My Buick is having a nervous breakdown!

2000 Park Ave, 3800 engine, 100K mi. Had transmission mounts replaced at 98K and all of a sudden there are wierd electrical things happening. Idles rough in gear at stop, this started immediately after the mounts were replaced. Garage loosened mounts and made sure they were balanced out. Oil pressure says 130 psi all the time, tire monitor says low tires but will not reset(this just happened after a 3 year old battery died). Bright lights won’t dim on first pull of lever. Windshield washers stick on sometimes.



Any ideas?

Wild guess - They broke or disconnected the ground strap to the engine?

You took my wild guess. That’s the only way I could relate electrical and motor mounts.

The rubber mounts necessitate a ground strap. I suppose if the mounts were bad they could have created a ground long after the factory straps went south or more likely they broke or left a strap off when they put in the mounts.

Try a jumper cable from the black, negative (-) battery terminal to a good clean metal spot on the engine. Try one from the engine metal to unpainted body metal, too. If the jumpers rid you of phantoms then replace some ground straps. Warning: Don’t do anything or touch anything to the positive (+) battery terminal.

I tried the jumper cable from a couple of spots to the main ground from the battery. It didn’t help. Maybe the gauge cluster is going bad?

Let’s hope it’s not wiring. I’d say the ECM. The dimmer and washers are separate problems. The rest of it sounds like misread or faulty sensors. It seems to me that’s too many sensor faults. Read the ECM for codes and let us know if there are any.

Personification “A description of an inanimate object as being a living person or animal” Sure I believe in any car as an object capable of detecting feelings and emotions and I tell my car I love you baby from time to time, but your nervous breakdown is not a result of your zen and the car, but a mechanical breakdown.

Has anyone considered the Body Control Module?

Wrong test; it has to go from engine to frame/body. Finding yours and seeing it connected is about all you should have to do on your car.