Annoying issues after battery drain

[bszopi]

Ok, so a few weeks ago, I turned on the Rendezvous and had the radio playing for the girls while they played outside and I worked. They went back inside, and I thought they had turned it off, as I couldn't hear it anymore. Well, needless to say, when I went to go move it, the radio was in fact still on, but turned down almost all the way. So yep, you guessed ir: dead battery! I thought it might have enough juice in it, so I had tried starting it a couple times, but it didn't catch. So I just hooked the battery charger up, put it on Start, and started it up.

Now, the annoying things... Ever since then, the fuel gauge has been acting funny. It will stay at full until around 200 miles on the OD, then it'll track properly until its empty. Now, if the car sits and idles for a couple minutes, it will drop to empty, and the low fuel light comes on. Drive it for a couple minutes, and it goes back to full.

The other annoying this it seems that sometimes the ABS detects slippage or something, as the brakes seem to be cycling, similar to if the wheels were actually slipping on ice. It doesn't do it all the time, and I haven't really been able to tie it to anything specific. On a few occasions, its been enough to disable the ABS and AWD. At least when that is done, it doesn't happen anymore.

So, do I have issues with the BCM, ABS Module, both? Something different? These are the only issues that have come up, which makes it even more confusing.

[SappySE107]

You should have charged it and not relied on the start function to jump the car. Newer BMWs will fry some body module or something if you do that and you may have done the same with that method on your Rendezvous.

[pocket-rocket]

The engine start in my charger puts out something like 200 amps @ 18 volts. It was enough to pop the fairly new Silverstars way back when in the Thunderbird thanks to the automatic headlights...

[bszopi]

Booo... I guess I'll start with the ABS module. Not too worried about the gas gauge, as it works fine for the last 60 miles or so on the tank. And I usually know how far I can go on a tank, so as long as I watch the mileage, I should be fine with that for a little longer.

[bszopi]

Maybe I won't start with the ABS module. That, or I need to do some ebay/junkyard shopping. Rock Auto has the ABS module for $591. OUCH!!!

[pocket-rocket]

O.o Yeah, junkyarding I would go. What bodies does the Rendezvous share? I'm assuming it's basically a revamped Aztek and has a couple other cousins? I'm heading to the yard this Friday to pick up a rebuild kit for my Ranger. I simply cannot pass up complete gaskets, and stuff INCLUDING PISTONS for $30... Let me know if you would like me to look for one and let me know where the beast sits in the body.

As for the fuel gauge, I wonder if the tracks on the sending unit got burned.

[bszopi]

Its only the Aztek and the Rendezvous. I'll look into the location. I'm going to do some further investigation into the antilock and AWD disable lights just to see if there are multiple things that can cause this. If I'm lucky, it'll only be a sensor or something, and not the ABS module.

As for the fuel sensor, I wonder if I can fix it w/o having to replace the pump. Since they typically come as a unit, not sure if you can just buy the sender. Need to look into that as well...

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[pocket-rocket]

Wheel bearings can cause the ABS issue you are describing. The light in my sisters Aztek has been on for a long time, but everything seemed fine. Then finally it developed a squeak that she had me look into, and voila, bad wheel bearing. I told her once she has that replaced, I bet anything the ABS light would shut off since the sensors are in the bearings, and once the ABS is working 100% again, the AWD would work again as well. That would be odd for a wheel bearing issue to show up now, though.

As for the sensor, maybe hook into the wires for the gauge down by the tank and see what they read to make sure it's the in tank portion and not a gauge or something.