Approx ... two years ago, I was sitting at a left turn, radio on, AC on full, headlights on, blinker on, etc etc and the car just ran out of juice on me. I jumped it, and it ran perfectly fine. Since then, I've noticed that when I press the gas the dashboard gets brighter, and when I'm idling at a red light, the dashboard dims.

I had the dealer look at it, and they could find nothing wrong. Changed the battery. Nothing really changed, but it never full out crashed again, so whatever.

Then things kind of spiraled downhill. As it sits now:

1) Driver's side car lock won't lock/unlock electrically -- but the switch works for all the other locks. Usually. Except when it doesn't. The key still works to unlock it, but the switch on the door won't move it.

2) The windshield wipers no longer have three speeds. Just one. And when you turn them off, they don't return to the original position, they just stop.

3) As before, when you press the gas, the dashboard lights gets brighter.

4) When you turn on the AC to high, the headlights get noticeably dimmer

5) When you idle too long at a red light, the radio flat out turns off (new symptom discovered today)



What seems so odd is the dashboard. If I hit the gas, the thing lights up bright as if it was brand new. When I just idle, it gets slowly dimmer until it completely blanks.

Simple answer is new battery, but that didn't fix it last time either... Something has to be leeching battery while the car is off. Any ideas?


Oh also, #6. If you turn the car on, leave the key in the ignition, and open the drivers side door, the car freaks out. It sends constant "unlock" signals to the lock, but I assume they're just never received and the car thinks the door is locked even though its not.

 

The car may have multiple issues:

For the dimming lights:

Was the alternator power output checked at low and high RPM.

Check battery cables, cable terminal connections, ground connections, ground cable between chassis and engine.

What is the engine idle speed, does the RPM increase when the A/C compressor turns on.


Door lock.

Sometimes the wiring between the driver’s door and chassis can fail due to all the door usage. The wires flex until they are damaged. This can cause strange door lock and power window operation.

The door switches can fail or get stuck.


Wiper

The motor has a multi-core wiring. Depending on which wiring is selected the speed will change. The wiper system uses a control module built into the steering console arm. This module selects the wiring. The module could have failed.

The motor has a part switch, this tells the module when the drive shaft (and connected arm) are in the park position.

Check for proper grounding of the wiper motor.

 

I have all the exact same problems, did you ever find a solution?????

 

I was told today that it sounds like issues from an aftermarket alarm system, I have one so it could be an issue if you do too!!!!