Mulifunction switch (flashing lights) (56kwarning)

[RCA1186]

OK, so I pulled the LCM (2 minute job) and cleaned it up with some contact cleaner, no dice. Still have flashing lights. So I guess its time to pull the boot back and spray the "holes" see if that fixes it. For now I pulled the one connector from the LCM so the battery doesn't die, all lamps work but the headlights and the cluster/hvac illumination. (Highs, turns, brakes all work) so I should be good like that during the day.

I can plug it in for night driving. The headlights don't flash when I manually put them on.

[RCA1186]

Tried spraying in the "holes" after an hour of drying I tested it out, plugged the lcm back in, it started flashing much more severely and then just staying on completely. Cycled the switch through the headlight settings, and eventually it stopped. Now they are off and I haven't seen them flash again yet. Fixed? We'll see

[RCA1186]

Well, I admit I had my doubts, but so far nary a flicker to be seen. SO I guess this fix is true! haha

[groomlaketested]

Hey rca your flickering is contageous, mine started yesterday. I need to know what fuse to pull so my battery doesnt die. Or should i just unhook the battery.

[groomlaketested]

Battery was dead this morning, so i pulled the back seat and jumped the battery. Started ran till but battery so i just disconected the negative cable and ill try to fix it this weekend.

[RCA1186]

Your best bet is to pull the connector on the LCM just remove that black kick panel under the dash

[RCA1186]

I'd try the little trick of spraying the electronic contact cleaner in there though, it sounds crazy but it seems to have worked for me haha

[groomlaketested]

Ive already got the battery situation hooked up so ill stick with that for now. But i pulled back the rubber boot and i can see the contacts so ill get the cleaner and the compressed air and give it a whirl this weekend. Its contact cleaner i can find at a office depot along with the compressed air correct.

[groomlaketested]

Did you turn it back and forth alot to get the cleaner inbetween the contacts.

[groomlaketested]

I ran the cleaner through and it worked like a champ. My brother (being a mechanic) suggested i put a little dielectric grease on the contacts so we did that and its nice and smooth works perfectly. Ill let you guys know how the grease works out.

[poofables]

I just blasted contact cleaner and air in after pulling the boot back every day for about a week, and havent had trouble with it in months. simple quick and easy.

[groomlaketested]

Mine started flashing again. I think i need to keep redoing it for a while. Did you leave your battery hooked up when you did it.

[wireless]

Jun 19, 2012 3:06:52 GMT -6 groomlaketested said:

Mine started flashing again. I think i need to keep redoing it for a while. Did you leave your battery hooked up when you did it.

Yours is doing it again?! Didn't you just do it?

Honestly, I say you should just do it as per the guide.. I did mine around christmas, and it took a while and was a pain, but I did it, lol.

I didn't disconnect the battery when I did mine..

[smiggyg]

I was cursed with the flashing light problem on my 1999 Aurora today. Just got finished spraying contact cleaner in the holes on the switch as directed and it worked a champ so far. Thanks so much! ;D

Don't think it matters but I had the battery disconnected.

[ernest]

i have a 97 that i bought with 88 k on it the problem i"m haveing is that i have no headlights i went through every thing that i know to do and still no headlights. all other lights work can somebody please help me i dont know what to do.

[sall]

Dec 12, 2012 17:58:23 GMT -6 ernest said:

i have a 97 that i bought with 88 k on it the problem i"m haveing is that i have no headlights i went through every thing that i know to do and still no headlights. all other lights work can somebody please help me i dont know what to do.

So, what have you troubleshooted as of yet? Fuses and bulbs? BTW it is probably best to start a new thread for your specific problem.

[Randy T.]

Short video of light control module clicking and lights flashing, the second flashing shows my rear panel flashing, the reflector is flashing because of a flashing light on my camera. There was enough voltage to light up the corner led and rear panel led, but not the regular lights. This was a '99 Aurora and I cleared the problem by blowing air behind the mfs switch boot on the column.

[RCA1186]

Nary a flash to be seen since I did this fix <knock on wood>

[98aurora]

Argh!! its my turn, It started tonight. I think its because I haven't driven my car for 12 days due to to switching insurance/title, plus its been humid and hot here. I will do the CC and air trick if not I will disasemble and regrease with silicone paste or Super Lube. Thanks for the help as always. I will update!

[sall]

Mar 27, 2013 11:23:48 GMT -6 RCA1186 said:

Nary a flash to be seen since I did this fix <knock on wood>

Haha who are you Andy Griffith? Not nary.

I came home Saturday night and the parking lamps were on in the '98. Door dinging when opening the door. LCM park relay on PCB clicking violently and was very hot.

A quick couple shots of compressed air in the MFS holes/cavities and all has been well since then.

[RCA1186]

Its crazy I never expected it to work so well but it has haha

[RCA1186]

Going to verify this again haha, almost three years later, the problem has remained solved. Great cheap and simple fix!

[98aurora]

The issue is that GM put too much cheap grease and it has absorbed too much moisture from the air to point that the grease is now acting as a conductor.

I decided to take mine apart to make sure I removed all grease, its not too hard, looks scarier than it is.

The trick is too simply remove all the grease with any type of degreaser. You do not need special circuit cleaner. I used WD40 with a lot of q-tips to break down and completely remove all the grease. I then dried it with air, then I used Super Lube (silicone grease) at all the mechanical contact points only. Its been 1 year and a half and no problems at all. It even feels newer. Just take it slow removing the thin brittle cover around the steering shaft.

[RCA1186]

Mar 11, 2015 11:57:57 GMT -6 98aurora said:

The issue is that GM put too much cheap grease and it has absorbed too much moisture from the air to point that the grease is now acting as a conductor.

I decided to take mine apart to make sure I removed all grease, its not too hard, looks scarier than it is.

The trick is too simply remove all the grease with any type of degreaser. You do not need special circuit cleaner. I used WD40 with a lot of q-tips to break down and completely remove all the grease. I then dried it with air, then I used Super Lube (silicone grease) at all the mechanical contact points only. Its been 1 year and a half and no problems at all. It even feels newer. Just take it slow removing the thin brittle cover around the steering shaft.

Yup, encountered the same problem in a wiper switch on a friend's saturn a couple years back. Did exactly as stated above and worked like a charm.

[sall]

If one cares to see them, there is some pictures in the other MFS sticky showing the innards of the switch and the grease.

[xbigblue]

I am another Aurora owner (1999, 226K miles, second owner) in debt to "Aurora Maniac" for the wonderful, detailed post on how to fix the flashinng light.
We let our beauty out in the weather for a month, then found a dead battery. Jump started it and the flashing lights and buzzing began. I suppose it did it all month long and completely killed the battery. O'Reilly Auto Parts replaced battery under warranty but of course that did not stop the flashing. Leaving it sit overnight killed the battery again. Found this post and decided I cculd be brave enough to tackle it when the estimated costs ran well up into three digits. Cost to me was $9.07 for electronic parts cleaner and a bit of dielectric grease, already had a can of compressed air for the PC.

Well, at my age, and arthritis and back pain symptoms, this is not an easy nor quick job. Trying to cram my body into the floor area under the steering wheel is a challenge. It took me probably a half hour to get the airbag connector apart as I was afraid the plastic connector would break from age. It took me an afternoon to get everything apart and shoot the good stuff into the contacts, give it an hour to dry, then try it. VOILA!!! No flashing!!!

I tackled re-assembly next afternoon and that was harder for me than dis-assembly due to warping of plastic parts from heat and age and some screws that did not want to start. After all, this car is 16 years old. I had to take the knee bolster back off and start both sets (hidden and non hidden) of screws a bit to get it to line up correctly. It had warped quite a bit and made it tough to start the lower screws. Now the battery accepts charge correctly (the flashing even fooled my excellent charger into thinking I had a bad battery when I had not fixed the problem yet).

The detail in the post and the photos were what made this possible for me. Thanks so much for the post and its quality. He or she who was the first ever to do this job must have done a lot of "how the &%+# do I get this thing apart?"

[RCA1186]

Mar 9, 2015 13:16:01 GMT -6 RCA1186 said:

Going to verify this again haha, almost three years later, the problem has remained solved. Great cheap and simple fix!

Guess what's back with a vengeance...I've tried spraying again and it is not solving the problem. Looks like I'll be dissecting the MF switch soon...

SO, it was a 3 year fix haha

[bruisercruiser]

I just want to describe my problem and see if you guys think following this guide will fix it. 

For starters, i have a 1999 Oldsmobile Aurora. I just had the Alternator changed on it about 4 weeks ago.
Last Thursday (9-3-15) I drove my car through the carwash. Shortly after i started hearing a very random clicking sound coming from the console which sounded to be left of the steering wheel about right where the foglight button is.
When this clicking happens my headlights flash with the clicks. From 9-5-15 through 9-8-15 the problem stopped.
However yesterday evening it rained in the afternoon while my car was sitting outside from work. When i got in my car to go home it was clicking again like crazy. Get home and turn the car off and it still clicking like crazy and making my headlights flash off and on very sporadically.
Im wondering if when it rains some water is getting in from where my hood meets my windshield and is rolling down the firewall and getting on a fuse or a relay.
CAN SOMEONE HELP ME PLEASE! Im already having to unhook my negative terminal off my battery every time im not driving it so it doesnt drain my battery. I can record a video of the clicking sound from in the console if that will help diagnose my problem.

[RCA1186]

I described what you can do in lieu of pulling the battery in another thread. See my quote below

Aug 18, 2015 11:38:58 GMT -6 RCA1186 said:

Also keep checking eBay because I saw one on there just the other day. Alternatively, you can unplug the left connector on the LCM. Under the dash, remove the black plastic kick guard on bottom (3 screws), to the left of the steering column (near the emergency brake)you will see two boxes mounted vertically to a plastic bracket back to back with connectors facing the floor, the box on the right (if looking towards the front of the car) is the LCM. If you unplug the left connector, lights wont flash. The switch will also be non-functional except for the turn signal and flash to pass features. I/e if you need to drive at night you'll have to plug it back in while you drive, but is normal functioning during the day.

Clearly not a permanent solution, but it will get you by until you can locate a switch.

As far as your problem, it definitely sounds like the same problem as described in this thread. I solved it (for now) by replacing with a junkyard multifunction switch. This may or may not end up being a temporary fix seeing as it's the same part so will be susceptible to the same problem.

The part about it occurring when it is raining is a new one on me though. My suggestion is to try the contact cleaner in the holes described in the thread, it's a very cheap fix and an easy thing to rule out to start.

[bruisercruiser]

Sept 9, 2015 9:56:55 GMT -6 RCA1186 said:

As far as your problem, it definitely sounds like the same problem as described in this thread. I solved it (for now) by replacing with a junkyard multifunction switch. This may or may not end up being a temporary fix seeing as it's the same part so will be susceptible to the same problem.

The part about it occurring when it is raining is a new one on me though. My suggestion is to try the contact cleaner in the holes described in the thread, it's a very cheap fix and an easy thing to rule out to start.

Thank you so much man. Im going to give this a go this weekend. Working 9-7 monday through friday makes doing anything during the week nearly impossible and i dont have a well lit place to work on it after dark.