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-   -   Spurious Warning Messages. (https://xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-forums/x5-e53-forum/109534-spurious-warning-messages.html)

blktoptrvl 12-29-2018 04:50 PM

Spurious Warning Messages.
 
Has anyone been getting false dash warning messages?

For about 4 years I was frequently getting code P1439. I would clear it and then 3 months or maybe a week later, I would get it again. The problem was at it's worse about a year ago when I was clearing codes about every two weeks.

Then, about 7 months ago, it stopped putting out these codes altogether! Yea!! This was right after I purchased a new DMTL pump, but before I installed it. So, I just counted this as a blessing and moved on.

About two months ago, I got the "Self-Leveling Suspension Inactive" warning, this was the night after I put the car on a trickle charger because I wasn't driving it often or far. The message went away the next day, but returned again for one or to start cycles and then has never been displayed again.

About a month ago, I go a message to "Check Side Lights." Like the suspension message it displayed a couple times over two days and went away.

Today, I started out and was getting "Door Open" messages. I thought they might be a symptom of whatever was causing the other false (?) messages, but when I got the car into the darkened garage, I noticed that the interior lights were not illuminating when I opened any of the doors, so maybe this one is not a ghost message, but the real thing.

I am going down into the garage now to check the fuses.

In the mean time, has anyone experienced these kinds of infrequent messages?

Edit:

According to my fuse label, there are only two interior illumination fuses 17 and 27. There is nothing in the 17 slot and when I pulled the 27 fuse (20 amp) the glovebox light went out.

I can turn on the interior illumination via the roof console switch.

I am guessing maybe a sensor has died, but I don't even see door sensors...

Second Edit:

I found a posting (someone with a Toyota) that stated that the door lock module was going bad... that they locked the car with the fob, and then locked and unlocked the door with the key and that cleared the problem. I tried this and it seems to have worked, light are working again. I will take it for a trip around the block to see if the message is gone.

Third Edit:

Lights working correctly, but still getting door message. Maybe I need to replace the lock module?
I noticed too that I do not always get a chirp when locking the car... Maybe only a quarter of the time.

Fourth Edit:

I noted tonight that the car is not going to sleep as indicated by the shifter light.

blktoptrvl 01-03-2019 08:08 PM

Follow-up
 
Put the X on the battery tender and let it sit for two days...

Today when I first looked into the window, the transmission "Park" light was off - indicating that the car was asleep.

Driving it, all seemed to be right again. There were no messages; the car chirped properly when I locked/unlocked it and all the interior lighting worked as normal.

This evening when I got home, I shut it down and about a half hour later, the car had not gone to sleep. So, I put it on the charger again. Checking later, it was sleeping.

So, I am guessing it may be time to replace a battery again. I will put a load test on the battery tomorrow.

wpoll 01-03-2019 08:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blktoptrvl (Post 1150925)
...

So, I am guessing it may be time to replace a battery again. I will put a load test on the battery tomorrow.

Possibly, but it should go to sleep in 16 minutes or so - something is keeping it awake.

blktoptrvl 01-03-2019 08:45 PM

Thanks. After my last post... I went into the garage, opened and closed the door; and 16 minutes later it was sleeping again.

Funky problems usually indicate battery. I think I will invest in a good battery checker.

Muleears 01-04-2019 05:33 AM

When I bought my X it had been sitting for a few months and only driven a few times. I was getting several messages that didn't make sense also. I was afraid I needed a new battery but after an 160 mile drive and a night on the 15 amp charger all is well, no more funky messages.

blktoptrvl 01-05-2019 02:16 PM

For now, I will chalk it up to a low battery. Since retiring, I did not realize just how much I have NOT been driving the X.

I Think I may need to keep it on a tender for the foreseeable future.

blktoptrvl 01-06-2019 06:06 PM

Nope. as soon as I took it off the charge, the car stopped sleeping. Had the battery checked and replaced. Bad cell. Good news is the battery was replaced for free.

Muleears 01-06-2019 09:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blktoptrvl (Post 1151257)
Nope. as soon as I took it off the charge, the car stopped sleeping. Had the battery checked and replaced. Bad cell. Good news is the battery was replaced for free.

:thumbup::thumbup:

blktoptrvl 01-09-2019 05:42 PM

Not so fast!!!

Car was good for the day... then the "Door Open" Messages started again.

So, I got a new actuator from Rock Auto. The Doorman replacement unit went right in; worked for about 5 cycles and then refused to unlock the door again.

I had to use a pair of pliers to pull the lock knob up in order to open the door again. Doorman part goes back as soon as I get it out of the car.

Edit: This may not be as bad a part as I think. I removed the interior panel again and operated the lock... It appears that the panel was binding the lock indicator rod... I will disassemble it tomorrow to see if I can get more free movement.

Also I noticed the clown's nose is working, I don't remember seeing it light up for a long time.

Took it for a short ride and no "door open" message... but they went away before and came back so I'll wait till tomorrow to report on that.

oldskewel 01-09-2019 07:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blktoptrvl (Post 1151618)
Not so fast!!!

Car was good for the day... then the "Door Open" Messages started again.
...

Sorry to hear that, but that sort of thing is so common.

What I do to try to avoid it is having my cars with interchangeable batteries when possible. So for example, the batteries in my X5 and Porsche Cayenne are interchangeable. If I ever have problems and think the chance the battery is bad is worth the debugging effort to swap batteries between cars, I'll do that. And as you found, sometimes it takes some time or miles for the experiment to run.

Making the batteries interchangeable will sometimes require choosing one of them to be a little smaller (and sometimes even a slightly bigger one can be made to fit) than specified when buying a new one.

My batteries last a long time this way.

blktoptrvl 01-10-2019 03:22 PM

1 Attachment(s)
OK, I took it back apart again and examined the actuators...

The only difference I could find is that the BMW actuator has a wider slot where the lock indicator rod travels. The slot is about a 1/4" wider on the BMW part.

I am guessing that I was having trouble locking/unlocking because the rod was jamming and forced against the slot wall on the new Dorman version. After noticing this difference, I put another bend (kink) into the rod and it now travels as freely as it used to.

A couple notes when doing this job... The vids I found are not detailed enough to be clear; (a) you do have to remove the door lock for the driver door (b) there are three other connections that must come loose before the actuator will slide out [I] the power connector, [ii] the inside door pull cable, [iii] the outside door cable.

If your car is like mine, the cable will be very hard to remove or install. Having a J-hook (I used the tie down rod from a battery) and a bit of strength is needed to unseat the outside Bowden cable. A long block of wood and a strong tap from my palm got it back in. Pushing or pulling with my fingers not only hurt, but there was not enough force available in that small space.

Some of the instructions say you have to move the window regulator and the air bag. I did not move the regulator, and knowing now how it goes together I might not move the air bag if I have to do this again... but it is not that much trouble.

Just a reminder that the inside door panel top clips are not to be pulled UP, instead they are pulled toward the inside of the car. If you get a pry tool in there, do NOT pry between the top of the panel and the plastic that will be visible, you have to pry the plastic and the panel as one unit.


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