so heres the deal, i work for a car stereo company we had a customer come in with an 04 coupe. we installed hid low beam kit with the 4700 caps in place to eliminate flicker, we also installe da single din radio with the correct harness all clean and professionally done. a few days after the install the customer calls and says that his locks stopped working the gas door is locked up and wouldnt open and of course the spoiler was acting crazy. we offered to look at the vehicle which we did. #7 fuse was blown and keept blowing after we put a new one in. we informed the customer (after some google search) that the bcm was probably toast. he had the car towed to two different shops the latter being the dealer. they diagnosed the problem as a bad bcm replaced it and all was good. the problem is that now the customer is expecting for us to pay for his tow bills and for the bcm and labor. there were no problems found in our work but the customer insists that it was our fault and took it to small claims court. So the question for you guys is how common are BCM problems with these cars and what is the most common source of the problem? Thanks in advance for any info that might just keep us from paying a almost $4000 lawsuit.

 

im sure alot of people have had BCM issues so please list your "issues" that were associated with the BCM going bad.

 

I can't remember anyone replacing the BCM. EVER - anyone else?

I am not home and can't check the manual, but I will look at that what fuse protects when I DO get home tonight.

If the fuel door is the ONLY one not opening, that is odd. The locks are ALL pneumatic and driven by the same pump. One stage opens the driver's door and the other "stage" pretty much opens everything else. I don't see what a sound system install has to do with it.

If it wasn't for fuse 7 blowing, I'd tell him to clean the battery terminals (including inspecting the ground lug and screw on the ground cable) and replace the battery.

 

the car is all back to normal now after the dealer replaced the BCM. oddly enough the same time this car was at the chrysler dealer anothe rcrossfire was at the othe rdealer across town for the same problems with the same outcome bad BCM! after we checked our work and found no faults we turned it over to the dealer. I really dont feel like we had anything to do with the problems but I fear that if/when this goes to court the judge will rule for the small guy especially if we cant prove for a fact that our install didnt cause the issues. I have found a couple of reports showing where people randomly have the same issues only to find that the BCM kicked the bucket. I just need to come up with the end all be all answer to keep this from going any further.

 

Send me a check and I'll post here exactly what you want to hear....... j/k

 

It's great that you are trying to do as much research as you can to prove that your shop didn't mess anything up, but reading your post it seems like it is coincidental that the BCM failed after the upgrades. You state that "a few days later" he started having problems and once that problem started, the fuse would blow immediately when the key was turned. Wouldn't it be safe to say that if your "mods" affected the car in a negative way, that the fuse would have blown as soon as he picked the car up from your shop, or at least within 24 hours? If he had it for a few days before it started acting up, who's to say HE didn't try to do something and messed it up or that is was just time for the BCM to fail? Sounds a little suspect to me. I'm all for the adage of "The Customer is Always Right" when you are in the service industry, but there is a limit to how far that goes once the customer takes possession of his property.

Just my take on the situation - hope it all works out for the best.

RL

 

I would have to agree.. I've never heard of a bad wiring job on a timer delay..

Just reference the recent "new speedometer" install.. They told him "all done".. and it left the shop on a roll back truck.

 

The electronics on these cars are very sophisticated. A circuit board component can easily be damaged by a simple flash to ground (neg) of another circuit during an installation. Having said that, it cannot also be proven....that that was the cause....because it could very well be just coincidental. I don't see where they can hold you liable for anything but the repair/installation that you performed.
Good luck.

edit:
Do you not have a disclaimer on your invoice or contract that states your liability is limited to the value of the purchase, installation or service you are providing?

 

I would also like to inject that it is well documented the XF electrical systems are very sensitive to electrical (voltage) fluctuations. Just read all the posts on how this or that may be caused by a battery and that should be sufficient to imply that a huge power hungry stereo may spike any system with bad gremlins. Lately I have been thinking could a voltage stabilizer help keep some of these systems from being effected by load/rpm variations beyond the designed voltage regulator/charging circuit? Anyway, drawing lots of power on a line that has extremely sensitive electronic components might just be a huge no-no. The engineers only design these cars with the minimum requirements (costs go way up the more complicated/stout you make of anything). On the other hand, can a stereo system that has a manufactures defect cause any feedback to 'spike' the lines going back to the other systems (feedback of a different nature, a ground installed in the wrong place/connected incorrectly electrically)? Manufacturers building the XF would have to design filters and isolators above and beyond the alternators voltage regulator to prevent these things (remember the cost is factored into making the car) but dam, have you ever seen what a static spike can do to sensitive electronics? Time could be a factor in cases where a threshold of design specs are consistantly met or exceeded in operation of added or modified electric/electronic systems. Thats about all I can say about that (Forest Gump reference, lmao). Good luck!

sparkies, lawsuits are about $ and who is most convincing. Disclaimers don't work no matter how detailed they are because I have seen where judges award even with disclaimers because of the preponderence of the 'evidence'.

 

thanks for the info guys. keep in mind the stereo was just a simple radio install that had a blue tooth mic that was ran up to the rear view mirror. Nothing else ie speakers amp nothing else aftermarket was installed other than the HID kit and that was done the way that this forum says to do it. the reason for the inital post was trying to compile some info so we could have a bit of a valid argument by showing that its "common" to have issues with thes vehicles. I guess the point i have not been thinking about is what actually caused the BCM issue rather than thinking the BCM was at fault? We have definatly thought about the fact of it being a few days later but im sure a judge wont quite see it as easliy as that

 

Mr windotinter, you have to also realize that posting on this forum asking for reasons AGAINST a Crossfire owner is like being a Hatfield and wanting to know which McCoy raped your daughter .....
We ARE a family here, although sometimes it does not seem so .......