Well, went and started the 348 tonight and let idle for about 10 minutes while waiting for the wife. When I was ready to leave I noticed the 1-4 and 5-8 cel's were on. So I turned off the engine and tried to re-start and It was like I had a bad battery and it wouldnt start. I know the battery is good because I had just started it! And the oil rad fan was running with no problem. It's very strange and have never had that happen before. Also when I turn the ignition on, the oil temp gauge pegged all the way over to the right. Its a 91 348ts I haven't run the codes yet, but was just throwing this out here in case someone else has had similar problems Any clues or anything else I'm missing here? John
Looking at the wiring diagrams, I don't see any input from the oil temperature sender into the engine management system, so it's not likely a faulty signal from the oil temp sender would shut down the engine. Sounds like a "real" problem. Did you notice the water temperature? Checking codes sounds like a good idea.
The h2o temp was ok. Ran codes and pulled a 4131, 4121, 1122, and 1121. First one is compressor signal. Second is cat temp ecu. Third is bat voltage and last is rpm sensor. Doesn’t sound like anything too drastic here.
measure the battery voltage while you are cranking. A dead battery does all kinds of things to a CEL.
Curious. I can't see any obvious correlation between symptoms and messages. I assume the alternator/battery light wasn't initially illuminated? Do you normally have your car on a trickle charger? I was just wondering if low volts might cause some of the symptoms. I can't see any common fuses or wiring other than the power going to the oil temperature gauge and the HVAC stuff, but there would probably be a lot of other weirdness going on with the instrumentation if that was the case. (EDIT: crossposted with Mitchell)
I have a 1.5 year old Odessy battery That is always on a battery maintainer. But I’m going to check the voltage in a bit to see if it’s not drained for some reason. Wierd because it started up with a lot of juice into the starter by the way it sounded when cranking over.
Those newer made-in-China Odyssey batteries are getting somewhat of a bad reputation. If you can get the car started, also check the voltage with the alternator operating.
Check and clean the engine earth and battery terminals. Possible the starter motor, when hot, pulls too much current and is throwing codes.
I can't figure out why a bad battery would cause max deflection on the oil temp gauge. Isn't it more likely a bad earth in the engine bay would cause this mess. Maybe the alternator uses the same earth and is not recharging the battery. 10 minutes of idling may have depleted the battery.
I talked to my mechanic tonight and he thinks it’s the battery. I looked up my receipt for the odyssey battery and it’s older than I though. It’s 3.5 years old but still within the 4 year warranty. So I’ll replace it tomorrow and see if it’s fixed. Thanks all and Ill post results tomorrow
Maybe the charger isn't compatible with the battery? "Trickle chargers that do not have a regulated trickle charge voltage between 13.5V and 13.8V (no lower than 13.5V and no higher than 13.8V) will cause early failure of the Battery." http://blog.odysseybattery.com/2018/11/understanding-your-battery-warranty/ Odyssey 40 battery and smart charges ''be warned'' - PistonHeads
It was the battery. The problem with battery maintainers is that you don’t really know when your battery is getting weak, at least from a startup situation. Odyessy batteries are overrated at least from my standpoint. I can buy 3 interstate batteries to one Odyessy battery. Probably get the same life too.
I went with a more mainstream gel mat battery from AutoZone. I figured I could replace it several times for the price of an Odyssey. Next will be a compact lithium unit so I can shave 25 lbs from the left front of my car - 1993 on has the battery in the front wheel well.
Since the battery started the engine fine the first time (had sufficient charge for that) it should have been charged further during the 10 min. idling and it should have started the car the second time. The fact that it was depleted during the idling, suggests that maybe the alternator was not providing good charging voltage. Check the voltage on the battery terminals while the engine is running - it should be around 13.5 to 14 volts.
I am not sure about the Ferrari gauge (Veglia, I believe) but VDO gauges peg to the maximum if they lose connection to the sender (or the sender loses connection to the ground). In the case of the John's battery problem, it could be unrelated or it could be that the engine grounding is poor which could also explain the no-charging by the alternator. It is certainly a good idea to, in addition to checking the charging voltage on the battery, also check the main and the other smaller grounding connections/cables.
its possible the battery had a cell on its way out and that last start was its last breath. they will read good volts to especially if on a charger but that amp draw of starting the car could have been all it had. Ive seen it many times, even with a brand spankin new battery.