So the other day this started, my wing is down and when backing up or going forward, the moment I hit 5mph it will pop up and the spoiler light will flash. No engine codes and did an ESP reset, also battery is a year old and reads 12.6V

Any suggestions very much appreciated!

 

I'm going to play with the wife's roadster.. as in pull a sensor out of position and see if it goes to ESP error with the sensor immediately or when rolling. I know my cars problems were jumped on as most likely speed sensor or battery when I was new here (merely started car and lights-spoiler-action). Tried wheel sensors.. no joy... battery finally went belly up about 8 months later.. same condition. Even though at the time I had noted ABS error too.. it was ignored as a symptom in this. I'm really feeling ABS pump and or module in mine, since the yaw sensor and clock spring are ESP related actions. Might try to get to it Monday if we get back from Nascar race early enough.

 

Your battery may be OK but check the connections. to ground.

 

REALLY look over the battery posts/cable terminals.
And take a look at the ground bolt/lug where the battery ground cable connects.

 

Connections are good I just installed a new ground on the battery a few months ago as part of the big 3 wire upgrade. Battery reads 12.6 and my sub amp in the trunk reads 12.59V using 4awg wire, so I think the battery is fine. I'll unhook it for a minute and plug it back together to see if that resets something. Still no engine codes.

 

Meaning you read them with OBD2 scanner or there are no error lights coming on?

 

Looked for codes using Torque Pro. No luck sadly.

 

If there are any codes they would be specific to the mfr. code scanner not that one. When I had abs, BAS/ESP lights on and spoiler up, I looked for continuity on all the wheel sensors, checked all the grounds. Checked CANB buss CANC buss all looked good, all modules were talking on the busses but till I had the codes read with the Mfr DRBIII scanner at a dealer could it get fixed. Bad BAC & wheel sensor.

The only symptom is the spoiler up @ 5mph? No lights, no other symptoms? Seems like the ABS BAS/ESP systems do a spot check just after you are underway but I thought that was at 15mph.

 

Since I noticed the error only happens when I'm driving I ran a scan while I was driving and found pending codes P0422 and P0432 "Main Catalyst Efficiency Below Threshold" bank 1 and bank 2. Not sure if these are related to the issue with the spoiler.

 

If the engine was not up to temp might be why these were "pending."

(P0432) CATALYTIC 2/1 EFFICIENCY (CONTINUED) When Monitored and Set Condition
• When Monitored: The Powertrain Control Module (PCM) monitors the engine at operating temperature, in closed loop, engine load between 22–52%, the Three Way Catalytic (TWC) converter temperature is greater than 380°C (716°F), and no O2 Sensor or engine misfire faults.
• Set Condition: The amplitude of the O2 Sensor Signal downstream of the TWC exceeds 75% of the amplitude of the O2 Sensor Signal upstream of the TWC for approximately 170 seconds.
POSSIBLE CAUSES
O2 SENSOR CONTAMINATION ENGINE EXHAUST LEAKS OR DAMAGE THREE WAY CATALYTIC CONVERTER FAILURE THREE WAY CATALYTIC CONVERTER DAMAGE
For a complete Powertrain Control Module Circuit Diagram, (Refer to 9 - ENGINE - SCHEMATICS AND DIA- GRAMS).
Diagnostic Test
1. INSPECT THE THREE WAY CATALYTIC CONVERTER Note: Diagnose any O2 Sensor DTC(s) before continuing with this diagnosis.
Note: Check for contaminants that may have damaged the O2 Sensor and TWC converter: contaminated fuel, unapproved silicone products, oil or coolant and repair as necessary.
Note: Engine exhaust leaks can be the cause of this DTC. Inspect the exhaust system for leaks before diag- nosing this DTC.
Note: Always perform diagnostics with a fully charged battery.

 

(P0422) CATALYTIC 1/1 EFFICIENCY (CONTINUED) When Monitored and Set Condition
• When Monitored: The Powertrain Control Module (PCM) monitors the engine at operating temperature, in closed loop, engine load between 22–52%, the Three Way Catalytic (TWC) converter temperature is greater than 380°C (716°F), and no O2 Sensor or engine misfire faults.
• Set Condition: The amplitude of the O2 Sensor Signal downstream of the TWC exceeds 75% of the amplitude of the O2 Sensor Signal upstream of the TWC for approximately 170 seconds.
POSSIBLE CAUSES
O2 SENSOR CONTAMINATION ENGINE EXHAUST LEAKS OR DAMAGE THREE WAY CATALYTIC CONVERTER THREE WAY CATALYTIC CONVERTER DAMAGE
For a complete Powertrain Control Module Circuit Diagram, (Refer to 9 - ENGINE - SCHEMATICS AND DIA- GRAMS).
Diagnostic Test
1. INSPECT THE TWC CONVERTER Note: Diagnose any O2 Sensor DTC(s) before continuing with this diagnosis.
Note: Check for contaminants that may have damaged the O2 Sensor and three way catalytic converter: contaminated fuel, unapproved silicone products, oil or coolant and repair as necessary.
Note: Engine exhaust leaks can be the cause of this DTC. Inspect the exhaust system for leaks before diag- nosing this DTC.
Note: Always perform diagnostics with a fully charged battery.
Note: Check connectors — Clean/repair as necessary. Poor pin to terminal connections can set DTCs.
Note: Check for any Technical Service Bulletins that may apply.

 

Yeah I have an alarm on Torque Pro to run when the engine is at operating temp. Codes still popped up. But they're pending and I haven't messed with Torque in a while. I googled pending code and if anything shows up out of the ordinary it will log it for 40 drive cycles as a pending code and if the event replicates again then it will be an actual fault.

 

Code still hasn't come up but I went and had the battery tested and it came back good. I'm very certain it is a speed sensor but I have no codes showing that is the problem. I guess this weekend I'll have to test them out with my multimeter. I would just swap them all out, but at $50 each I would rather wait and find the fix.

 

So the issue fixed itself overnight. Not sure what tricks the Ghost in the Machines are playing on me. Maybe just some more radio interference since I live on an Air Base. Last year we had a certain aircraft here and whenever it flew over the base my lights would flash but my alarm siren wouldn't sound. oh well, just glad I'm not shelling out money this time.

 

I recall graphite ghost mentioning this RF interference once upon a time .....

 

LOL... just had the same thoughts as I read my email notification from this thread! His lights were blinking..no alarm.. no rhyme or reason..

 

Problem came back a day later, did a battery reset and no luck. No speed sensor codes so maybe the trunk latch is going out? I'm pretty handy with a multimeter, where should I start testing and what numbers should I be looking for?

 

We have speed sensor codes?

 

Yeah, I want to say they're P0500 and P07--

Also I was driving on a slick road so I know the traction control still works which kinda tells me it's not a speed sensor since the system depends on those.

 

This is going to be an "out in left field" question, but do you have the Nav Radio? I have this problem as well. The solution for me is to put the nav cd in and let it load. Happens randomly.