(SOLVED)Hello viewers,
I have a 2005 FEH and have stumbled across a weird issue. Last night I took the car out for errands(everything works normally) and upon returning about an hour later I come to find that the car starts normally, but with basically no electrical power. There is no power to the radio, no power windows, locks, lights(headlights/dome lights), turn signals or emergency lights. The only thing that works is the speedometer albeit with no lights, (now w/ a constant parking brake light on) and the rear brake and license plate lights. I've already checked the fuses and relays and they seem fine. A mechanic told me that the PCM has gone bad, but everywhere I read leads me to believe that a PCM failure will likely also lead to engine problems, my car runs perfectly. Is the mechanic right or is there something else amiss? Car has about 86,000 miles if that helps any. Thanks in advance!

 

did you mean BCM - body control module.
86 k on a 2005 - unbelievable

 

I've got 98k on my 2007. Except for the failing HV battery it's just needed filters & oil changes.

 

The mechanic said PCM-Power control module. Am I wrong to consider those two the same part( center of firewall with the 3 large harnesses connected to it)?
Yup 86k and everything works beautifully until this new problem. haha Hybrid system still runs well. I suspect something might of fried. We had a fairly large rain storm on monday, and two days later this happened. It could all just be happenstance however. Looking forward to any input, thanks and Happy New Year!

 

ford calls it the GEM

https://moduleexperts.com/gem-modules/

 

You have to get it hooked up to Forscan and pull the codes. I think the big rainstorm has shorted something. I think you've got something wrong with the BCM/GEM - the body control module, maybe linked to a short somewhere on a circuit it controls, maybe the whole thing has gone bad. It could be the little motor that unlatches the rear hatch! I'm guessing here, bigtime but I've heard the weatherstripping leaks, the motor shorts out and problems ensue. Codes will help diagnose. I don't think it's the PCM since the car runs normally otherwise.

Try something: start the car, make sure the doors are unlocked, and try to open the rear hatch and report back. Can you get all the doors unlocked or are they dead too?

Also: How is the 12V battery? How old is it?

 

Thank you for your replies and tips Alexk and fgaustin. I looked more into the GEM located in the front center console( thanks to the power of
Youtube) and unplugged one of the harness and reconnected it. As soon as I did this all power returned, it may have been knocked loose from some of the rough terrain here. Looks like it wasn't the fault of the rain, this time! I've already purchased some weatherstripping from Amazon and plan to lay it out around the hood area and other areas. We can consider this case closed and hope it helps someone out in the future! Thanks again and Happy New Years!

 

That's great. Loose connectors happen. Things vibrate and move around, even if we don't think they do, they do. Wires and connectors "creep" all the time, sometimes chafe against something sharp, and so forth. It's better now than it was, say, circa 1987 diagnosing electrical faults on an Audi 5000 CS Turbo Quattro, which could be a hydra-headed nightmare, but it still happens, even on relatively newer cars.

I didn't think to say: "Unplug the connector and plug it back in again" but I'm glad it worked! It sounded like you lost power to a collection of 12V things all at once, so hopefully everything's making good contact now, the way it should.

 

By the way, nice that you've kept it running this long at relatively low mileage. Change the eCVT fluid if you haven't. Easy job and important. Don't let the old fluid stay in there. You will want

Genuine Ford MERCON-V

Not the LV! 2005-2008 is Mercon V, 2009-2012 is LV. You will need approx. 6 quarts.

 

Old-School Electrical Woes: This is the engine compartment of an '87 Audi 5000 CS Turbo Quattro. There was no OBD port. There were no codes. And this is the simple part of the electrical system, the finest of German Engineering. If you wanted it to have more power, you changed the wastegate spring and plugged an aftermarket chip into the engine computer (http://www.intendedacceleration.com/). Diagnosing this car, if you just started unplugging connectors, pretty soon you forgot which ones they were, so you had to go very methodically. That little tube by the brake reservoir and the coolant expansion tank, behind the radiator and AC, is the after-run coolant pump for the turbocharger, which came on when you shut the car off to cool the turbo down. When that quit, the turbo roasted itself, and it was a challenge to remove and replace. The thing that looks like a "Y" over the valve cover is a duct for the accompanying coolant fan, which blew cooling air onto the fuel injectors. They could fail independently of each other! Happy New Year!


Have fun! '87 Audi 5000 CS Turbo Quattro