Here's the story:

1. Really bad thunderstorm set off the car alarm, key fob would not shut it off - probably too far away.

2. Car started and drove fine for a few miles, then everything electrical shut off except the engine! No instruments, windows, lights, etc. Pulled over to see if turning it on and off would reset everything. Removed the key fob and tried to shut it down - it would not shut down.

3. After a few minutes, it let me turn it off but then would not restart, no instrument power at all. Again, a few minutes later, it started but the "check engine soon" and "key" light were both on. Door locks, windows and sunroof would not work. Door locks wold not work from the key fob or button.

4. Shut it down again and would not restart at all, also key fob did not work to lock the doors. Disconnected the battery and tried again. Tried this quite a few times.

5. Finally restarted but still no sunroof or windows. "Key" light was on but not the "check engine soon" light. While driving home on the freeway, suddenly everything returned to normal and has been for the past 24+ hours.

My question...

WTF?

 

Why would you need to remove the key fob? Where are you removing it from?

 

The slit in the dash

 

Do you put the key fob in that slit all the time? That slit if only to be used if the bettery in your Fob goes bad. It's an alternate way to start your car. Otherwise you can start your car by just sitting down with the fob in your pocket. You also said that you couldn't turn off the car alarm or work the door loks from the fob.

I think your main issue is the key fob battery is kaput. Open your key fob and replace your battery to start off with and go from there. Using a coin, open the key fob along the side seams and pop it open. Snap it back together after you are done.

 

Doesn't sound like just the key fob to me...that is some crazy stuff going on.

update if anything else happens...you will probably need a dealer to diagnose the issues..

 

Yea, there is something else going on, but figured he start with the FOB and go from there.

If cleared up on its own by now, perhaps something got wet in the storm and is all dried up by now

 

Check the battery compartment for any water marks, there is a drain in that compartment which if clogged can fill up the compartment and cause the fuse box to be submerged in water when raining or washing and yes it has happened to a couple of ppl here before, the water might have drained over time but must have left some water marks IF there was any water there in which case clear out the drain and make sure everything is dry

 

THIS is the post i was talking about for him it happened because he was missing the battery cover allowing pine needles to clog the drain, hopefully your IPDM is still fine considering you said everything is working fine now. Hopefully this is not what happened with your car but worth the check

 

^^^ Good point kool. If that all looks ok though, I'd definitely swap out the battery in the key so that it's eliminated from the equation (there could be multiple problems). After that, my next suspicion would be the BCM.

 

^ thats also a possibility as reading over the other guys post it seems when the battery compartment drain gets clogged some water also gets into the car on the passenger side where the BCM is... so check both boxes

 

man just checked my battery after reading this post, never check it since it's in its own compartment

 

Keep the lid on it and it should be fine with just checking it once a year or so.