Dash flicker and Keyless System Entry Failure after tint...

[MiladyMalady]

I just had Vader’s tint done today and it was a very reputable shop. Licensed and bonded and the woman who worked their reassured me that they’ve worked on type Rs before and know to be very careful especially with the back panel that is easily cracked. However when I left I noticed I have anew error saying Keyless System Entry Failure and my dashboard flickers like crazy when the car is off. Also the car kinda flips out when I’m near it with my key. Sounds like it’s beeping like it’s relocking itself over and over. I’m worried they fried my car...what can I do? Should I take it to the dealer?

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[RedGiant217]

This is a pretty common issue. Just do a quick search on these forums to see what I mean. Sounds like some water got in your door or behind the dash or something.
It'll dry out in a few days and go back to normal.

Others have reported the issue as being from an almost dead battery after the doors are open for hours during the tinting. I tend to think it's just water but who knows.

 

[MiladyMalady]

This is a pretty common issue. Just do a quick search on these forums to see what I mean. Sounds like some water got in your door or behind the dash or something.
It'll dry out in a few days and go back to normal.

Others have reported the issue as being from an almost dead battery after the doors are open for hours during the tinting. I tend to think it's just water but who knows.

I sincerely hope that’s all it is...I had my husband disconnect the battery for me just now in hopes that it doesn’t drain with the flickering

 

[RedGiant217]

I sincerely hope that’s all it is...I had my husband disconnect the battery for me just now in hopes that it doesn’t drain with the flickering

Yes, I forgot to mention that. Others have recommended disconnecting battery and letting the car sit for a couple days.

 

[lorenkb]

I sincerely hope that’s all it is...I had my husband disconnect the battery for me just now in hopes that it doesn’t drain with the flickering

Seems like a common problem with tint on the Type R. The door electronics seem to be prone to shorting with the amount of liquid used during the tint install.

Don't be alarmed when you get a whole slew of warnings after disconnecting the battery. You're going to see a "Drive carefully, systems initializing" message on the dash, along with another slew of warnings relating to various car systems the next time you drive the car (VSA, Hill Assist, Etc.). Same goes for the head unit with a GPS related warning. You have to drive the car a short distance for these warnings to clear. Not sure of the exact distance. For me, I drove to pick up lunch with all warnings on, and everything was fine after the next engine start.

 

[Deadgame]

Water + electronics = blown fuses and/or dead electronics....It doesn't just go away. Same thing happened to mine. Put a battery charger on it and you you'll see the battery is low. Charge it or drive it around for awhile.

 

[SixxSpeed]

I have a hard time thinking it’s water, also. Something would be fried if it was water, not just a warning sign on the dash.

However, in my experience, Hondas and Acuras will start throwing some crazy warnings and start acting super weird if the battery is low. Given that the doors are open while a shop is tinting, I’d be more prone to believe that’s the issue. Ive seen countless threads over the years on various platforms, and 9 out of 10 times it always came back to a low battery.

It’s not like they use buckets of water when applying tint. Some electrical connector would also have to just be in the right spot for water to make it into it. While I suppose it is possible, it seems it would have to be a perfect storm for this to be the issue.

 

[Nanook]

Water + electronics = blown fuses and/or dead electronics....It doesn't just go away. Same thing happened to mine. Put a battery charger on it and you you'll see the battery is low. Charge it or drive it around for awhile.

Agreed.

 

[Deadgame]

I got all the crazy errors when the shop did my tint and then found it to be the battery. When I took my wife's sport touring in for tint at the same shop, I brought my battery charger so they could use it while doing the tint. Surprisingly enough, no errors! The batteries in our cars are prone to deep cycling and after several hours with the doors open, that's what you'll experience. Not looking to get into a pissing match with those of you who think it "must be water", primarily because no one can pinpoint where this magical water/electronics meeting occurs and I've been an electrical engineer for the past 22 years. Common sense says it's the charging system. Hope this helps!

 

[lorenkb]

I got all the crazy errors when the shop did my tint and then found it to be the battery. When I took my wife's sport touring in for tint at the same shop, I brought my battery charger so they could use it while doing the tint. Surprisingly enough, no errors.! The batteries in our cars are prone to deep cycling and after several hours with the doors open, that's just what you'll get. Not looking to get into a pissing match with those of you who think it "must be water", primarily because no one can pinpoint where this magical water/electronic meeting occurs and I've been an electrical engineer for the past 22 years. Common sense says it's the charging system. Hope this helps!

No pissing match required. If charging the battery is all that's needed, it's not a water problem. I just remembered reading an older thread where people swore up and down that they had checked battery charge and still had problems.

 

[MiladyMalady]

We reconnected the battery last night and there was no more dash flicker. Today I drove it to the post office and got all the warnings like lorenkb mentioned but they went away after a little driving. All is well now. I'm relieved lol thanks all!

 

[Nanook]

Awesome!!

 

[WindJunkie]

I had the same exact issue after getting tint installed. It 100% has to do with water getting down into the door, both passenger and driver side. The issue went away after disconnecting the battery over night.

 

[SixxSpeed]

Or would it be because your alternator was running and recharged the battery enough to not have the issue? I would say that's more likely.

Unplugging the battery and reconnecting it likely erased any issues still present.

But, if someone is convinced it is the water, please take off the door panel and show us which connector it is. I'm seriously curious and would like to see at least some proof. Water in a connector will cause a short. There are multiple wires in a connector and water acts as a bridge between them. Something will be fed power when it shouldn't. Something will burn out. But no one had that issue.

:shrug:

 

[WindJunkie]

Or would it be because your alternator was running and recharged the battery enough to not have the issue? I would say that's more likely.

Unplugging the battery and reconnecting it likely erased any issues still present.

But, if someone is convinced it is the water, please take off the door panel and show us which connector it is. I'm seriously curious and would like to see at least some proof. Water in a connector will cause a short. There are multiple wires in a connector and water acts as a bridge between them. Something will be fed power when it shouldn't. Something will burn out. But no one had that issue.

:shrug:

I see what you're saying. I guess I'm convinced on my theory because when the tint installer blew compressed air down the door panel, the keyless entry error on the dash went away. The flickering dash wouldn't be present when the car was powered on in my instance, I had a "keyless entry error" present on the Information/warning screen. When the car was powered off, the flickering dash would occur. When the tint guy blew compressed air down the door on the passenger side, the keyless entry error went away, as well as flickering, but it ruined the tint on the window by blowing air up into the fresh layer of tint, so he had to re-install on that window, throwing more water down into the door, creating the error, and perpetuating the issue. So I eventually told the guy to install, let me drive home and unplug the battery.

I didn't disassemble the door to see if/where moisture was present and agree that it would be nice to see the inside of the door when the issue is happening. Tough thing to do if you're like me and not handy at taking things apart

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