Numerous faults, alternator going bad?
#1
12-17-2018, 01:53 AM
Numerous faults, alternator going bad?
Hi again, thanks for your help earlier. The school semester is over, but I haven’t had a chance to work on this yet. However, it just snowed about 15 inches in two days in Anchorage, and I backed into a ditch up in a mountain trail. One tow truck’s winch cable snapped trying to pull my rover out. It sat for two days in 5-10° weather (but I the majority of its life is from Cali where I bought it), and we finally rescued it from the ditch with two separate tow trucks and a combination of dual winch methods. Now the rover has the following problems:
HDC fault system unavailable
transmission fault detected, traction reduced
parking brake communication error
adaptive headlights symbol
Abs symbol
traction control off symbol
low tire symbol
check engine light: c0037
air suspension fault, ride height disabled
and an Xmas tree of lights on the dash
the rover had the two driver’s side wheels tear into the soil of the ditch trying to get free. The vehicle was high centered and leaning at a sharp angle off into the ditch. It melted snow, and the water surrounded the wheels and frozen over two days. The wheels were frozen and would not move after they were freed from the ditch. We had to pick out the ice. The check engine light code c0037 is for left rear wheel speed sensor (which makes sense because it was underwater). I have reason to believe that it might have also damaged the tpm inside the tire. I majority of the car was not under water though.
I was looking up the code earlier and I found a video about a guy (who sounded competent) stating how incorrect power output can cause a mass of lights to come on the dash. I checked the voltage of the battery: 12.78 engine off, 14.09 engine idle. I think the battery is ok, and I just replaced it two months ago. Do you think the alternator didn’t like the 5° and is starting to break down? Or would there be more obvious signs? It still cranks up and starts like a beast. The 4wd worked flawlessly in the blizzard we just had, even tho the ride height is disabled and at its lowest setting. Any thoughts? (I am an electrician, so if you have another pdf for electronic communication - that would be great). I just replaced a ton of fuses that had carbon build up, but that didn’t do anything.
HDC fault system unavailable
transmission fault detected, traction reduced
parking brake communication error
adaptive headlights symbol
Abs symbol
traction control off symbol
low tire symbol
check engine light: c0037
air suspension fault, ride height disabled
and an Xmas tree of lights on the dash
the rover had the two driver’s side wheels tear into the soil of the ditch trying to get free. The vehicle was high centered and leaning at a sharp angle off into the ditch. It melted snow, and the water surrounded the wheels and frozen over two days. The wheels were frozen and would not move after they were freed from the ditch. We had to pick out the ice. The check engine light code c0037 is for left rear wheel speed sensor (which makes sense because it was underwater). I have reason to believe that it might have also damaged the tpm inside the tire. I majority of the car was not under water though.
I was looking up the code earlier and I found a video about a guy (who sounded competent) stating how incorrect power output can cause a mass of lights to come on the dash. I checked the voltage of the battery: 12.78 engine off, 14.09 engine idle. I think the battery is ok, and I just replaced it two months ago. Do you think the alternator didn’t like the 5° and is starting to break down? Or would there be more obvious signs? It still cranks up and starts like a beast. The 4wd worked flawlessly in the blizzard we just had, even tho the ride height is disabled and at its lowest setting. Any thoughts? (I am an electrician, so if you have another pdf for electronic communication - that would be great). I just replaced a ton of fuses that had carbon build up, but that didn’t do anything.
#3
12-17-2018, 07:08 AM
Super Moderator
#4
12-17-2018, 07:03 PM
Camel Trophy
Indeed. Do a hard-reset. It seems like most of the issues could be related to a damaged ABS sensor. If you moved it will sufficient ice built-up I could see the sensor being ripped apart.
As for voltages, did you test at the battery with a proper meter? Running voltage is okay, but given the temps you are speaking I would expect it to be closer to 14.5 or charging. Generally the colder the temps, the higher the charging voltage until the battery is sufficient.
Overall I dont expect you have any major issues though. Its probably one or two small things. Even a bad brake lamp or brake switch can cause some of these issues.
As for voltages, did you test at the battery with a proper meter? Running voltage is okay, but given the temps you are speaking I would expect it to be closer to 14.5 or charging. Generally the colder the temps, the higher the charging voltage until the battery is sufficient.
Overall I dont expect you have any major issues though. Its probably one or two small things. Even a bad brake lamp or brake switch can cause some of these issues.
#5
12-17-2018, 11:06 PM
Indeed. Do a hard-reset. It seems like most of the issues could be related to a damaged ABS sensor. If you moved it will sufficient ice built-up I could see the sensor being ripped apart.
As for voltages, did you test at the battery with a proper meter? Running voltage is okay, but given the temps you are speaking I would expect it to be closer to 14.5 or charging. Generally the colder the temps, the higher the charging voltage until the battery is sufficient.
Overall I dont expect you have any major issues though. Its probably one or two small things. Even a bad brake lamp or brake switch can cause some of these issues.
As for voltages, did you test at the battery with a proper meter? Running voltage is okay, but given the temps you are speaking I would expect it to be closer to 14.5 or charging. Generally the colder the temps, the higher the charging voltage until the battery is sufficient.
Overall I dont expect you have any major issues though. Its probably one or two small things. Even a bad brake lamp or brake switch can cause some of these issues.
#6
12-18-2018, 01:37 AM
Correct voltage on the battery with the engine running should be 14.4v approximate, battery itself sitting should be 12.5, or 12.7v
The HDC and Traction control faults are common in cold, and on batteries that have sat, or are low, a combination will do it. Even on good alternators, batteries, sometimes just a start in the cold it will set those off. They usually go away if you let the car warm up, then turn off and restart.
Try the hard reset one more time, or especially after you swap in the sensor you purchased. If the sensor you got does not do the trick, try swapping out the brake light switch, this has fixed issues for people in the past. You may have also nicked a ride height sensor or have one freeze up in packed ice/snow, which could have caused the ride height failure too.
When you have some extra funds, get a new or used IID tool, this will allow you to diagnose in more detail, and disable certain systems to figure out which problems are real, or not, or causing other faults.
The HDC and Traction control faults are common in cold, and on batteries that have sat, or are low, a combination will do it. Even on good alternators, batteries, sometimes just a start in the cold it will set those off. They usually go away if you let the car warm up, then turn off and restart.
Try the hard reset one more time, or especially after you swap in the sensor you purchased. If the sensor you got does not do the trick, try swapping out the brake light switch, this has fixed issues for people in the past. You may have also nicked a ride height sensor or have one freeze up in packed ice/snow, which could have caused the ride height failure too.
When you have some extra funds, get a new or used IID tool, this will allow you to diagnose in more detail, and disable certain systems to figure out which problems are real, or not, or causing other faults.
#7
12-18-2018, 11:51 AM
Camel Trophy
These are all good suggestions. I think a nicked or bent or tweaked ride height sensor would throw off the calibration and cause cross-articulation faults. Now....those are mostly identifiable at speed and it sounds like there isn't much getting up to (highway) speeds at the moment, so keep it on the list.
...and add wheel angle sensor to the list as well.
...and add wheel angle sensor to the list as well.
#8
12-21-2018, 02:58 AM
I changed the wheel speed sensor on the driver side rear wheel hub. The old sensor and hub had a ton of mud stuck inside of it from the time it was stuck in the ditch. I didn’t bother cleaning the sensor because I already had the new one. I replaced it, and now ALL of the fault messages have disappeared. Yay!
The following users liked this post:
houm_wa (12-21-2018)
