Will notstart, dash window and wipers do not work

Tiny
CIARA TANNER
  • MEMBER
  • 2003 BUICK RENDEZVOUS
  • AWD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 188 MILES
Changed blown fuse to cigarette lighter went to start car and nothing. Thought battery was drained got a jump nothing then I notice my window radio wipers and gauges on dash nor lights were coming on tried security reset was not it. Got another BCM radio now displays "locked" but still nothing.
Monday, January 23rd, 2017 AT 4:46 PM

15 Replies

Tiny
STEVE W.
  • MECHANIC
  • 13,454 POSTS
The replacement BCM needs to be programmed to match the vehicle you have. They are not plug and play. That is why the locked message is showing up and many items are not working. The VIN numbers do not match.
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Monday, January 23rd, 2017 AT 5:38 PM
Tiny
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So What do I do and how do I get it programmed? I do not think anything was wrong with old one.
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Monday, January 23rd, 2017 AT 6:17 PM
Tiny
STEVE W.
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Takes a dealer level scan tool to rewrite the VIN. Then it can be diagnosed to find the actual problem(s). If those items did not work with the old BCM then it was likely damaged during the attempted jump. Hard to say without actually seeing the vehicle and scanning it.
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Monday, January 23rd, 2017 AT 6:30 PM
Tiny
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I got the truck from an second hand dealer not actual dealer. But can I get it scanned at a Autozone or something?
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Monday, January 23rd, 2017 AT 6:37 PM
Tiny
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So I need to have the vehicle scanned?
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Monday, January 23rd, 2017 AT 6:38 PM
Tiny
STEVE W.
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Not scanned. You need a dealer level tool that can control the modules and access the actual programming of the modules. Then the VIN in the BCM can be changed to match the vehicles VIN. Once that is done it will actually be possible to view the data and see what the problem is.

None of the parts stores can do the programming you need. It takes a tool with pass through programming to do it. They will not do that because doing it wrong can easily wipe out the module.

A different way to look at it is that your car is speaking in English, the new BCM is speaking Turkish. You need a tool that can go into the module and "teach" it to speak English. The tools that the parts stores have will only listen to the computer speaking English, they have no way to teach the BCM.

It is possible that the dealer you bought the car from has a tool that can do the job, but you would probably get the latest updated software and programming from a new vehicle dealer.
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Tuesday, January 24th, 2017 AT 4:30 AM
Tiny
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Okay, thank you explaining this to me. So the whole vehicle has to go or can I just take the BCM?
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Tuesday, January 24th, 2017 AT 4:59 AM
Tiny
CIARA TANNER
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Since there is nothing wrong with my old one can I put it back in
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Tuesday, January 24th, 2017 AT 5:46 AM
Tiny
STEVE W.
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Are you sure there is nothing wrong with it? From your description you jumped the car and things stopped working that are BCM controlled. The "new" BCM won't control them until it's programmed to the vehicle (yes they need the whole vehicle, they use the connector in the car and the wiring and power to do the programming)
Now once you have everything speaking the same language, you can ask it to tell you what's wrong.
Take the old one with you. They can plug it in and test it before flashing the "new" one. IF it's OK then you don't need to program the replacement.
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Tuesday, January 24th, 2017 AT 6:55 AM
Tiny
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I do not know is it going to cost me to have it programmed and the old one tested?
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Tuesday, January 24th, 2017 AT 9:55 AM
Tiny
CIARA TANNER
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Okay, so I put the old BCM back in and dash indicators came on not the security low fuel and battery light is coming up and where the mileage is located says error, but the auto headlights windshield and windows are still not working. Also, the connectors to the BCM has a pink two grey when I plugged in the pink and end grey one the dash and indicators still doing the same thing flashing, but when I plug the middle one in it stop. What could that be?
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Tuesday, January 24th, 2017 AT 11:23 AM
Tiny
STEVE W.
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Yes. The cost will vary depending on who you take it to and what is actually wrong.

As you wrote it, you replaced a fuse and suddenly the car would not start. Thinking it was a bad battery you tried a jump start. The car still did not start, but now you noticed that the radio, wipers, windows and gauges did not work. So you found a different BCM, installed it with no change other than the locked code on the radio. Correct?

The question then becomes. Were those items working before the jump was attempted that day? What caused the lighter fuse (which also powers the diagnostic port and the vehicle interface) to blow?
Are other fuses blown? Good thing to check. For instance there are two fuses that power the above systems. All are located in the under hood fuse block. Check the battery itself, is it charged? If it is completely drained it could be the problem.

How about this. Before you spend more money. Get the battery load tested. While your there get a cheap NON-LED style test light.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-use-a-test-light-circuit-tester

Next clean the battery terminals and be sure you are getting full voltage to the fuse boxes. Then check all the fuses. Once that is done, plug the old BCM back in. Recheck the fuses.
Do all the accessories work now? Run a battery jumper cable from the negative battery terminal to a clean spot on the engine block, try starting it, anything? Run the lead to a clean area for the car body (clean nut on the strut tower or ground stud) Anything?
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Tuesday, January 24th, 2017 AT 12:15 PM
Tiny
STEVE W.
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If the battery is bad it can cause a lot of issues. Also if you have been removing and replacing the BCM with the battery connected you can plan on taking it to a dealer anyway. That alone can really scramble the system.
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Tuesday, January 24th, 2017 AT 4:47 PM
Tiny
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Is it possible that it may be the relay or fuse I also was going to do a kwypass 3 reset bcm is good
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Friday, January 27th, 2017 AT 6:42 PM
Tiny
STEVE W.
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Not likely. More likely is a bad PCM or BCM causing a problem. Without a dealer level scan tool to actually check the system you won't be able to repair it. Key reset won't work unless the system already works because part of the reset is that you have to start the car, which you cannot do.
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Friday, January 27th, 2017 AT 7:29 PM

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