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So I was driving yesterday with AC running, when all of a sudden the whole unit turned itself off.
I turned it back on but it wasn't set to my usual auto settings
I pressed the auto button, it did respond to that kinda but after that it disabled all the other buttons and knobs and accepted no input.
Also I now have an orange engine light which I haven't coded yet.
When I arrived home I turned off the car but the unit remained turned on with fans blowing etc
Only way to turn off was to remove neutral lead on battery
I put lead back on and it did not start up again, pressing on does not turn it back on - she's dead Jim!
So I am guessing some kind of fried solenoid or similar but no idea what - thoughts?
I live in Arizona where it's 100 degrees every day so no AC not really an option!
Thanks for reading.
Mine did that twice (once my messing with wiring). The telltale sign of what it was for me, is the interior lights didn't illuminate either (well it was just dead, no fans running with key off - that's odd). It was a blown fuse which I found odd that the climate control was on the interior lights fuse.
aznewsh, what year car are we talking about here? if it is a 2004, look in the driver's door jam and include the build month/year (there were a few changes mid year for that year car). Like what Dell says, it could be something as simple as a blown fuse. Granted, having the fans stay on after the car is turned off and the other problems you mention make it sound more like a bad A/C module. With the A/C module, do you happen to also have NAV in the car. I am trying to figure out if you have the A/C integrated into the radio or if you have the version that is separate. Things vary a little bit between the two.
From what you are describing, you most likely will need a new A/C module.
Yes it is a 2004 - MFD Date: 10/03 (so not really 2004 I guess )
This car does not have navigation
I will test the fuse as soon as I figure out which to check, should I check relays too?
Is replacing the AC module a job I can do at home?
yes, you can easily change the ac module at home.
beware...they are not cheap.
many people here have had problems with the cheap chinese versions from ebay etc
Oh I will wait, was just trying to learn a bit more.
I am not ready to risk buying anything until I understand which if any module is likely to need replacing, there seems to be multiple "modules" that could fit the bill haha
When it turned itself off, it was totally off, display and everything as though I turned it off but I didn't
I turned it back on and display lit up fans came on but wasn't blowing cool (sorry forgot that part)
At this point I pressed the auto button cos that's how I normally use it and after that it stayed lit and blowing but did not respond to any of the buttons or dials including auto, it only responded to that once.
When I had to disconnect, yes car turned off and key out, but LCD still lit showing all numbers and still blowing - totally bizarre!
Now it is off no matter what I do, will not turn on.
LCD does not illuminate when lights are on, just checked.
Iownme, isn't that link the fan controller module by the battery right under where I (could of been "we", lol) replaced the top hose assembly going towards battery?
I do think Thermo was talking about the A/C module, the $$$$ one.
aznewsh, do the idiot checks first. There are 3 fuses you need to be worried about:
F75 in the central junction box - If you have the fold flat side mirror option, then if this fuse is bad, that will have stopped working too
F80 in the central junction box - If this fuse is bad, you should not see any lights on your J-gate shifter and/or, the tranny may shift a little funny since it won't be getting the correct signals
F99 in the central junction box - If this fuse is bad, you should be seeing a lot of your interior lighting not working when you open the door(s) (no foot well lights, no overhead lights, no vanity lights in the sunvisors, etc).
The next thing I would say to try is to get yourself a flashlight. Turn the car on and attempt to turn on the A/C system. Using the flashlight, shine it at the LCD display and many angles and see if you can spot any sort of information on the screen. It could be something as simple as the back lights are not working on the LCD screen which will make things appear to be not working.
I think the smoking gun for me is the CEL light that came on. Looking at how the information travels around the car, the information for the J-Gate travels up to the A/C unit and then continues on to the tranny computer and then finally on to the engine computer. Because you have the check engine light, this is telling me that you will probably have a code that will talk about a "CAN Bus failure". If this is the case, then this will almost guarantee that you have a bad A/C module.
OK I am apparently too stupid to find the passenger compartment fusebox, I looked everywhere. Popped out the cover in the glovebox and nothing there, looked under, nothing there! Happy to try again if somebody can point me in the right direction.
I found one on the driver side but that only goes up to F55
I went to parts store and had them put a reader on and the only codes they could get were P1699 and P1111 (DTC codes whatever that means) He said that usually means a ground fault in diagnostics system which doesn't seem too surprising given how the car behaved.
Tried a flashlight on LED and there did not appear to be anything at all there.
Oh just noticed in a previous thread that P1699 is related to CAN bus failure, so it looks like your suspicions were correct but I will wait for you to verify first.
Could you also verify that the part I posted is the correct part or if not what is?
aznewsh, looks like you have an oddity car and you have the new stuff with possibly some of the old stuff too. So, this can make things interesting.
With this information, we are going to have a new list of fuses:
F46 in the passenger compartment fuse box: If this is blown, you will see your instrument cluster doing some funny things and you would most likely have issues with either the doors unlocking and/or the car starting
F39 in the passenger compartment fuse box. If this is blown, you will see your headlights failing to dip and come back up to a proper height when you start the car (only applies to HID equipped vehicles)
F49 in the passenger compartment fuse box. If this is blown, you will see a lot of our interior lights not working.
As for your codes, you got the one I was figuring you would get (P1699). This is saying that there is a problem with the CAN bus between the A/C module and the ECM.
P1699 is a CAN Bus failure. This could be intermittent, a one off (confused data stream), or literally a hard failure such as the A/CCM or ECM., or a physical cable/connector failure somewhere along the path. The CAN network basically gets "rebooted or hard reset" every time the ignition is turned to the "0" position.
The simple start to diagnosis and process of elimination is to clear the code using a scan tool. Shut down the A/C if you can (Everything turned OFF). Shut off the ignition, turn the key to pos "2" leave it there for at least 10 seconds (while the entire system goes through reboot and startup diag.), then start the engine, drive as you normally would, see if the code returns. If it does, then further steps will be necessary. This fault is a direct causal effect on the A/C unit.
P1699 EMS OBD II CAN ECM / A/CCM network malfunction
Reason
CAN open circuit fault – A/CCM to ECM
CAN short circuit fault
A/CCM failure
ECM failure
Found a pin out to test this system, also heed the "look for chafing on metal bracket" =
Lost power to air climate control unit
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