I caused it myself. The other day I was recovering the upholstery on the header and I intentionally shorted the connection in the clip that holds the visor. I was trying to pull the clip out from the header, and to give myself a better grip I thought I'd just stick a screwdriver in the slot that holds the visor. Well those two metal springs that clip the visor in place are more than just springs. They also provide power to the vanity lamps in the visor mirror. When I stuck the screwdriver in the slot I saw sparks, so I pull the screwdriver out right away. I figured I had probably blown a fuse.

So I got everything back together and the vanity lights didn't work, as expected. I went searching for the fuse, and the fuse was fine! But to make matters worse, the tilt steering no longer works. So I found the fuse for the steering tilt and extend, and it's good too! BUT HERE'S WHERE IT GETS REALLY CONFUSING; the tilt and extend works fine when I insert the key in the car. It goes to its memory position, but when I use the little joystick on the steering column it doesn't move. EXCEPT, when I pull the joystick towards me, every once in a while the steering column LOWERS. It doesn't extend, like it should. It lowers!

All I can figure is that I screwed up my Body Processor Module somehow. Both the vanity lights and the steering column switches hook to the BPM. Any other ideas? How much does a BPM cost?

 

Did you check ALL the fuses to the BPM? There are probably several.

 

Have you tried to hard reset yet?

Are your map lights, trunk lights and glove box lights also out?

And Test Point is right...there are several fuses.

 

I'll go look at ALL of the fuses, but I don't think it's a fuse since the steering column works when I insert the key and it works VERY intermittently when I fiddle with the joystick.

 

Did you say that you did not find a blown fuse and the vanity lights do not work? Do the center push button lights work? Are you sure you connected all the plugs in the header? When checking the fuse did you pull it and test it or just look at it? I tested across a fuse in the car and thought it was good until I pulled it and tested, replaced and all was good.

 

Second the hard reset suggestion since you've checked the usual suspects. I was having an electrical gremlin with my driver seat heater after the front seats were removed for some conv. hydraulic mx. Checked the seat connectors- fine. Checked the appropriate fuse- fine. Pulled and checked every single fuse in the car one by one-fine. Pulled the center console out to check the buttons- fine. Still no front seat heater. I gave up.

After cleaning the throttle body for unrelated maintenance, I did a hard reset to clear the ECM for relearning (picked this procedure up off a forum post: turn car off, pull ground battery lead, turning ignition to II, touching battery ground to positive for 1 - 2 seconds, turn ignition off, re-secure ground). Noticed a byproduct of this was the seat heater finally started working again!

PS- Per JTIS for my 2004 XK, after battery disconnect you need to relearn the ECM
"1. Connect the battery ground cable.Tighten to 4 Nm.
2. Turn the ignition switch to the ON position.
3. Cycle both door drop glasses up and down to establish the upper and lower datum points.
a) Lower the glass to the stop and hold the switch in the DOWN position for a further five seconds.
b) Raise the glass fully and hold the switch in the UP position for a further five seconds.
4. Start the engine and allow to idle until the engine reaches normal operating temperature.
5. Switch the engine off.
6. Start the engine and allow to idle for approximately two minutes (this will allow the ECM to learn the idle values).
7. Apply and hold the brake pedal, select drive and allow the engine to idle for a further two minutes.
8. Drive the vehicle for approximately five miles/eight kilometers of varied driving to enable the ECM to complete its learning strategy."


When in doubt, reboot.

 

Well... I found a blown fuse. Everything works now. It was weird how the steering column would move when I stuck the key in the ignition but not with the joystick. And it wasn't the fuse to the center console lights. It was a different fuse. But anyway, all's well now. Thanks for everyone's help.

 

It was a fuse unrelated to the circuit you accidentally shorted?

Glad you found it...I know it was driving you nuts.