Strange electical issues

[Ronnie]

I replace the battery on my Reatta a few days ago. Everything seemed to go routinely and I didn't suspect anymore problems. The weather was in the mid sixties today so I decided to do some driving. All went well for the first 10 miles and then I started to get electrical problem warning on the CRT. It would pop up for a while and then go away for a while.  Car was still running fine so I drove another 10-15 miles before I pulled over and checked the codes. I had a bunch of them. E027 (2nd gear switch), E028 (3rd gear switch), E029 (4th gear switch), E031 (P/N switch) and E026. When the codes finished flashing on the screen I noticed the 4th gear indicator triangle was illuminated on the CRT all the time.  I turned the key off and then checked the codes again. Same result. The 4th gear indicator was still on.

 

After I got home I started troubleshooting the problem - thinking it was caused by the 4th gear indicator switch in the transmission OR the P/N switch had gone bad. I checked the P/N switch first and it checked out good. I tested the inputs from the ECM to the transmission and it checked good. Checked the connector for the gear indicator switches on the transmission and everything checked out as it should. I could find nothing wrong. So I did another test drive. Same problem.

 

When I got back home I did what I would have recommended to anyone here on the forum that described the same problem.... I disconnected the battery cable for a couple of minutes and then re-connected it. Problem fixed! No more warnings and no more codes.

 

The moral of this story is I spent over an hour troubleshooting a phantom problem that took 3 minutes to fix. Isn't Reatta ownership fun? :)

[DAVES89]

I couldn't agree more. I swapped out that programmer yesterday and just for grind after I had it out and the replacement in place plugged the old one into the harness and changed the temperature to see if the arm would move. It does so I guess it just wanted a "rest".

These cars can be trying...

[jglawnyc]

Yet we love them.

[DAVES89]

Just yesterday another "Gremlin" popped up. All the numbers on my IPC disappeared, the message flashed "Electrical Problem Detected" and the fan on the heat went to high. I pulled over turned the car off and restarted it and everything was normal.

Forgot to read the codes but will try today.

Also first time ever I turned on the lights and while they illuminated they wouldn't pop up. Turned them off and back on and everything was fine.

These can be crazy cars. I don't think the Black knows it is on "borrowed Time" as I really don't want to spend anymore money on it. And may "put it down" if issues persist.

[Ronnie]

Dave, that sounds like it might have been caused by low battery voltage. Check the codes and see if you have a code E016 in history. When my battery when dead the other day only one headlight door would open and that is the code I had. I would check for a bad battery cable connection. I hope it's not too cold up there to get out and work on it.

[Eclectic]

Hello and thank you to all my mentors hear at ROJ. I continue to have electrical problems with my somewhat pristine 1991 coupe. I may have a couple more ground points to repair, but I am also thinking to replace the ICM. I am looking for advice on which one to buy. The Reatta store shows the Delphi DS 2004 at $103 through Amazon. That control can be bought on Ebay for $81, but I see many other ICM's listed, some for hundreds of dollars, some with ten year warranty. What is the experience of the group on this critical and frequently failing ignition component.

[Ronnie]

I don't think you will beat that eBay price. You should be looking for the Delphi DS1004 1991 Ignition Control Module. You posted Delphi part #2004 so be sure you get the right one. I prefer the ACDelco brand if the price is the about same but Delphi is good too.