Something VERY Strange....
 

OK I went out to my car tonight after work....and the "P, R, N, D, 3, 2, 1" light was on along with the mileage. Now this was the ONLY light on on the vehicle...my lights weren't on or anything. My door wasn't ajar or anything. The shifter column lights were not on.

So what in the hell would cause this part of the instrument cluster to be lit up? :wtf:

Could be just the cold...
Or possibly a bad body ground...(BCM)

we are in the single digits..;)

Yeah it is COLD here....LOL.

I was freaking out I was like WTF? I open the door and look at the dash and here that part of the instrument cluster is glowing. So I'm thinking "Great this is not going to start now". But it cranked over and started as if there was no drain on the battery whatsoever. :confused:

So I'm guessing I will not worry about this for now. What will eventually happen?

OK found out what it was....LOL.

So my ignition cylinder allows the key to be removed ANY time. Apparently the old owner did something to it? Or its a stolen....I don't know. LOL

Anyways I pulled into work yesterday and shut it off quickly and pulled the key out as I was running late. I happened to look down and I hadn't turned it "OFF" completely and the P R N D 3 2 1 was still lit up on the dash. So long story short: I assume the last time this happened I had pulled the key out without having the ignition fully turned "OFF". LOL

:oops:

Yea u have a worn out ignition cylinder. I have the same on my car, great for leaving the car running and locking the doors. But it will eventually seize up and when that happenes we are F$&KED.

But yea make sure if u turn it on one day to warm it up and take the key out just remember that when u do come back to the car you have the keys with you as I realized one day I went all the way to work went to turn it off and oh crap my keys are at the house still, I left it running for 9 hours that day lol

:eek: :rotfl:

Now that is FUNNY!! I actually had that happen but luckily I was going through a drive thru so I didn't need to turn off the car as I would have been screwed.

I ahd a similar ignition problem with my Toyota. I took out all the tumblers in the ignition, works fine now. You can start it with any skinny object. But who knows that except me.

I know that too now, and so does everyone else here lol.

Looks like all my problems started the day I installed an aftermarket radio. I bought the wire harness adapter so I would not butcher the cars harness. I also installed a factory amp bypass jumper. Radio worked just fine. A few days later I began having the dead battery issue. I would charge it and overnight it dropped below the threshold of starting the car. Not dead, just very weak.
I just spent several hours in front of my computer gleaning tips from others on what to check. Here is what I have done so far:

New battery (less than a month old) First few days, no problem. After that problem came back.

Had alternator and battery tested. Good output, good cells.

Removed aftermarket radio and reinstalled the OEM head unit. Removed the amp jumper and reconnected. Result is the same. Drained overnight.

Checked battery terminals by removing the rubber from the ring and cleaning both sides of the terminal ring. They were fairly clean to begin with but I made them shiny. I used new terminal bolts. Both terminals are tight and secure. Problem continues.

Yesterday I removed the factory radio and amp. I charged the battery with an external charger for four hours. The car started fine. I shut it off then disconnected the power output terminal from the alternator. This morning the car still has a strong charge. Does this mean my alternator is defective? I am a decent mechanic with many years under my belt but this is my first "fancy" car. By that I mean this is the first car I have ever owned with a BCM. Everything else I own is 1988 or older.

If anyone with knowledge will respond I would greatly appreciate it.
Thanks, Mike Myrick