[V8] Electrical Problems....and Water Leaks

[Gunter]

Electrical Gremlins.............and water leaks..........

At present, my signal indicators and hazards don't work at all.  When I turn on the windshield wipers, the relay starts to buzz.  Furthermore, some accessories remain on even when the ignition is off.

The first sign of trouble started about 10 days ago.  I returned to the car after 2 hours to find that both front heated seats had stayed on (I never have the back ones on so I don't know if they, too, would have been working at that time).  Furthermore, the climate control system seemed to be on as well..........that is, the little LEDs were lit up and I could briefly activate fans/pneumatic valves by pressing different buttons.........the system would only stay on for a second or two and then shut down altogether, BUT could be immediately reactivated briefly by pressing another button such as Bi-Lev, for example.  This was all without the key in the ignition.  Putting the key in the ignition and 'wiggling' it around made no difference.  Turning the car on resulted in normal operation.  Turning the ignition off...........reoccurrence of those above-mentioned problems.

I had to ignore the problems initially because I was too busy..............just made sure to turn off all electrical devices when leaving the car..............the little LED lamp just above the OFF button on the Climate control system often remained on however, sometimes overnight, at other times just for a few hours...........hard to say really.

Well............the problems disappeared for a few days...........came back in 'full force and beyond' yesterday, however, in that the left and right signal indicators and the hazard lights stopped working altogether (no lights and no relay clicking sounds, for eg.).  In addition, the relay for the wiper blades began to screech when activated (only with ignition in the on position).  The climate control system, again, remains on after the key is removed but that problem still appears to be intermittent.............the OFF LED 'comes and goes'............pressing another button such as bi-level momentarily activates the whole system but then it stops right away............one can also hear the climate control ventilation pneumatic valves operating.  The heated seats.............well.........they're switched off all the time now so that problem has not reappeared.................maybe if I left them on??

So...........with the flashers not working and the windshield wipers singing their own song, I finally decided to have a look at the fuses/relays.  It has been raining moderately hard here the past 24-48 hours (car occasionally parked outside at work, etc. but garaged at home) and I found that the passenger side floor carpeting was very damp..........actually it held a good deal of water..........furthermore, I could see that a source of water was trickling down from above, right behind the right-sided vertical fuse/relay panel adjacent to the A-pillar............not good I thought.................probably the window seal???  Where are the common leaks for these cars?  (original windshield was changed about half a year ago because of a growing crack........prior to my purchase of the car).

Anyway, I found no blown fuses but could not locate the relay for the indicators/hazards which was strange I thought..........relays for just about everything else..........maybe I need to look again a little harder although I inspected the 'trays' as well.  The more centrally located 'trays' of relays seemed unaffected by water BUT the right-sided single vertical tray next to the A-pillar was definitely damp.  At the very bottom of that panel are a couple of small relays (they appear unlabeled) that are sort of "plugged into" the underside of the tray............those relays felt particularly damp (water collecting at the bottom)..........I don't know what they're for but I wonder if one has to do with the indicators/hazards?

The car is no longer safe to drive given this problem.

So..............I have taken out all of the carpeting that there was to take out in order for it to dry more rapidly and the car will remain parked in the garage where it can dry out nicely.  I may have to get a new windshield or get the old one re-sealed UNLESS there's another common source for this kind of leak on these cars.

I have not come across any other electrical gremlins and car does not fail to start

This does not seem like the ignition switch to me................Keith of AudiConnection, early on and prior to the development of the other problems with the indicators/hazards and wiper blades, suggested that the culprit might be some sort of 'sticky' relay that regulated the supply of power to the whole fuse/relay panels from the ignition switch............he thought this relay might be the culprit..............I haven't yet been able to locate this relay

I would appreciate any trouble-shooting help on this one...........especially the indicators...........where is the relay?

Car has new battery and charging system was checked at Advance Auto Parts using their portable diagnostic equipment............everything checked out.

I hate electrical problems...........and leaks..........

Gunter 
1990 V8Q Tornado Red 140 000
Cleveland