2000 Grand Am GT, misc annoying PS and electrical problems

[irishdawg]

Hi everyone. Obviously I'm new here and I am having a few problems with my car and this seemed like a decent place to get answers.

1.) Power steering: When the car is cold, my power steering works great. As the vehicle gets warm, the power steering becomes harder and harder to turn while stationary (it's still fine while moving, which leads me to believe the pump is fine). The only explanation I could think of for this was an overfilled PS tank, but I checked and when the car is hot it's at the 'H' mark. Ideas?

2.)My power door locks, trunk release, and power mirrors don't work. Power windows do. I can hear the solenoids clicking on and off for all three, and I'm at a loss as to the issue. All three stopped working at the same time, which leads me to believe a wire somewhere got fried or cut, I just have no idea what connections all of those share (and further, one that isn't shared with the power windows). I should mention that the problem started after I removed some excess wiring that the previous owner had left in from some internal neons he had setup. Maybe while pulling those I pulled a different connection out?

3.) I'm having an intermittent issue with my turn signals. I found some recall information for '01 Grand Ams that specified the same problems, citing a bad solder at some point in the circuit. However it never specified where this bad connection is and as such I have no idea where to look in order to fix this.


Like the title says, nothing too important, just a series of annoying issues. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

-Adam

[Hungrycat7]

Hey There! I may be able to shed some light on one of the issues you are having! I too lost my trunk release, power locks, and power mirrors all at the same time! I had no idea what it was so I started with the relay (in the drivers side fuse box). I just pulled the relay out, grabbed an old toothbrush and cleaned it off. I put the relay back in and like magic everything worked again. If this does not work you may just want to replace that relay. Also with the whole issue with the turn signals: If there was a recall why don't you just take it to a dealership and let them worry about it. If that turns out to be the problem and it has not been replaced yet you may be able to get GM to pay for the fix. May save you a lot of hassle! Hope that helps!

[xeroinfinity]

Welcome to AF irishdawg.

1 - its your power steering pump thats most likly bad.
Does it also work when you are at higher RPMs when its Hot ??

2 - thier are several fuses for these, like Hungrycat stated it could be the relay(s).

3- And this is possibly your contacts are dirty in the multi function switch- MFS.
Search the GA forum and you will find A LOT of info on how to repair/replace this MFS problem.

Thier was NO recall on the MFS, only a short run of bad Hazzard switch/relay that caused the clicking sound when you are not using the turn signals.

Hope that helps

[irishdawg]

xeroinfinity: Yes, as soon as I apply any power over idle, the problem disappears. Really, it's only an issue while parallel parking, which i have to do twice a day, so it's annoying, but then again, if my pump is going bad, it's most likely a good idea to get it replaced sooner rather than later.

I also forgot to mention with the turn signal problem, I've noticed that hitting my washer fluid button makes them work most of the time when they go out. Judging from the name 'multi-function switch' I would assume that is the issue.


Thanks for the advice on the other stuff everyone, I'll hopefully have time to try those ideas out later today. I'l let you all know.