Battery reset pros and cons needed

[cdover73]

To help fix my window drop function I am thinking about disconnecting the battery to reset the pcm and bcm but Im a little worried from some of the posts I have read about electrical issues after doing so. I made this thread separate from my other one just in case this applies to other problems not related to mine specifically.

Its an 03 convertible. Mostly stock. I do have a battery tender installed.

What would/could potentially happen?
Would it be advised against?
What is the difference from when you have to change the battery out? Eventually this will happen to everyone.
Will I lose radio functions? I have the factory upgraded radio with XM sat and navigation.
Anything else I would need to know to expect?
If I do it, is there anything I need to manually reset/check before starting the car?

Thanks,

 

[gb66gth]

Good question. I was thinking of changing out my battery tray for a fresh one and would like to know how to get everything working again.

 

[Roy]

Nothing happens, you just need some heatcycles to get your O2 numbers in order (at worst)
I have never noticed a thing when disconnecting for winter...

 

[cdover73]

Good to know. Thanks! Now I just wonder if it will actually do any good. Only one way to find out... I will follow up with the results. Fingers crossed...

 

[Morketh]

Yea I would HOPEEEE that a mostly non-electronic car would not have any issues when a battery is disconnected. My BMW has to go have the better registered and crap when I install a new one, I recently did that and found that to be kind of ********.

 

[cigar]

I have had problems with a disconnected battery and XM radio in another car, you have to call them to have them reconnect, on the other hand once I took it to the radio shop that installed it for me and he was able to push a few things and get it going but he said it doesn't always work.

 

[cdover73]

Okay...that was scary!! I disconnected the battery and while I had the terminal off I noticed it was broken so I replaced the clamp. Once I put everything back together I couldn't get in my car!! The key fob wouldn't work for anything...no door lock, no trunk lid unlock, no alarm, nothing! I finally remembered something I had read in the owner's manual about using the valet key to manually open the door and then putting the normal key in the ignition and turning it on. Whew...that worked!!!

So I got in and closed the door and put the key in. Once the power was back I opened the drivers door and voilla, it dropped 1/4". I shut the door and it went back up to the full closed position nice and tight inside the seals. I reached over and opened the passenger door...same thing. Okay it's fixed!!

THEN....with the door closed I rolled the driver window down and back up again without holding the button at all in either position to make sure it worked. I opened the door to get out....no drop!!!!

I freakin give up. I am not fooling with this pos anymore until somebody finally figures out the fix. I can't believe, regardless of the price tag, Dodge has never gotten their electrical figured out! It's a shame that such a potent and fun car has these issues and nobody knows the fix. Ridiculous!!

Now that the rant is over, I will continue driving the car on those blue sky days with the top down and a big ol' grin on my face and just won't worry about the window. Just like I have been doing.

Btw, I called Salsbury Dodge and they won't let their service techs take phone calls. I have to bring the car in. I used the other option and left a message for the shop foreman to call me back...haven't heard from him yet. If he does and we find a solution, I will post it.

Thanks,

 

[Morketh]

Awww man, my eyes got really huge when I read you fixed it! And as I continued to read you crushed my dreams!

I will try this same thing as soon as I get my wheels back on and get the car off jacks and see if I have more luck.

 

[cdover73]

It HAS to be something with the procedure we are using. There is a step somewhere being missed. It worked fine until I touched the buttons, or at least the first time I opened the door. So I know it is at least capable. How do you get from there to it being set??? What step locks it in??? All I did was roll the window all the down then back up without pausing. The only other thing that may have messed it up is I had the hood and trunk open when I did it. Maybe everything has to be closed. You wouldn't think so, but with the theft system and all you never know.

Good luck. I'm done for a while. Got a trip out of town tomorrow. I will try again this weekend if you haven't had any success.

Thanks,

 

[Roy]

it might help to call the wizard for this one, seems like a specific problem and he knows specific solutions. (FYI the wizard=Chuck Tator and he is very helpfull and willing to help)

did your fob remember it's settings after you used the key to get in? Is your battery strong and fresh or is it at its end? I know our cars tend to do crazy stuff when the battery is bad/but not yet dead...

I also know there is a major problem with the windshield on these gens, there is a topic about it for years, but i think this concirns another window problem...