Electrical gremlins

[kansjfr]

I've got an '01 Q45 that's been well taken care of; I've had it about a year, and love it. BUT, it will lock itself on its own whether or not the key is in the ignition. The first time It happened the key was in the ignition. Luckily, I had the extra key and keyless fob and unlocked it. Also, sometimes the gas door will open on its own. And finally, sometimes there's a real high-pitched squealing sound, like when you leave the headlights on in a car without automatic headlights, although it's real faint. That squealing sound quits when I start the car, and it doesn't happen all the time, and it comes on when the car is off, just sitting. The car is always garaged in a climate controlled space, and doesn't appear to ever have been abused. I did install a Kenwood Stereo in it so I could play flash drives, but the first two ailments happened before the radio install. Any clues/suggestions as to the cause or cure?Thanks, Mike.

[Q451990]

The locking itself sounds like what several members have mentioned on the first generations... no one has really posted a solution. The gas door deal is new, as is the squealing sound. Can you tell where the sound is coming from (front or back of car, under hood, etc?)

[kansjfr]

Well, good to know on the auto locking feature, I guess. The squealing is very faint, and appears (or sounds) to be coming from behind the dash. It's stopped when I started the car; it's also stopped when I grabbed the steering wheel. I don't remember whether I put the key in the ignition that time. By the way, the car only has 93k miles on it, and I've put about 3k on it in the last year.

[Q451990]

I wonder if it has something to do with the auto steering wheel positioner?

[kansjfr]

No idea. I was hoping someone on this forum would have some ideas.

[ZiprHead]

I wonder if it has something to do with the auto steering wheel positioner?

'My thought too.

O.P. After I put the key in, the steering wheel and seat returns to the preset position. Does your do that?

[kansjfr]

Yes, everything seems to work normally, and the squeal doesn't happen all the time. The last time it happened, I walked into the garage area (it's parked in the back of my office in the building) I heard the squealing and had to start the car to get it to quit. Strange indeed. It seems to be coming from the driver's side dash.

[kansjfr]

Well, I walked into the building that the car is in and heard the squealing again, and started the car, and it quit. then it started up again, I started the car again and it quit again. Then it beeped (the same squeal) twice and quit. It is exactly the sound my Altima makes when you leave the lights on after shutting off the ignition, except it's very faint, but loud enough to hear and it seems to be coming from the driver's side dash. Any help, again, is appreciated.

[kansjfr]

I've been thinking about this issue with the squeal, and remembered that my headlights were on on a sunny day, even though I have set the headlight switch to Auto. Could it be the headlight warning squealer is causing the squeal? That's exactly what it sounds like,except it's very faint. The next time it happens, I'll turn the headlight switch to Off, and report what happens. Feel free, anybody, to weigh in with an opinion. thanks, Mike.

[94Q45Beast]

this might sound overboard, but its a 2 hour job tearing apart the dash (if you know what your doing) and inspect all the electronics with control modules, might have to remove the air conditioning piping

[kansjfr]

Pulling the dash apart is probably not something I'm willing to do at this point; the ailment is just an irritant so far. It did it again after I put it away for the night after driving a 600 mile trip. So, I hit the remote fob to lock the car, and it quit. I still have no idea what's causing it, but this time, at least, the remote locking feature stopped the squeal.