1996 GTS door modules

[dodgestang]

Tracking down the voltage drain in my car finally. It 'appears' to be the door modules. The shop looking into it is not sure if they will be able to source but are still checking. If they run into issue finding, do we have a known/trusted/any vendor that carries or can source this part?

[01sapphirebob]

Try Jon B or Don Scharf automotive.

[dodgestang]

I think I've got Jon in my inbox contacts already....thanks for reminding me ;)

[JonB ~ PartsRack]

Tracking down the voltage drain in my car finally. It 'appears' to be the door modules. The shop looking into it is not sure if they will be able to source but are still checking. If they run into issue finding, do we have a known/trusted/any vendor that carries or can source this part?


That is a COMMON problem in Gen 2 Vipers, and more so 96-98 versions.

Diagnose: Close the car in your garage, dark lighting, and DONT lock-alarm it. Come back in 3 minutes an see if the yellow-ish LED-lights on the manual door latch locking switches are ON or OFF.

They SHOULD BE OFF after a few minutes. They stay lighted for at least 1 minute.

IF THEY STAY "ON" this does indicate a battery drain of course, but where? Could be any of the alarm switches: Hatch, Hood, Doors; Or, it could simply be a short (common) in the wiring harness that runs along the door hinges, between the dash(IP) and the door itself. Often, you might also have intermittent window issues, sluggish or inop.

SO: It might NOT be the G2 module itself, but they are signaling you with the LEDs that you have a problem...


JonB

[dodgestang]

Yeah the lights stay on....but if I 'arm' the alarm they go off. However.....the battery still drains down

[Sybil TF]

Yeah the lights stay on....but if I 'arm' the alarm they go off. However.....the battery still drains down

After how long? My car goes dead after a week if I alarm it but does not if I don't.

[dodgestang]

car goes dead in 3 days without alarm and in 4 days with alarm. Neither seems to change much even with a tender plugged in.


Wasn't an issue much when I was driving it 3-4 days a week ;)

[Thawk97]

My door lights also stay on, though I haven't experienced other issues (windows etc.) - I haven't dug into where the potential problem is

[Steve-Indy]

The majority of times that I have observed the door LED's staying illuminated indefinitely on Gen II's, the problem has been the Electronic Entry Module (EEM).

I have seen a couple of Gen II's where the same thing occurred but it was do to a bad battery alone...with the abnormal EEM behavior ( failing to arm/disarm with a sync'd key fob, horn honking upon opening and closing doors, LED's in doors staying on)being cured with a fully charged (new) battery.

As has been stated many times before, Gen I & II Vipers' alarm systems are very sensitive to low voltage.

[dodgestang]

That is a COMMON problem in Gen 2 Vipers, and more so 96-98 versions.

Diagnose: Close the car in your garage, dark lighting, and DONT lock-alarm it. Come back in 3 minutes an see if the yellow-ish LED-lights on the manual door latch locking switches are ON or OFF.

They SHOULD BE OFF after a few minutes. They stay lighted for at least 1 minute.

IF THEY STAY "ON" this does indicate a battery drain of course, but where? Could be any of the alarm switches: Hatch, Hood, Doors; Or, it could simply be a short (common) in the wiring harness that runs along the door hinges, between the dash(IP) and the door itself. Often, you might also have intermittent window issues, sluggish or inop.

SO: It might NOT be the G2 module itself, but they are signaling you with the LEDs that you have a problem...


JonB

Nailed it.

I stopped by the dealer on the way home yesterday they had fixed every issue except the battery drain....they said "The only thing we can think to do at this point is replace the door modules themselves".

So then I said "the internet gurus seems to think this is usually a problem in the alarm switches...hood, doors, etc....or worst case a short in the harness in the door jamb areas. They just called me...they adjusted the hood latch sensor and the battery draw is gone. Unfortunately it looks like the prob was around too long and killed the battery since it would only put out 350 cold crank amps instead of the 800 so I am having them put a new battery in too.