SOLVED - Trifecta with no Air Conditioning?
 

I have some really strange stuff going on in my car. It started a few weks ago, with the A/C acting strangely. It wouldn't allow me to direct air from the dash vents, and sometimes I think the compressor was shutting off, as the air would suddenly get warm. Most of the time it would corect itself with a key cycle. A few days ago, when driving past some windows, I noticed that my hazard light were flashing. When I looked at the dash, the indicators were not on, and the hazard button on the console was off. A key cycle corrected this and it hasn't returned.

Yesterday, about 100 miles from home, I noticed it getting hot in the car again, and the engine sounded like it was revving a bit high. When I looked at the dash, I was astounded to find that my speedo and tach read zero, and I had the trifecta of DSC/ABS/Brake lights. I tried to put the trans in Sport mode, and also to manually shift it, with no response. Then the IC beeped and showed "trans failsafe prog". I pulled over and cycled the key - no change. I then disconnected the battery - no change. We got back in the car and it took off in what i think was 4th gear. After some time, the A/C came back on (as did the tach and speedo). This repeated a number of tuimes on the trip home, but the trans would not shift. It only has park, N, R, and 4th gear. The cruise control light will illuminate on the dash, but it does not function.

Knowing that the battery or alternator can cause stuff like this, I had the battery teasted, and it is good, and I checked the voltage at idle - 14.2V ( alternator was new 1 year ago).

Sorry for the long post, but I am at a loss as to what could cause all of these issues at the same time - have any of you experienced this? Any ideas of where to look, or what to test for?

Well, I spent a bunch of time looking online, and when I got home tonight, decided to try the easiest thing first. Turned the wheel left, then right, then center, and all of the warnings went away, and everything works again!

Epic Fail....

That "fix" only worked for abpout 15-20 miles this morning. Just driving down the freeway with the cruise set, and all of the sudden, it starts doing the same things all over. I pulled off to the side of the road to try to reset the steering angle sensor again, but that didn't work today.

When I got to my office, I pulled the codes with a generic OBDII reader, and came up with P1747, and P0600.

I need help - I don't currentlty have a back up to this car.

An OBD II reader is not going to give you any information other than a code set by the electronic engine emissions system. It is limited in scope and solely based on the federal OBD II mandate for not polluting the air...thus emissions is what its based on.

To speak/communicate with the BMW proprietary control modules etc...you need BMW DIS/GT-1/MoDic...or after market software/hardware like INPA/CarSoft/PaSoft/etc.

You brought up "trifecta" so that means you're somewhat familiar with the search terms. Bluebee has some extensive threads on the trifecta/bifecta warning lights. You can easily find these threads by googling "BMW trifecta Bluebee". :)

Also, the rear speed sensor is what sends the distance/speed data to the ABS/ASC/DSC control module, which then sends that data to the IKE & DME...so if your speedometer/tachometer isn't registering...you should consider checking that area, too.

Good luck.

http://bimmerboard.com/members/q/ori...d%20Sensor.jpg

An OBD II reader is not going to give you any information other than a code set by the electronic engine emissions system. It is limited in scope and solely based on the federal OBD II mandate for not polluting the air...thus emissions is what its based on.

To speak/communicate with the BMW proprietary control modules etc...you need BMW DIS/GT-1/MoDic...or after market software/hardware like INPA/CarSoft/PaSoft/etc.

You brought up "trifecta" so that means you're somewhat familiar with the search terms. Bluebee has some extensive threads on the trifecta/bifecta warning lights. You can easily find these threads by googling "BMW trifecta Bluebee". :)

Also, the rear speed sensor is what sends the distance/speed data to the ABS/ASC/DSC control module, which then sends that data to the IKE & DME...so if your speedometer/tachometer isn't registering...you should consider checking that area, too.

Good luck.

http://bimmerboard.com/members/q/ori...d%20Sensor.jpg

I do have a Peake code reader, left over from my E39 M5, but it is only set up to work with the "pac man" type plug under the hood, which my car doesn't have. I will be ordering the OBDII type cable for it today. Will the Peake be of any use in my current situation?

I will have to pull all of the wheels off of it tonight. A couple of weeks ago, I had a caliper slide pin back comnpletely out on the left rear wheel, which required replacing the pads (did both sides). Maybe that somehow damaged the sensor?

Also - I just remembered that last Monday when I left the house, I could hear a chirping/scraping sound. I think it was coming from the right front wheel. I took the car back to the house and parked it (used my wife's car), got busy with other stuff, and didn't drive it for a couple of days. When I used it the next time, there was no more noise. I guess some poking around under the car is in order...

BTW, if you haven't seen it already, there's another thread a few down from yours titled "ABS Module ?" (started by heidhurtin) which has a link to one of Bluebee's exhaustive threads about how to test the sensors and ABS module.

Again, check it out if you haven't already...it may help you in diagnostics of your speed sensors and ABS module.

Thanks Qsilver - I found bluebees post. I will print it out and use it when I get home tonight. I am in the process of ordering the AB03 cable for my Peake Reader. Will it pull any of the BMW specific codes relative to my situation?

I got this on eBay for much much less.

P.A.Soft BMW Scanner v1.4.0 - used parts reprogramming, fault codes reader, key chaining

I had one of my guys clean the LR speed sensor before lunch, and I cleared the codes from the computer. Car worked great for about 15 minutes (which seems to be typical now), then went into trans failsafe again with all of the lights and codes. I'm starting to think that this is the ABS module, as it seems to be heat related.

Still curious as to why it would kill my A/C, though?

It is possible to have 2 failures at once.

The A/C only turns off the compressor when the gauges drop to zero. When the gauges come back, so does the cool air.

After I got home last night, I opened the hood and let it sit for several hours. After spraying the ABS module (behind the headlight) with quick drying contact cleaer (just for the cooling effect), I cleared the codes and started the car. Everything worked fine for about a minute, then went haywire again. I double checked this by cooling the module again, with the same results.

It certainly appears to be a heat related issue with the ABS module. If the car sits overnight, I can go about 20 minutes without any issues before it gets warm enough to fail. After that, the unit is so heat soaked that it can only be temporarily revived for a brief period. I am supposed to receive the cable for my Peake reader tomorrow. Should I wait and pull codes, or just pull the emodule tonight and ship it out for repair tomorrow?

I have seen mixed reports of whether or not it is OK to drive the car with the module unplugged. If I do this, I will probably have to put 300-400 miles on the car while the unit is out for repair, and I don't want to end up with a tamper dot on my cluster. I am perfectly capable of driving without ABS, DSC, etc - I drove for probably 20 years before I had my first car with electrical nannies, so I'm not worried about that. Just don't want to cause additional issues on the car by doing so.

The following link appears to stock repaired modules: BMW X5, E38 & E39 OEM Radio Display Pixel & Speedometer Cluster Repairs

The cart detail seems to indicate you send them yours and they fix and return it but if that is the case there would be no reason to list it in stock. The are showing a sale price of $239. If the policy is not to ship a repaired one until they get yours maybe you can negotiate a core charge and overnight shipping.

They did a great job on my cluster & mid. Via eBay they accept offers well under their site prices.

how quick was their turn-around?

They are in California so they should still be open for a call.

They got it noon Pst Tuesday, returned to me in the am, I had it back Thursday.

I just spoke with them. Very helpful guy who seemed to know a great deal about our cars.

He said that my problem is NOT the ABS module. He said that based on my symptoms, my instrument cluster is acting up. Suggetsted that I disconnect the battery and clamp the + & - leads together for 15 minutes, then hook them back up , cycle the key 3 times, then start the car. If I have any "coding gremlins" this should erase them. If this does not work, I may have to get the cluster re-coded to the car.

He said that my symptoms are exactly what happens if you take a good cluster and install it in another car without coding.

T^hank you very much for the tip to call these guys - I feel that I am much closer to solving this and getting my car back. I am already tired of driving the wife's SAAB 9-7x - not even close to same thing...

I will report back to the board later tonight after I have tried what he suggested.

He was great. Both my LCD boards were bad. He charged 1/2 price for them.

When did you install a used uncoded instrument cluster? I musta missed that post.

I haven't changed my cluster. He was telling me that because he thought my symptoms were related to an issue with my cluster.

Tonight's update:

Disconnected battery, tied terminals together, waited about 40 min. Reconnected battery, cleared codes, and fired it up. Everything worked as it should. Took it for a test drive - made it 3.1 miles before symptoms returned.

Stopped for beer (to consume at home). Cleared codes, and they returned immediately. Still losing the tach, temp gauge, and air cond, as well as having a trans fault, which allows only 4th gear moving forward.

Went home, pulled the left headlight to gain access, and removed the connector for the abs module. Started car. Trifecta lights still on, but now the tach and temp gauges are normal! A/C is blowing ice cold! Took the car for another test drive (only had 2 swallows of the beer first). Now the trans shifts fine into all gears, and no trans fault showing. Only thing wrong is trifecta lights, and no speedo.

So does this confirm a bad ABS module? I'm starting to get confused. Need to get back to that beer...

Another minor update...

Drove it to work today (35 miles) w/ABS disconnected. same results as last night. No "trans failsafe prog", and the A/C worked the entire way.

I am inclined to think that this is not a cluster issue.

Did you discover the origin of your problem?

Mailed the abs module to bimmeronly yesterday

Bimmeronly rebuilt the ABS module, and this solved my problem.