Help! Battery Reconnect - Parking Lights + Lighted Buttons Flash

[tommyleeyyz]

Hello,
Hope someone can help with this issue. I did a lot of searches with various word combos, but the closest I could find was a to-do list after battery is reconnected, but it didn't mention anything like what I am experiencing.

Vehicle:
2008 CX-9 Touring with Assistance Package + Factory Remote Starter

Symptoms:
I had to disconnect the battery while installing a DRL module--I am very certain that the module is not the cause--you'll have to trust me on that.
After I finished and reconnected the battery, now whenever I open the door, the following items flash in sync for exactly 1 minute then stops; the timing is similar to the hazard activation, but it is not the hazard:
-left front parking light (weak amber light just above the turn signal light)
-both rear parking lights
-all lighted buttons, e.g. TCS button, AC controls
-headlight symbol on dash

If I turn the key to ACC or ON, the the Bose system goes through a test procedure, and when it's done the LED information display is lit with every possible symbol and stays that way.

One thing to note is that I have not yet actually started the car b/c I didn't want to be in the situation where the answer is something like, "Oh man! You shouldn't have started the car!"

Any help would be much appreciated.

Cheers

 

[tonyj]

It's quite simple, Was the car working fine BEFORE you put in the DRL module? If so, remove the module and see if everything goes back to normal. If it does you know the module is defective. Bottom Line

 

[tommyleeyyz]

Hey tonj,
The car was working WITH the DRL module, as I was testing it at every step of the installation. The strange behavior only happened after I had to disconnect the battery for the final physical connection. I agree with the simple diagnosis, which is why it was checked and ruled out before posting, thus the "trust me" on not being the module. Regardless, your input is appreciated because sometimes the simple things are overlooked.

In any case, since I didn't get any definitive replies, I decided to try to start the car, but it wouldn't--the board lit up, however--which is when I went with my gut feeling about the remote starter being involved. I started the car via the remote starter, or at least tried because it didn't respond to my first three commands, then after opening the door, voila, it started. At this point I know the remote starter is confused about the state of things.
I turned it off, then tried manually starting and was successful. Then I tried the remote starter again and that seems to be operating correctly now.
Oh, and the issue is now gone.

I don't know what exactly is happening in the car's brain, but will be researching the remote starter. If any knows the process, feel free to chip in.

Thanks

 

[tonyj]

Now that I think about it, when you disconnect the battery, on-board electronics have to "reload/ boot-up" per say. so all the lights listed would be part of that process. Granted I haven't disconnceted my battery on my "9" yet. but other vehicles I have worked on for whatever reason and disconnected the battery, did demostrate similar symptoms
Glad all is normal now

 

[nguvanh]

I did remove battery during remote start installation. When I connect battery back, I haven't seen any above symtomps except I have to reprogram auto open and close front windows.

 

[paulvha]

The car is full of computers and if you have been re-connecting the battery, you might have caused "sparks" on the powerline. Normally a reset signals prevents the computer to go in uncontrolled state during power-up. Maybe it was not long enough. The best thing to do next time is disconnect the battery + wait 10 seconds for the 12V power to disappear and give time to reset circuits to unload and reconnect in ONE go : ut the connector on the 12V and hold the connected while fastening again. You will be surprised... ( btw not much you can do on the remote start module.. actually nothing..)

 

[CX9 SportOwner]

...you might have caused "sparks" on the powerline.

You must be an electrical engineer. That's some serious tech speak.

 

[tommyleeyyz]

Update - Issue Identified - D'OH!

False positive. The symptoms returned, but a lot of separate issues were happening simultaneously making the diagnosis difficult. In the end, it dawned on me that it was the aftermarket alarm going off. Why wasn't it obvious with the siren blaring? Because I had disconnected the siren for possible relocation--it was in my way of the DRL mod job.

I picked this car up only a week ago and don't know much about it. In the end I removed the third party alarm because it was total hack job and I wasn't given any remote with it to disarm it, etc, and it was going off every time the door was opened and disabling the starter for 5 minutes.

Then to add to the confusion, the rear-fan-on-after-ignition-off issue started, which I learned about through this forum, and fixed. I still don't know why the Bose system went through it's test, unless there is only a short-term memory charge, which will allow quick disconnect-reconnects of the battery terminals, but won't help when it's off for a long time.

Bottom line, everything is working well.

BTW, while looking at the instructions for the Mazda Fog-lights Kit, I saw the battery reconnect procedure, which was really surprising. It states the order should be: 1. Turn ignition to "RUN" or "ON" 2. Connect Negative terminal 3. Turn ignition off. That was interesting.

Cheers

 

[drchuck]

Drl

I have the DRL unit from Stern on my '10. I wonder if you might have a bad unit. It always possible that the unit itself could have a hitch in its get-a-long. I used the switched wire for the seat heater for my hot connection, located near the vehicle center at the top of the radiator, and grounded to the body.

Since I don't know what you hooked the hot wire to, its hard to know how it might be affecting the adjacent wiring configurations. As a suggestion, I would try leaving the turn signal on one side or the other on when you start the vehicle. (If you hooked it up to go off when you signal a turn - and assuming you are using the Stern) Starting the CX with the signal on would disable the DRL unit, and if everything works normally - then your question is answered.

As I read through this thread looks like you have it under control -

Just a thought.

Chuck

 

[tommyleeyyz]

Hey drchuck

No, it was definitely the after-market alarm. To ensure that the DRL module (Hamsar) wasn't the cause, I had completely disconnected it, and it didn't make a difference.

I probably would've also used the seat heater wire as the ignition-switched source, but since I wanted to use the optional parking-brake sense wire too, I ended up feeding the wires into the interior and tapping off wires from the 6pin and 30pin BCM connectors located behind the driver side kick panel.
I became aware of the wire (Black/Yellow) on the 6pin when I saw it in the Mazda Rear-Camera-Mirror instructions as their recommended connection for a ignition-switched connection point.

In any case thanks for your suggestion as they are always appreciated.