00 Grand Am GT Diplay Lights Problems

[skylarking1970]

Hi,
I have a 2000 Grand Am Gt. This problem happens occasionally, and very random.
Sometimes when I start it, the service vehicle soon light will flicker, the Track Off light will come on, and /or the change oil light will blink on and off. It then will stall. I just have to restart in one or two times and all will be ok, with no lights doing anything strange.
Also, sometimes the Track Off light will come on while driving (always under 20mph), or the change oil light will start to flash. If that happens, it will go off once I drive for about 30 seconds. (When the Track off light comes on I just hit the button and it's fine) About 3 times the lights started doing this while driving and the car stalled (always at a low speed), I restarted it and it's fine.
My mechanic said it didnt register any codes for the service vehicle soon light.
Other than that, the car runs great. He thinks it could be the ignition switch. He also thought I might try to recode it since it could be a coding problem. He said that would be a cost free way to see if that might be the problem.
Not sure if related, but the ignition module was replaced recently as well.
Any ideas?

THanks!

[xeroinfinity]

Welcome to AF !

Your service lights do flicker on then off when you first start your car.
Almost sounds like its loosing power.
Have you checked your battery and its connections ?

If you hit a bump in the road it will make your trac light flash and even the low trac on the left instrument panel.
If its doing it and you didnt hit a hole but was maybe turning then you could have a wheel speed sensor going out.

As for the SVS light that could be a bad headlight bulb or a bad relay for the DRLs or ALC.

Hope that helps.

[skylarking1970]

Thanks for the reply. The battery, alt., and cables were replaced within the past year so I don't think it's a power problem. As for the ABS, it doesnt occur when I hit a bump. It's just at random.

One of 3 things seems to happen.

1. I start the car. When I turn the key to turn over the engine, the Service Engine light flickers really fast and erratic (not like it normally would, on,off,on,off etc.) and I hear a "clicking" noise from the passenger side fuse box. I'm not sure if the engine actually fires or not but it sounds like it does and stalls really quick (within 1 sec). When it does this, I just turn the key to off, and restart it one or two times and then it runs fine without the service light being on. Other lights seem to come on too but go off.

2. When I start the car, or very shortly after driving (5 seconds) the change oil light comes on and flashes. It will shut itself off after about 15 sec. of driving. The oil has been changed within 1 mo. So it's fine.

3. Shortly after starting the car and driving (5 sec) there will be a "ding" and the Trac off light will come on. I just press the Trac on button and it's fine.

I would say #1 is most common, followed by #3, then #2

One example happened today. I just started my car fired up fine no problems. I drove about 500 feet, and while at about 20-25mph the Service Engine Light started the flickering thing, other lights started to flicker, and I lost power. I pressed the gas a little more to build up more speed and it all stopped. It drove fine after that. This example is rare. It's only happened 3-4 times in the past month when I have been driving I would say.

This problem only seems to happen when I start the car, or when I am at low speeds. Not one of the 3 problems has happened when I have had the car above 30mph I would say.

Also, all of the 3 things that I say happen are random. Sometimes the car starts/drives with no problems, other times it does 1 of those 3 things.
I would say that maybe 1 out of 10 times when I start the car, or start to drive, one of the 3 things will happen.

Other than that, the car drives great.
I keep great upkeep on my car and just want to make sure that this problem doesn't become worse in the future where it could leave me stranded. Something is wrong but I just cant pinpoint it. I like to keep my car 100%

Sorry this is so long, I just wanted to provide as much info as I could and I tried not to leave anything out.

Thanks again for your reply!

[xeroinfinity]

Ok your mechanic needs to do a better scan, at least capble of reading ABS codes. You probly have a wheel speed sensor going out causing your trac/abs light to come on/flicker.

As with the SES light and erratic running on start ups thats probly a misfire, typical problem.
When were the plugs & wires last changed ?

With out a code or two we're just guess without doing some testing.

[skylarking1970]

Thanks for your help with this. My mechanic said it isn't registering a code which is part of the problem.
It really appears to be something electronic that is going wrong, but what is it is the question.

It ran fine for the past 3 days with no problems, but today it did it a few times. Here is some more info.

The one time when I went to start it, all of the lights were flickering, and the engine sounded like it was misfiring, but the tachometer was at 0. (When I start it it goes all the way up, then down, but when it was still misfiring for about 2 sec before it cut out the tach was at 0) The tach should be registering something even though the engine is misfiring.

A couple of time when it did this at start, I pressed on the gas a bit and it got it to the point where it quit misfiring and the dash lights quit going crazy and the tach was working. It then drove fine, (like a brand new car). This hasnt worked every time though.

Also, when I was driving at about 30mph, it seemed like it misfired (I lost a little power for about 1 sec) but when it did this, the speedometer dropped from 30 to about 10 in that second even though I was still at about 30. After that quick second the speedometer went back to 30 and the car ran normal.

THanks again for your help.

[xeroinfinity]

If when you start the car and the SES light comes on or flashing it was likly a misfire happend and should show up with a scan for trouble codes.

On the cluster going crazy and random times could be a short in your instrument cluster, or your ignition switch is going out.
Here is a thread that explains how to test and replace the ignition switch.
http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbul...d.php?t=715987

[skylarking1970]

Thanks for all your help.
That is kinda what my mechanic thinks. The ignition switch.
I'm trying to video tape my dash lights when it does it so he can see what happens when it does. (since it is so random and didnt do it when he had the car for a day)

I just wanted a second opinion since I had problems when he replaced the ignition module about 4 months ago. He replaced it with an AC Delco part (which unknowingly turned out to be bad brand new) when that didnt fix the problem he replaced several other things that could have been the problem. He finally figured out that the new module had to be bad, and replaced it again and then it was fine. It just cost me a bunch extra because the new part was bad. (My mechanic still cut me a deal for as much as he did.) He says that since AC Delco has been making those parts in China, (or Tiawan) that he has been seeing about 30% being bad while they are brand new. I wrote AC Delco a huge complaint letter, but as figured, got no reply.

I appreciate all of your assistance with this.

Brett