Confused Betty

  • Pace
    Pace
    Moderator
    • 1108
    #1

    Confused Betty

    I drove the Z to work tonight for some extra hours and something "Bitching Betty" occasionally says happened tonight - it got me thinking.

    The voice warning typically doesn't act up and is only sounded when it is rightfully triggered. With one occasional exception: Every once in a while - after parking and pulling the ebrake up - if I leave the headlights on it will chime "Parking brake is on" once the key is removed. It only says it once, and if I open the door it reverts to "Lights are on" until they are turned off. Kind of a "duh" moment as I tend to use the parking brake on the hills around here.

    The parking brake works fine and the car is obviously not moving, so I'm not sure what's causing it to trigger the parking brake warning.

    Any ideas on why this happens?
    '86 300ZXT GLL
    '78 Datsun 280Z BP
    '11 Saab 9-3 Aero XWD
  • reddzx
    reddzx
    Senior Citizen
    • 6440
    #2
    Betty's getting senile.



    1988 300ZX Turbo, Shiro Special #760
    1988 300ZX Turbo Automatic (wife's car)
    1991 Hard-body 2WD

    http://zccw.org/zccw/?page_id=1215
  • FlyingT
    FlyingT
    Senior Member
    • 1095
    #3
    Change her name from Bitching Betty to Babbling Betty.
    Restore it, Don't crush it. They don't make them like this anymore.

    Scott
    85 Turbo, original owner, restored
    93 NA Babied


  • flatfoot
    flatfoot
    Senior Member
    • 253
    #4
    Supposedly Betty is just a mini record player.

    Maybe she get banged around and scratched after 30 years.
    Life's short
    Go fast
    Have a blast
    Leave a good looking corpse
  • zxguy1986
    zxguy1986
    Junior Member
    • 11
    #5
    Only problem I ever had with her was she would sometimes tell lies (warning about stuff that was not a problem, like 'right door is open'). Turned out that there were random strands of copper wire wandering around the cabin fuse box - to the left of your clutch foot. They were left over from a hot wire I ran to keep the fuel pump running while I was figuring out that the ECU was screwed up and needed replacing. Removed the hot wire but left some strands behind. They shorted Betty out now and then, made me crazy for a week. So I pulled every fuse, vacuumed the box totally with major suction, replaced the fuses, problem gone. Betty tells the truth now.

    Other than that, a sensor is sending your ECU a false report - or maybe no report at all - which confuses the ECU. Betty bitches - but she still talks way nicer to me than my ex ever did. I guess the question is Can Betty be a warning system separate from the ECU - or is she saying only what the ECU tells her to say? I bet somebody has an answer.