So this has been a pretty frustrating end and start to the week.

I've been dailying the car (2008 ISF with 170k km) for quite some time now, and middle of last week, I filled the tank up. The next morning it was pretty cold and the Low Fuel Pressure light came on, I had somewhere to be, so I had to drive it, the light eventually went away mid-drive. After searching on CL regarding the issue, I read it might be the gas cap not being on tight enough, so I checked he gas cap multiple times before driving back home.

This is where it starts getting weird, although the Low Fuel Pressure light didn't come on, I noticed after that my Average MPG had reset, from 14 L/100KM (16MPG) to 0 then rose all the way up to about 20 (11 MPG) and kept rising while I waited for the car to warm up. It eventually went down a bit while driving home. Before this all happened, I averaged around 14.1 L/100KM and would rarely fluctuate too much at idle, but now it fluctuates like crazy i.e. (19.1-19.4 at a stop light). Keep in mind this the Average MPG, not tank MPG. Other than the Low Fuel Pressure light coming on later during the week on a really cold morning, nothing else to report.

Over the weekend, I decided to wash the car, and it started normally. After I had finished, I turned the car back on, and now the Power Steering, Brake, and ABS lights came on and it became a chore to bring it back into the garage. At this point I'm getting a little worried. I turned the car off, and back on to see if the issue would magically go away, but the lights still were on.

Now I go to unplug the battery and wait about 10 minutes, and connect the battery back, I go to start, and nothing. Like the battery doesn't have any juice, so I charge it for a bit. After it charges, I tried to start the car again. It fires up, and the Power Steering, Brake, and ABS lights are still on. So, I turned it off and went on CL to investigate further.

Come Monday morning, I go to start the car and it turns on, but then immediately shuts off. I try again, same thing. Now I'm really sweating...All throughout the day I tried to search what the hells going on with my car, and had settled on maybe the MAF sensor and throttle body being dirty, or maybe the fuses was causing the start/die issue. So, I checked a few fuses, not entirely sure which ones to check. I looked at some of the fuses under the driver side kick panel, and they seemed OK, So, I checked the MAF, I disconnected it, and tried starting it, and it wouldn't turn over. I ended up taking the Injen intake (previous owner's) off to clean the throttle body and MAF anyways, since I figured it needed it. Just going to the store to pick up some MAF cleaner and Throttle Body cleaner today.

I know it's hard to diagnose what's really going on over the internet, without getting the codes, but my cheap OBDII reader which works on all my other cars, would always fail with ISF when trying to connect to the ECU.

Any ideas on what the hell is going on with my car? TIA

 

check your alternanot with tester and all main "-" wires u can see

 

Update

​​​​I got a anxious and just cleaned the throttle body, my nearest store didn't have any maf sensor cleaner so I couldn't clean that. Checked the wires into the steering ecu and everything looked plugged in. Put everything back together and tried starting it back up, and nothing. I couldn't find my multimeter to test the battery and alternator unfortunately, but it's turning over at least so I don't think it's the battery.

Just a couple clips of what happens when I try to start it.
https://streamable.com/jb40z5

https://streamable.com/zivb42

 

How old is the battery ??? It may have gone bad.. Which can create a downstream effect..

Also, maybe a slight chance the alternator gave out too.

I noticed your Nav System was trying to do a full reboot.


Joe Z

 

The battery's a few years old so that may be the case, but I've always kept it on a trickle charger when not in use for more than a few days.

As for the nav, I disconnected the battery in anticipation for cleaning the maf and throttle body, so that's why the nav was rebooting.

A couple guys in my f group chat suggested maybe the fuel pump was on its way out.

 

I'd suspect the in tank fuel filter being clogged before I'd suspect the pump. A couple of members have had issues with this. But it's possible the pump is bad. The bad part about troubleshooting is, without DTCs, it's pretty much just guessing.

 

Yeah, I'm waiting for a new obdii reader to come in, so I can narrow it down.

 

Just a quick update to this,

Towed it to a shop close to me, unfortunately they don't have a code reader compatible with the car but he said it was starting now.

He disconnected the negative terminal for 30 min, reconnected, and it started up. He let it run for another 30, shut it off, and then it wouldn't restart. So, he repeated the process of disconnecting the negative terminal, and it started again.

He also said the power steering, abs, and brake lights had went away after he started it. When previously they were all on.

This is really weird, he suspects its ecu related.

 

So, it's happening again...again after I washed the car. I'm thinking water's leaking into the fuse box or something and it's messing up the electronics. I tried disconnecting the negative terminal before I left for the gym this morning, and came back and it would start up for maybe a second, then immediately die again.

It's weird because I've washed it after I took it home from the shop and everything worked fine. This time, I even used less water than before, and I'm getting the problem.

When I took it home from the shop, my OBDII cable showed up in the mail, i plugged it in and opened up techsream to see if any codes would pop up, and it had no major codes. Now when I try to connect it, it doesn't even read the cars' model code/ spec/ option/ or VIN.

 

You need to check the ECM lid and make sure no water is getting into it. If you can't even read the ECM for the VIN, it sounds like there is water getting inside the protective cover. There is also an air vent for the ECM box that connects forward and could be problematic as well.

 

OK thanks got it, I'll check it out today, hopefully. the ecm is one of the covered boxes on the driver side, right?

 

How are you washing your car? Hopefully you don't use a spray gun inside the engine bay...see that all the time at the car wash, makes me cringe every time.

 

Lol no, just a basic 2 bucket wash with a garden hose for the exterior, the hoods closed the entire time. I don't even introduce running water when I clean the engine bay, I spray a brush with a cleaner and then agitate the dirt and grime that way, then wipe with a towel.

 

This is my engine bay, I find it hard to believe any water is getting into to anything underneath the covers.



Is it possible water is leaking through somewhere else and getting to the driver side kick panel fuse box? I noticed a wet spot on the carpet near the door sill, and a drops near the plastic panel near the foot rest when I washed the car after I took it home from the shop, but it was driving fine for a week until the next wash.

Not my car, but used this picture as an example:

 

I would look at the door/windows seals, pull the cowl cover off and clean out any debris, and make sure the sunroof drain system isn't clogged or leaking. Has the windshield been replaced?





if you don't find anything obvious and the problem persists, I would also check under the front fender liners for any damage from rubbing and/or water.