Lights off for 30 secs

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Peter Wu - 18 Oct 2006 02:15 GMT

As usual, I turned on the car this morning but all the lights were
off, including the ones in the instrument panel and the
headlights. However, I could shift gears into D/R and the car could
move. After roughly 30 seconds, the lights went on as if there was no
electricity for the first 30 seconds.

I drove about 10 KMs after this happened, shutdown the engine for
about 5 min and attempted to turn it back on. Again, this problem
occurred. Then I drove around 30 KMs on highway to my work.

Strangely, when I turned the car on after off work in the evening, the
problem went away by itself.

Does anyone have any idea why my car went crazy this morning? TIA.

Chevy Malibu 2003 w/ 71, 000 KMs.

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Rich B - 18 Oct 2006 06:45 GMT

Sounds like a problem with the body control module. Sometimes they go
crazy and then work normally for awhile but eventually, it will fail
completely.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Lights off for 30 secs

Group: alt.autos.gm Date: Tue, Oct 17, 2006, 9:15pm From:
peterwu@hotmail.com (Peter Wu)
As usual, I turned on the car this morning but all the lights were off,
including the ones in the instrument panel and the headlights. However,
I could shift gears into D/R and the car could move. After roughly 30
seconds, the lights went on as if there was no electricity for the first
30 seconds.
I drove about 10 KMs after this happened, shutdown the engine for about
5 min and attempted to turn it back on. Again, this problem occurred.
Then I drove around 30 KMs on highway to my work.
Strangely, when I turned the car on after off work in the evening, the
problem went away by itself.
Does anyone have any idea why my car went crazy this morning? TIA.
Chevy Malibu 2003 w/ 71, 000 KMs.

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Peter Wu
Powered by Gentoo GNU/Linux 2.6.17

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"Sometimes, when you're up to your butt in alligators, it's hard to
remember that the intial objective was to drain the swamp."
~ Unknown ~

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Peter Wu - 19 Oct 2006 01:59 GMT

> Sounds like a problem with the body control module. Sometimes they go
> crazy and then work normally for awhile but eventually, it will fail
> completely.

I did a code read this afternoon and everything seemed OK.

Is it expensive to repair the BCM?

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grant10820 - 18 Oct 2006 17:34 GMT

the relay under the hood might be going bad

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grant10820 - 18 Oct 2006 17:34 GMT

the relay under the hood might be going bad

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Peter Wu - 19 Oct 2006 02:01 GMT

> the relay under the hood might be going bad

Thanks for the hint. I'll check that.

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80 Knight - 18 Oct 2006 20:24 GMT

> As usual, I turned on the car this morning but all the lights were
> off, including the ones in the instrument panel and the
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
>
> Chevy Malibu 2003 w/ 71, 000 KMs.

When you say the lights on your instrument panel were off, do you mean the
backlights, or the 'ABS' 'SEATBELT' and whatever lights? If you meant the
back lights, that is normal. Your headlights shouldn't come on full unless
it is dark outside. Same goes for your instrument cluster lights.

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jcr - 19 Oct 2006 02:39 GMT

>> As usual, I turned on the car this morning but all the lights were
>> off, including the ones in the instrument panel and the
[quoted text clipped - 17 lines]
> back lights, that is normal. Your headlights shouldn't come on full unless
> it is dark outside. Same goes for your instrument cluster lights.

If you meant that the digital dash cluster was off, it could be that the
sensor had activated the lights (thus the digital cluster went dim or
out). Try adjusting the dash level control for higher brightness next
time it happens.

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Peter Wu - 19 Oct 2006 03:09 GMT

> "Peter Wu" <peterwu@hotmail.com> wrote in message
>> Chevy Malibu 2003 w/ 71, 000 KMs.
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
>> come on full unless it is dark outside. Same goes for your
>> instrument cluster lights.

By "lights off", I mean the car was completely dark. :)

I started my car inside my garage, which was dark enough to trigger
the headlights. More importantly, it was the first time I saw this
problem since I owned it 3 years ago. I'm pretty sure that it was
abnormal. :)

> If you meant that the digital dash cluster was off, it could be that
> the sensor had activated the lights (thus the digital cluster went dim
> or out). Try adjusting the dash level control for higher brightness
> next time it happens.

Actually, I did try tuning up the brightness that morning but as the
whole car was like running out of electricity, that didn't
help. Anything that needs electricity seemed not functioning. The
radio was off and I couldn't turn it on; The light on the
transmission, the one that indicates which gear you're in, was off,
too.

After 30 seconds, everything came back to life. That time, I was only
a few inches away from the spot where I turned on the engine as I
attempted to see if the car could move under this condition.

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80 Knight - 19 Oct 2006 05:58 GMT

>> "Peter Wu" <peterwu@hotmail.com> wrote in message
>>> Chevy Malibu 2003 w/ 71, 000 KMs.
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
> problem since I owned it 3 years ago. I'm pretty sure that it was
> abnormal. :)

Ok. So, you actually started the car? The engine was running, but none of
the car's functions (radio, headlights, ect) were working? Is this correct?

>> If you meant that the digital dash cluster was off, it could be that
>> the sensor had activated the lights (thus the digital cluster went dim
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
> transmission, the one that indicates which gear you're in, was off,
> too.

This seems very odd. Usually when nothing on the car works, the starter
doesn't work either..hmm.

> After 30 seconds, everything came back to life. That time, I was only
> a few inches away from the spot where I turned on the engine as I
> attempted to see if the car could move under this condition.

What do you mean here? Was the engine running when the lights came back on?
How did this all take place?
Did you start the car, and then notice the headlights weren't working, and
they waited 30 seconds (with the car still running) and the lights came on?
Or was the engine not running?
Give me some more info, and I will do my best to help.

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Peter Wu - 20 Oct 2006 00:56 GMT

>>> "Peter Wu" <peterwu@hotmail.com> wrote in message
>>>> Chevy Malibu 2003 w/ 71, 000 KMs.
[quoted text clipped - 15 lines]
> the car's functions (radio, headlights, ect) were working? Is this
> correct?

Yes, this is correct. The engine was running and I was able to shift
gears. Mine is an auto transmission, btw.

>> After 30 seconds, everything came back to life. That time, I was only
>> a few inches away from the spot where I turned on the engine as I
>> attempted to see if the car could move under this condition.
>
> What do you mean here? Was the engine running when the lights came back on?
> How did this all take place?

The engine was running OK before and after the lights came back on.

> Did you start the car, and then notice the headlights weren't working, and
> they waited 30 seconds (with the car still running) and the lights
> came on?

Your understanding is correct.

I started the engine as usual and noticed that nothing was on. Then I
noticed no headlights as they should be on. Then I was curious to see
if the radio could work. And, no, it couldn't. Finally, I tried to
shift the gear from P to R, released the brake, and the car was
backing up as usual.

After I backed up a few inches, I stopped the car as I didn't want to
damage my car. :) Then I shift the gear to D and returned roughly to
the starting spot where the car was parked over night.

Another thing I forgot to mention is that the gas indicator, the
yellow one, was ON that time and the pointer was pointing at
Empty. But, I'm positive that there was plenty of gas in the tank,
should be around 3/4 tank.

After the 30 seconds, the electricity came back, and I noticed that
the gas pointer was functioning correctly and the gas indicator light
went off as it should.

I didn't try turning on the dome lamp and cannot recall if the
entry/exiting lighting was functioning as I was busy trying what I did
above. :)

> Or was the engine not running?

It was always running without any abnormal sound.

> Give me some more info, and I will do my best to help.

After I got off work and before I started the car that day, I checked
the battery and it looked good to me.

Thank you very much! :)

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jcr - 26 Oct 2006 21:44 GMT

I vote an ignition switch problem...

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