Little back round:
My friend bought this about a month ago with 88k miles. XLE V6 with navigation and all the options.
After buying it, he detailed it on the inside and outside, while the car was not running with the radio on. This naturally drained the old battery on it. He doesn't drive the car yet, nor did he register it yet, so he jumped it and let it run for about 20 mins. to recharge the battery. A few weeks passes and all is good. He started the car every week and all was good. Last weekend he bought the engine de-greaser spray and sprayed it on the side of the engine to get some of the oil residue off of it due to a valve cover gasket leak that looks like lets some oil out and sweats the front side of the engine a bit. He said he sprayed only the part with oil residue carefully and then gently wiped it to get the oil off.
This was done with the engine off.
Today he attempted to start the car up to check up on the battery and it was dead. He jumped it with another vehicle, let it run a bit, and opened up the hood and saw smoke coming off of the engine where some of the oil residue leaked down when he was cleaning it. He let it run and the residue burned off and the smoke stopped.
He drove the car half a mile to the store, shut it off and went inside. When he came back out, the engine wouldn't start. He jumped the car again but every time it would start, it would shut off as the rpm dropped. In order for him to maintain the engine idling, he needed to keep his foot on the gas pedal. Since he lives half a mile, he kept the rpm's at 2k rpm, and barely made it to his driveway, where the car stalled again and wouldn't start.
He bought another battery, put it in and now the car starts and idles. However, all the dash lights are off, the rpm arrow is stuck at 6k for some reason, even though he never revved it that high, the speedometer is stuck at 100mph, radio, lights, climate control, windows, sunroof, nothing works. The only thing that works is the horn and the hazard lights. When he applies throttle, there is no response and after a while it shuts off again. In addition, you can't shift from out of park. The only way to do this is by by-passing the shift lock interlock mechanism with the button on the bottom console which you can press with a screw driver. Even when you put the car into drive or reverse, it does not move or respond to throttle and eventually the engine die's.
The AM1 fuse which is the starter fuse blows every time. When you start the car and engage the starter, sometimes the lights on the dashboard light up for a second and you can operate the windows and everything else that's not working but quickly the lights die off and everything again becomes inoperable. The AM1 fuse keeps blowing (5amps fuse according to manual). The alarm also goes off randomly and now the battery has to be disconnected at night just in case.
When he bought the car, the ignition switch was and still is finicky. When you take the key out and leave the door open at times, the chime stays on as if the key is still in the ignition. In order for the chime to go off, you need to re-insert the key into the ignition and turn it again.
I don't know if the spray played any role in this happening by maybe getting into one of the sensors under the hood or this is just a coincidence, but something is messed up. Everywhere I read, it says there is a short somewhere, one mechanic said the ecu may be fried and another source said possible bad ignition switch.
What is your take on this? He doesn't want to pay a tow truck to tow the car to a competent shop that charges $97/hr. labor for a diagnostic fee that may take more than 1 hr. (He is struggling financially right now).
Can a bad ignition switch do all this? Why was the car moving before with the rpm's held at 2k rpm and not stalling but has no response in throttle input at this point with the engine running and why is everything electrical not working including the windows?
The keyless entry does not work at this time also. The doors need to be locked and unlocked manually by hand or with the key.
Thanks for reading the long and grammatically incorrect post. It's very late, I woke up early today and helped him figure out the problem after work for several hours. I am now tired and am writing on the level as a 5th grader.
Thanks again for your help!
My friend bought this about a month ago with 88k miles. XLE V6 with navigation and all the options.
After buying it, he detailed it on the inside and outside, while the car was not running with the radio on. This naturally drained the old battery on it. He doesn't drive the car yet, nor did he register it yet, so he jumped it and let it run for about 20 mins. to recharge the battery. A few weeks passes and all is good. He started the car every week and all was good. Last weekend he bought the engine de-greaser spray and sprayed it on the side of the engine to get some of the oil residue off of it due to a valve cover gasket leak that looks like lets some oil out and sweats the front side of the engine a bit. He said he sprayed only the part with oil residue carefully and then gently wiped it to get the oil off.
This was done with the engine off.
Today he attempted to start the car up to check up on the battery and it was dead. He jumped it with another vehicle, let it run a bit, and opened up the hood and saw smoke coming off of the engine where some of the oil residue leaked down when he was cleaning it. He let it run and the residue burned off and the smoke stopped.
He drove the car half a mile to the store, shut it off and went inside. When he came back out, the engine wouldn't start. He jumped the car again but every time it would start, it would shut off as the rpm dropped. In order for him to maintain the engine idling, he needed to keep his foot on the gas pedal. Since he lives half a mile, he kept the rpm's at 2k rpm, and barely made it to his driveway, where the car stalled again and wouldn't start.
He bought another battery, put it in and now the car starts and idles. However, all the dash lights are off, the rpm arrow is stuck at 6k for some reason, even though he never revved it that high, the speedometer is stuck at 100mph, radio, lights, climate control, windows, sunroof, nothing works. The only thing that works is the horn and the hazard lights. When he applies throttle, there is no response and after a while it shuts off again. In addition, you can't shift from out of park. The only way to do this is by by-passing the shift lock interlock mechanism with the button on the bottom console which you can press with a screw driver. Even when you put the car into drive or reverse, it does not move or respond to throttle and eventually the engine die's.
The AM1 fuse which is the starter fuse blows every time. When you start the car and engage the starter, sometimes the lights on the dashboard light up for a second and you can operate the windows and everything else that's not working but quickly the lights die off and everything again becomes inoperable. The AM1 fuse keeps blowing (5amps fuse according to manual). The alarm also goes off randomly and now the battery has to be disconnected at night just in case.
When he bought the car, the ignition switch was and still is finicky. When you take the key out and leave the door open at times, the chime stays on as if the key is still in the ignition. In order for the chime to go off, you need to re-insert the key into the ignition and turn it again.
I don't know if the spray played any role in this happening by maybe getting into one of the sensors under the hood or this is just a coincidence, but something is messed up. Everywhere I read, it says there is a short somewhere, one mechanic said the ecu may be fried and another source said possible bad ignition switch.
What is your take on this? He doesn't want to pay a tow truck to tow the car to a competent shop that charges $97/hr. labor for a diagnostic fee that may take more than 1 hr. (He is struggling financially right now).
Can a bad ignition switch do all this? Why was the car moving before with the rpm's held at 2k rpm and not stalling but has no response in throttle input at this point with the engine running and why is everything electrical not working including the windows?
The keyless entry does not work at this time also. The doors need to be locked and unlocked manually by hand or with the key.
Thanks for reading the long and grammatically incorrect post. It's very late, I woke up early today and helped him figure out the problem after work for several hours. I am now tired and am writing on the level as a 5th grader.
Thanks again for your help!
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