98 Astro electric lock, lighter, rear lift gate.

[leatherman]

I'm sure this has been asked multiple times, individually or not. I'm hoping that it's not the BCM. I've searched the forums and the internet for a confident answer but I'm not sure.

I have always had problems with the typical symptoms for a bad BCM. Dome light flickering. Wind shield wiper delay spasms and stopping intermittently.

However this time I have failures.

The first, a couple of months ago the driver side window lost it's power. Not completely. If I press the switch it will begin rolling down. At a couple of inches it slows and then stops. It wont roll up or down after that. However I can get it to roll up about a half an inch each time I turn off the ignition and start it again. Eventually I get it completely closed. I believe this is not the fault of the BCM. More a motor failure. However I have seen posts that suggests that it maybe brushes not contacting in the motor.

The second, I was loading the back hatch for a road trip. I closed it then I climbed in the van I noticed that the cigarette lighter outlet wasn't working. Although the accessory outlet on the side of the console did have power. An hour later I stop and the rear electric hatch didn't work. At the same time I notice the power lock switches on the driver and passenger doors didn't work. However the power locks worked with the key fob. I've read that all of these can be the fault of the BCM. I have also seen that there can be other reasons. I checked all the fuses. I think it's odd that the key fob still works.

Are these problems just the BCM? Is there possibly a single circuit that these are all connected to?
The pistons on the rear hatch failed a year ago, BCM?

[old_master]

You have several different issues, probably not a common denominator involved here.

The dome light flickering is probably caused by a pillar switch out of adjustment, usually the sliding door, but could be any one of them.

The wiper problem is most likely due to a faulty pulse board on the wiper motor. Poor solder connections or a cracked printed circuit board are common failures. Sometimes they are repairable, sometimes not. Most auto parts stores stock the board and it is an easy replacement.

The driver side window switch has a circuit breaker built into it for the express down feature. It usually takes a few seconds for it to reset, but if the window binds, it may take several tries to move the window. When the window binds, amperage draw increases and pops the breaker. Another possibility, (and the power lock circuit may have the same problem) is the wire harness that goes from the "A" pillar to the driver door has several wires in it. With the constant opening and closing of the door, the wires will eventually break. The key FOB does not use those wires, that would explain the FOB working properly.

The rear hatch and cigarette lighter inop may be related to each other. They are fed from the same fuse, there may be loose connection somewhere near the fuse, before it splits to each individual circuit.

Hope this helps. Post your findings.

[leatherman]

I did see something about the board for the wiper motor some where.

I forgot to mention that the older symptoms, wipers-dome light, are more frequent in a cold damp morning. Not necessarily in the rain, I don't believe it is a leaking issue.

The progression of the issues are:
1-wipers and dome light (since 2002)
2-hatch pistons (about a year ago)
3-driver window motor (about 2 months ago)
4-all at once rear hatch electric locks interior electric locks and cigarette lighter (this week)

Guess that does look like independent problems.

[old_master]

Here is a link to the pulse board: http://www.partsamerica.com/productd...e=2040&PTSet=A

Acting up in cold, damp weather is not surprising. Cooler temperatures can cause contracting of the board and cause the solder joints to pull apart. High humidity and rain, (moisture) can cause arcing and short the circuits, all causing erratic operation.