Topic: Dash lit up like a Christmas tree

[2.0 tspeed]

So I just turned on the car drove whole dash freaks all lights on and mph and rpm at 0
Car drives fine. Shut car off won't turn over . Wait couple car turns over, still same service esc all dash lights lit up.  No mph or rpm car drives fine any ideas lolz

[snaponbob]

Sounds too simple, but check the battery for state of charge (should be over 12.8 with everything turned off) and tight battery clamps. If the voltage gets too low, the car can get REALLY "stupid".

[2.0 tspeed]

I'm leaning towards it's the battery cause the car decides when it wants to turn over now :-/ oh well I'll mess with it tom

[IBDRINKEN]

Its def the battery, I know those xmas lites very well...

[miller11386]

Yes and if you take it in to a parts store they may say it is "good" because they dont do a load test.

My battery tested good on the battery tester, but when I replaced it, all my issues went away.

[snaponbob]

FWIW, used to sell battery testers. There are basically three;

1) A volt meter. All that does is establish that there IS a charge and what it is. (One CAN check for voltage drop using the starter, but not conclusive.)
2) "Load" tester. These are usually a carbon pile or other heat dissipating controlled load. These will hit the battery with a small load (hand held 75-100 amp unit) or a controlled higher load (adjustable/programmable carbon pile) to simulate a maximum load (starter plus accessories). VERY dependable test method, and can be used to check alternator output.
3) "Impedance"  battery tester. These check for internal resistance and voltages. These have performance maps that calculate what the battery is doing and its condition. PROPERLY used, these are very good tools.

There are all sorts of "shade tree" methods to test batteries and a lot of them DO generate good data. For instance, using a volt meter a properly charged battery will show 12.8 - 13.4 volts and should not drop below 9.8-10 volts when the starter is engaged. That said, it is not wise to use a carbon pile load tester on glass mat, gas mat, or other dense compact batteries as they can (will) damage them. Small, high output batteries generally fall into that category (like our cars). But, there is another very important aspect to this - that battery terminals and clamps. In the case of the Kappa terminal clamps - they SUCK !!!! Tighten that little 10mm nut a bit too much and it WILL break. ALWAYS start with a physical inspection before testing stuff.

School is out !!!!!   

[2.0 tspeed]

well car is done going to pick it up 250 to replace broken door handle.
and another 200 to tell me nothing is wrong with the car.
apparently the next day when the tech got to the car nothing was wrong with it?
tech checked over the car ,drove it ,cleared the codes it threw when it went crazy.
415$ total. they offerd to do the airbag sensor for 511 instead of 700 but between the tires and this i just didnt have it.
i also think i kinda got a little robbed.
my gut tells me since its been raining so much down here in fl that some wire or sensor got wet freaked, dried out and ran fine

[Critterman]

Did they ask you to bend over?

[2.0 tspeed]

i will say this they did return my calls very quickly, even the tech called me cause he couldn't duplicate what happened.
service was up to speed. i just feel like i got a little robbed thats all

[Kallake]

Stumbled onto this thread noting no solution posted. These cars along with the Chevy Cobalt have issues with the BCM which causes the problems posted. The only fix is to replace the BCM.