot]

The green eye isn't 100% reliable. I had a battery that was never green, give it a whack and watch the ball float in and then back out. Always best to load test batteries and alternators and draw test your starter if you suspect a problem.

[chuntag95]

SB, what's the update? Is it going to live? :confused:

[thechevyhdman]

This sounds identical to the issues I am having with my truck. Silver let me know what the problem is so I can start eliminating possibilities. I just posted a new thread on this in the other forum. Bill

[Silver Bullet]

I got it back and the problem appears to be corrected. A while back I used a cheap probe to determine the hot side of a socket in the fuse block...between cramming the probe in there and initially using a cheap wrap-around add-on (the kind that slips over the tip of the fuse), I managed to stretch out the connection in the fuse block. The fuse was not making a good connection. This problem appears to be self inflicted! D'OH!!! :mad:

One misdiagnosis by the dealer, which cost me $270, and then the real fix (which ran me about $200...cheaper than normal as the labor was misquoted or they felt bad about the misdiagnosis!), I think the problem is fixed.

The way to add things to the fuse box is with add-a-fuse connector like what you set me up with Chris as they don't stretch the fuse block connectors!!!

Hdman - Shoot me an e-mail if you want more info or have specific questions.