96 Concorde: Electrical System Meltdown!

[bob p]

I was driving my 96 Concorde to the mall yesterday. Its got 105,000 on the odometer. Everything was working fine. Let me qualify that by saying that my AC compressor has been pretty noisy for a long time, but has been working well after a recharge with 2 cans of R-143a. I had also had intermittent problems with the Dome Light On, but that problem has been quiet for a month or so.

I shut off the car and went into one of the stores. When I restarted the car, many of the electrical systems were suddenly DEAD. For example:

The ABS warning light is persistently ON.
The AIRBAG warning light is persistently ON.
The Climate Control System is totally non-functional and all of its indicator lights are blank.
The Power Windows are DEAD.

I drove the car home in the sweltering heat with the windows stuck in the full-up position. When I got home, I did the following:

1. I checked the driver's console fuse box, pulling each fuse to assure that no fuses were blown.

2. I checked the under-hood fuse box, visually inspecting the fuses to assure that no fuses were blown.

3. I disconnected the battery to allow the computer to reset. I replaced the aging battery with a brand new one.

4. I disconnected the AC Compressor's electrical connections.

Unfortunately, even though the fuses appear to be okay and the AC compressor is unplugged and its clutch appears to be working properly, many of the car's major electrical systems remain DEAD.

This is a major inconvenience, as the weather is HOT, the windows are stuck in the UP position, and the HVAC system has defaulted into the HEAT mode!

Can anyone offer an idea where I should look for the problem?

Thanks in advance.

[theFREAKnasty82]

from what you're describing sounds like a bulkhead connector that comes through your firewall has corrosion in the terminals and thus giving you the chaos you're having now. Look by your firewall under the hood for every electrical connector (usually the big connectors) and make sure they're tight and clean.

[Batznight]

Hey can you show me where the firewall is, i got a little problem with it, plz :P

[AWP9521]

Usually when the climate control has defaulted into full heat mode is an indication that the ATc head unit went south, but adding all the other factors into the equasion also suggests that the ignition switch may be bad too. The bulkhead connector is rather large and is usually found on the drivers side on the firewall (the wall that runs down from the windshield base behind the engine) mosy likely below the wiper well but not sure on that.