Car electronics help?

[KabeRinnaul]

Well, we have a tech support board, but nothing for car problems, but I'm tired of trying to work this one out myself, since I can't really afford professional repair unless it's something that would make the car undrivable.

So, a while ago, I had to jump my car. Everything seemed normal, but afterwards, I had a litany of annoying problems:
- the power windows work, but not the power locks.
- the AC will blow, but not cool.
- opening the side doors won't turn the overhead light on. Opening the rear door (it's a 2002 Honda CRV) does.
- the parking brake functions normally, but the parking brake indicator light is constantly on.

I've checked fuses, and none of them seem to need replacement. Any ideas on what might be causing all of this? I'm hoping it's one fault, despite the varied issues, since it all started at the same time. If nothing else, I want my AC back.

edit: Oh yeah. And the car no longer beeps to alert keys left in ignition with doors open, nor unbuckled passengers.

[mjr]

I'm not an electrician or a mechanic, but it sounds like it might be a short somewhere.

[Ophbalance]

Could also be some blown fuses. They're all over cars anymore so there's multiple places to check. The owners manual should list the locations. Worst case though is you may have toasted a system board. It's one of the main reasons why I'll never jump my Prius. One bad connection and I'm looking at several thousands in engine management computers to replace.

[EricKei]

On fuses -- many cars these days have two sets of fuses -- one under the steering wheel area (above the clutch pedal/where it would be), and another within the engine compartment. dud ya check both of those? On the latter, in particular, check your manual for any caveats first.

AC - Could be low freon. If freon is full, the AC hardware may be going out (e.g. the compressor). Generally a reasonably-priced part (under $200 often), but the labor to get it in there will vary greatly.

The rest of the stuff sounds like electrical system issues, as the others have suggested.

[csquared]

On the AC, before checking freon, start the car with the AC off. Open the hood. Have someone turn the AC on. Listen for the "click" of the compressor clutch engaging. The compressor clutch not engaging would match up with the rest of the problem being electrical.

Most cars built in the last 15 years have some sort of "central control" for things like power locks, remote access, auto timer headlights/dome lights/access lights, etc. That is my guess.

Try to find a forum for Honda CRVs. You should be able to get advice to troubleshoot, and also recommendation on finding parts for the repair.

[bbbr]

Check for broken wires in the drivers door boot (the bit of rubber where all the wires from the door transition to the car proper). My mothers Exploder and mine both had random issues with the locks, windows and overhead lights not working. In both cases it was tracked to a broken wire that would intermittently make contact with itself and work properly. I ended up soldering a jumper wire to both sides and wrapping it in electrical tape to solve the issue permanently.

The parking brake light could be a dirty switch that isn't returning to the correct position when the brake is released.

[Javarod]

While the suggestions above are all good and definitely the first thing to check, i'd suspect the body control module if its a modern car. Unfortunately these days everything in your car is controlled by a computer, tail lights, headlights, power seats, radio, and on and on. In my Sedona it had a habit of randomly locking the driver's side door.

[Rosco the Iroc]

Why did you need to jump it? Cars do funny things when the battery is getting to it's end of life. All those things can be PCM controlled. You could of surged it and it could of gotten a memory fault and need a reflash. Sounds stupid but have you disconnected the neg post of the battery let it sit for 10-15min and reconnected it? Also how are the connections? Are they tight and corrosion free?

Fuses are not to protect the part they are to protect the car from the part. Ie if the window motor shorts out the fuse keeps it from melting down the main wiring. They are not surge protectors.