Hey folks. I am new to the bonneville scene and have owned my current 2001 SSEi for about 3 weeks now. It has some usual issues I have found and plan to deal with but in the last day or some, some electrical problems have popped up and I am at a loss as to where to start troubleshooting.

Little back story....
After first buying the car I noticed it had no interior lights. No big deal, checked fuses and found a blown one under seat. Well, after checking under the seat, I noticed the battery has a loose positive connection, as in the bolt is tightened as much as possible but the cable can still rotate. I have yet to address this, car starts and charges fine, so no big deal, right?
I bought the car with a missing pass rear view mirror. Only one hole is covered and I failed to cover the other one a few days ago when we had a monsoon come through. I didn't think anything of it until yesterday.

Driving down the road yesterday, about 3 blocks from home, I noticed a warning dinging sound (like low fuel). I look down and see my traction control is off. Weird, I didn't hit the button. After trying to turn it back on, it wouldn't work. Strange..
I get home and noticed when I turned the ignition off, the doors didn't unlock like they usually do. Again, strange but not alarming. I proceed to get out of the car...again noticing interior lights are not working, blown fuse? Nope. checked it..
At this point, I got to get the contents out of my trunk. The key fob fails to open the trunk, or unlock or lock the car. No worries, I have a key. Well the key fails to open the truck initially. This is cause for concern.
From there I empty the contents of my back seat and notice a small buzzing sound. Lift the seat again to find a relay (INT LP) going crazy. Also, many of the relays are extremely hot to the touch. I pull the buzzing relay, and miraculously the trunck will pop open now. Yay, problem solved...not so fast..

Now, the windows will go up and down but interior door locks do not work. The key fob will cause the lights to blink and horn to blow as if the car is being locked, but again, no locking or unlocking occurs. Interior lights are gone, sunroof doesn't work, and left side blinker acts as if a bulb is out when the brakes are applied (blinks faster than normal) and the blinker light is illuminated up when the brakes are applied. Also, the ignition key fails to open the trunk at all as does the trunk release in the glove box. Yes, the car was in park when I tried these...

I have check all fuses, they are good, moved relays around, seems no change was made. Where would anyone start trouble shooting something like this or would anyone have a wiring diagram I could trace to find a culprit? Seems to be unrelated systems, but I am very new to the wiring of the SSEi.

Excuse the long post and any insight would be greatly appreciated.

First off pull the carpet and check to make sure the whole floor isn't full of water. You won't feel it in the carpet as it is rubber backed and repels water. Next check all the grounds you can find.

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Bye Bye:

RIP sandrock

Sounds like a decent starting point.

I did notice some moisture under the left passenger seat near the fuse box. Not severe, but definitely damp. I'll check around the passenger side front door to see if that could be an issue. Any grounds that are a common issue due to moisture buildup or corrosion? Florida car, so not a huge rust issue.

There is one on the driver's side of the backseat, then there's the negative battery cable, check that, then there's one behind each kick panel. Check those first.

_________________
Bye Bye:

RIP sandrock

Gotcha. Putting together my to-do list for the morning.

What, though, would explain the key not working to open the trunk? That is the biggest concern for me at this point since I came from a vehicle with zero power options; the electrical issues are a bit of a luxury.

I do not know. Could try spraying some penetrating lube in there, could just be old and sticky, as since it has the fob, it never gets used. I use mine every once in a while just to make sure they still work in case of a situation like yours, lol.

_________________
Bye Bye:

RIP sandrock

Give us more info on the key not opening the trunk?

I can think of 3 reason for that:

The lock cylinder cannot turn due to corrosion

The trunk was stuck on the weatherstripping and needed a good YANK to get it open

Or the most likely, the previous owner replaced the ignition switch with one from a junkyard and now your key will start your car, but not open the doors or trunk.

The trunk not opening with the key has nothing to do with the electical, so you are good on that issue.

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Russell (Rus or Rusty)
White 2000 SLE - 161k Miles
Current Mods - Transgo Shift Kit, 180* Drilled Thermostat, NGK TR55 & Belden Plug Wires, Suspension Energy Endlink Upgrade, "Stock" 12-Way Power Seats, "Stock" Heated Seats, "Stock" Homelink GDO, Cleared Corners, Pins & Dealer Badge Removed, 2002 56I Center Console, Dash Trim, Steering Wheel and Shifter Swap, Auto-Dimming RV Mirror, Pioneer AVH-P4000DVD MP3/USB Headunit w/ Steering Wheel Controls and iPhone Music Interface, Hood Protector, Gutted Airbox w/ K&N Filter.
Mods in Progress - SSEi Inflator with Stock controls, Chrome "Swoopies" (Have rims, need tires)
Future Mods - Viper 5701 Remote Start with Smart Start and 35% Window Tinting

Thanks Rusgreim for some insight.

Here's a little breakdown and some added detail:
Key unlocks passenger and drivers side door
Key locks glove box ( these two seem to eliminate the possibility that it was a junkyard ignition)
Key obviously starts car and looks to be original (no way to verify that it is)
For the trunk,
Key turns lock cylinder but nothing "clicks" to indicate it has been released. A liberal yanking, tugging, pushing, and pulling have all been tried during various stages of the attempt to unlock the trunk (before turning key, during, after, in my sleep, etc.)
I do notice that the lock cylinder will push in while turning and without. I have tried various versions of pushing and pulling while pushing in on the lock cylinder as well, still no "click" to indicate it has unlatched. Very strange...

Little update:

Grounds look good, at least the ones I could get to.

New issues have surfaced. When the brakes are applied, the reverse lights and driver's side rear turn signal light up (hence the turn signal issue in the first post). The rear drivers side lense has quite a bit of moisture and looks to have slight cracks, so that could be an issue. However, i still can not get into the trunk. My plan is to pull the switch in the glove box to see if it has power and, if not, put power directly to it to get to the trunk.

Could anyone supply a wiring diagram of the exterior lights? Would it be a good thought process to consider condensation, and the potential short from it, in the rear of the car to be the root of most of the issues described? Exterior lights would be tied into the circuit for the key fob, which would be linked to the power locks, which could control the interior lights, which was link to the circuit for the sunroof, etc. Could anyone confirm if I am on to something here?

It really sounds like water has been getting into the car for a while now and has corroded some electrical connections. Does the car smell musty or moldy inside, more so after a heavy rain?

If you can't get anything else to work, you could take a piece of wire or something through the passthru in the backseat and find the inside release handle (bad car for the mob ) and pull on that and hope it will open the trunk. You'll need a flashlight to see it, obviously.

_________________
Bye Bye:

RIP sandrock

No smell after rain or while sitting in the sun for hours. My wife's car has water issues, and there is a definite smell in that one after a hot, humid day. Mine has zero smell of mold or any type of must. The pass rear seat was damp, but not anything from what I have been reading on the forum about water issues....


00Beast, didn't know a release was inside the trunk! Thanks, I'll try that out.

Ok, some issues fixed.

I did what 00Beast suggested. Trunk popped right open and the trunk light came on. At that point, the relay that was going crazy in the original post (INT LP #51) started acting out again. So, I pulled that relay and things started working again. Key fob works, power door locks work, brake lights work as they should, no more reverse lights when the brakes are applied, etc.

The only thing not operational is the interior lights. They were like this when I bought the car, and I replaced a 15a fuse with a 20a (all I had at the time and I wanted lights!). I am thinking there is a short in the interior lights circuit and it simply isn't tripping the fuse due to it being a higher amperage. I am going to pull it, replace it with a 15a and replace the relay to see if the fuse will eventually blow. If that is the case, I think I may have figured out what circuit I should start testing.

The key not working for the trunk was totally unrelated and all mechanical. The wire that should be tight and pull the release is as loose as can be and has so much slack that by turning the key, it simply does not move the release. The part that snaps onto the lock cylinder just popped right off, so I would imagine this is a replaceable part and should be a simple remedy.

So, back to enjoying the bonnie with no interior lights, but now I can start putting money towards go fast goodies instead of repairs!!

W00t! Glad to hear I could be of assistance!

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Bye Bye:

RIP sandrock

Much thanks! Now, you wanna scan me a copy of the circuit with the interior lights and the #51 relay oh majesty of bonneville wisdom!!?!?!?

Seriously though, all the little tips and tricks are what make forums like these so beneficial!

I bet harofreak00 has it. He has the techline DVD on his computer.

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Bye Bye:

RIP sandrock