Money light 1100 miles away. WWGRMD

My Kid is at UVM with my 2012 highlander. I'm home in GA.  He Parked the car on the street yesterday. Then today started it up and saw this light show:

He had the sense to shut it off and call me. I had him open the hood expecting the serpentine belt broke but it was fine. I told him to go to his apartment and take the manual. That I need to think it over. He did. I told him an hour later to go back over and start it up for 15 seconds and tell me if the dash is all lit up again. 

He did. It was not. It started fine. He shut it off and left it parked. My dilemma: have it towed 3 miles or drive it to a local Indy shop. Fortunately the fine folks at GRM previously gave me a recommendation. I need them to fluid film the underside anyway....

WWGRMD?

My 2016 Silverado once in a while acts wonky with the touch screen. One day it maxed out at 28 volts - I turned it off and it reset.

I'd drive it and check it closely.

Usually I find that random stuff like that is a voltage or ground issue. Maybe just have them clean the battery terminals?

Did he actually start it and received the light show? I know when you first key on (but before starting), all the fun light light up. They should all go off once you start it.

I would tend to think if he got those light after starting it, I'd look hard at a new battery (especially with winter coming). My wife's Pilot lit up like a Christmas tree a few months ago. Battery voltage tested fine, but it failed the load test in spectacular fashion. New battery in, no issues since. Seems like a feature of modern cars (low battery causes everything to freak out).

dj06482 (Forum Supporter) said:

Did he actually start it and received the light show? I know when you first key on (but before starting), all the fun light light up. They should all go off once you start it.

I would tend to think if he got those light after starting it, I'd look hard at a new battery (especially with winter coming). My wife's Pilot lit up like a Christmas tree a few months ago. Battery voltage tested fine, but it failed the load test in spectacular fashion. New battery in, no issues since. Seems like a feature of modern cars (low battery causes everything to freak out).

Definitely was running and the battery was purchased 4/21 but it could easily still be the battery..

Since I need the fluid film anyway I'll have him take it in and ask them to check the charging system, grounds, etc. Hopefully towing isn't necessary.   
 

I Appreciate ALL the responses

Duke said:

Usually I find that random stuff like that is a voltage or ground issue. Maybe just have them clean the battery terminals?

 

Good call.

In reply to Datsun310Guy :

28 volts is wild

I'm not a mechanic and I didn't stay at a Holiday Inn last night.  However, with all those lights coming on and then magically disappearing my gut tells me that's a fluke in either wiring or computer.  I'd drive it to the local shop and have them take a peek.  If they can't replicate the problem, they probably won't be able to say what it was, but they can at least confirm it's getting oil, etc...

You can get a bluetooth OBD scanner off Amazon for like $15. I would pull the codes to see if they make any sense. 

SKJSS (formerly Klayfish) said:

I'm not a mechanic and I didn't stay at a Holiday Inn last night.  However, with all those lights coming on and then magically disappearing my gut tells me that's a fluke in either wiring or computer.  I'd drive it to the local shop and have them take a peek.  If they can't replicate the problem, they probably won't be able to say what it was, but they can at least confirm it's getting oil, etc...

This. It's highly improbable for the car to suddenly lose oil pressure, voltage, power steering, and also somehow have an overheating transmission just after startup. It's a compounded improbability that all those conditions disappeared on the next startup. What's really wrong here is an electrical or electronic issue that made those warnings falsely appear in the first place.

ShinnyGroove (Forum Supporter) said:

You can get a bluetooth OBD scanner off Amazon for like $15. I would pull the codes to see if they make any sense. 

Also this.

Battery or other voltage issue. Has the car sat a while? Could be a bad cell in the battery despite it being newish, or something else related to the charging system.

Could be the battery despite new from Costco 4/21. He's only been driving short trips to grocery, etc - so it may not be getting a lot of charge time.

I was fairly confident all the lights pointed to a busted serpentine belt but it was fine. Now I'm leaning toward the charging system. Sucks to feel helpless from this far away (and to regret passing only some of my limited auto knowledge).   

I made an appointment at an indy shop for next week. Only 1/2 mile away.

Thanks again for all the responses. 

It's funny- I fly airplanes for a living and the sensors/central brain are about 99% of the time the problem. We shut down and restart. Goes away almost all the time. 

Failing/failed alternators used to give owners the Dashboard Christmas Light Show Extravaganza on older Subarus.  Perhaps it's starting to go?