Pro tip: Don't assume the obvious on a door lockout call

Got a call for a car stuck between floors, classic lockout. Spent 45 minutes checking the hoistway door interlocks and the car top before I found the issue. A single, frayed wire strand from the COP ribbon cable was shorting against the frame. Anyone else wasted time on a simple part causing a complex fault?

4 comments

4 Comments

faith_hart203mo ago

What did the fault code show, or was it just dead?

green.reese3mo ago

Yeah, it threw a P0302 code for a cylinder 2 misfire. I had a similar thing happen last year with my old Civic. The code pointed to a bad coil pack, but after I swapped it, the rough idle was still there. Turned out to be a cracked spark plug tube seal letting oil in. Those codes give you a starting point, but they don't always tell the whole story, you know?

nguyen.blake1mo ago

The worst part is how long you can chase your tail with these codes. I've been down that road more times than I want to admit. Swapped out the coil pack, then the spark plugs, then the injector, and the rough idle just kept coming back. Finally found a vacuum leak on a tiny rubber hose that was barely cracked. Those OBD2 codes are great for narrowing things down to a cylinder or a system, but they can't tell you if the actual problem is a bad wire or a fuel issue or something mechanical. It's almost like you need a second car just to diagnose the first one sometimes.

gray_morgan3mo ago

That "starting point" thing is so true. It feels like everything gives you just the first clue and you have to figure out the rest yourself.