Q: Inaccurate warnings from the computer

asked by on July 06, 2016

What could be the origin of the computer giving false warnings? This happens intermittently and such warnings come up as: "ice on the roads," "engine heater recommended," "low tire pressure," "service transmission," and "-36' F" when it's 95'F outside. When the service transmission warning comes on, the a/c wont work. Once in a while the power steering goes out.
My car has an automatic transmission.

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I don’t know what the mileage is on your car, but it may still be under warranty. First thing I would do is call the dealer and find out. I wouldn’t recommend trying to figure this out yourself because this is a very out of the ordinary problem. But I would look for obvious damage and for something out of the ordinary.

The random nature of these failures will likely have a single origin. It will take an experienced technician to figure this out. To start, I would study each system that has given you problems and look for a common component that each one relies on. There does seem to be a few sensors or one that is causing your problem, as the problems seem to be temperature related.

I recommend booking an appointment with one of our mechanics to help you diagnose the issue with these warning lights. If you do decide to book this appointment, be sure to leave the technician a few notes detailing what is going on. Keep in mind, this could be a quick easy fix or it could take several hours to figure out what is going on. Unfortunately, symptoms such as this are often difficult to pinpoint what the problem is. Be patient and give the mechanic the benefit of the doubt.

Good luck.

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