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Cadillac Repair/2006 Cadillac dots electric problem

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Expert: - 2/21/2011


Question
I have a 2006 Cadillac dts that won't crank. I replaced the battery and it was doing fine until I used the valet key when out of town at hotel. As I was driving it the driver information center began displaying the readouts of service air bag, check air suspension, remote parking assist off. The speedometer, fuel gauge, and temp gauge went out. The engine kept running fine.
It was intermittent. When I turned hard and sharp to the right it would act up and then a hard jerk to the left would clear up. When I got home it cranked once now it shows same readout, but won't crank. I have headlights, the interior lights work in the back and in the overhead console. They don't work in the front doors, the passenger mirror outside won't work,but the drivers will.   Radio won't work, wipers will, ac fan blows.
Any ideas what could be wrong.

Answer
Hello,

This is one of those situations that I really have no way of assisting you because I do not have the diagnosing equipment and I am not at the vehicle.

There are many times I can supply the correct answer to assist in diagnoses and repair, but when dealing with so many issues as you have described, this is not a common problem and it is not someone can just do a simple repair and if you do get an answer from someone on repair, take the information with a grain of salt.

What you appear to have going on is one of 2 issues (maybe more) that I would be considering. Either a bad connection either at a ground or a bulkhead connector of a failed BCM (body control module-computer).

This can e very time consuming and costly attempting to repair by yourself without a Tech II hand held diagnostic scanner. You can call around locally to service centers to see if they have such diagnostic equipment and if not, you will need to have to send the car to a dealer.

This is not something that you can have just anyone try to repair and the multiple error messages are a concern.

These cars are very complicated and there is rarely one answer that remains the same for these types of multiple symptoms other than the general possibilities I have given.

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Rob Painter

Expertise

Alarm system questions cannot be answered on this forum. These systems are not what I can answer. Without being physically at the vehicle and not knowing what kind of electrical service has been done on the vehicle, there is no possible way to give an accurate answer over the internet. My expertise is in Ignition/key based anti-theft systems. These issues include GM VATS (resistor chip in key blade) PASSLOCK (MRD)-ignition lock rotation based, no special ignition key and the PKIII Transponder (computer chip in key) systems. These systems are not alarm based and are integral with the starting of the engine. This is why I cannot diagnose alarm problems without physically looking at the vehicle: Alarm systems are a completely different annimal than ignition key/lock based anti-theft system. Many alarm questions come from vehicles 10 years old, and since older, many hands that had been involved over the years.I am an expert in all GM factory (ignition/key based)systems. Alarm system questions pose to many situations beyond my knowledge as to what has been done to the vehicle over the years. Some guy may have actually wired the stereo into the alarm system. Who knows? Over my past 30 years in vehicle wiring repair, I have seen unbelievable wiring disaters done by guys that consider themselves "mechanics." I have seen stereos and alarms intalled using surgical tape. I have seen modules burn up, un-fused circuits, wiring jambed between the doors and even lamp cord used for a starter kill. To answer alarm questions over the internet without examining the vehicle is like asking; What does it take to remove a dent?

Experience

Education/Credentials-ASE certified. 11 years with a GM dealer and 17 years with a repair facility dealing with only the repair of theft recovered vehicles.

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