immax01

This morning i could not open my car with the keyless, so i opened my door manually and noticed that all of my lights are off. I figured a dead battery even though the battery is only about a year old. I turn my key in the ignition and i get nothing at all.

I turn it 4-5 times and suddenly all the lights turn on and then my car starts right up.

I pop the hood and check the battery terminals, they are free of corrosion and they are on tightly... i figure this was a fluke so i drive off to work.

All is fine for the first 2 minutes but then at a red light i push on the brakes and the dashboard battery light comes on and immediately after, the lights, including the headlights, completely go off but my car continues to run.

I decide to go back home and take my wife's car to work.. the lights flicker/dim or turn off every time i push on the brake.

This may or may not be related but last week my car stalled out when i hit a pothole when turning into a parking lot. I had no problem starting the car right back up after it stalled.
I assume this is a wiring problem somewhere but i'd appreciate and guidance. Thanks.

EEngineer

alt is dead, replace with a rebuilt one

kingnba6

any update? i had a similar problem but i know it was caused by a dead battery ( i left the lights on) but the funny thing is that after i jumped the car and 2 minutes later checked the voltage of the battery it was around 12.8v or something. seemed funny to me.

immax01

Well i came home from work and tried to see what my car is doing now. I turned it on and drove it around the block with no problems. I then removed the battery terminals and cleaned everything with a steel brush just for good measure... i can't replicate the problem so im sort of stuck with what to do next.

GS4_Fiend

iTrader: (22)

Your connection was probably loose. For peace of mind get ur battery and alt checked out

kingnba6

how do you get the alt checked? dont you just have to check the voltage at the battery when the car is on idle?

immax01

unless there is another better way check if the alt is working, i checked my battery voltage while the car is off and it was at 12.99 and then it read 14.75 while running... alt seems to be working.

immax01

Just an update: I inspected the battery terminal connectors and realized the the NEG was cracked by the screw that tightens the connector, causing the connector to sit on the battery terminal without any kind of pressure.

I'm not sure how the car managed to start and run fine until the brakes were pressed, which is what caused me to believe there was a short related to the brake/brakelights... but i replaced the broken terminal connector and so far have driven 50 miles without any problems.

carlover

Thanks for your update. I had this problem in September, my car wouldn't get anything after getting pulled over by the cops...like a battery wasn't there, then they pulled out a jumpbox and I was on my way.

This morning I stalled in the drive thru for coffee and it happened again - no life. After a bit of wiggling on the terminals I was able to get it in neutral and push it to a parking spot before a long line piled up with people dying for their morning cup.

I took it to a shop and they ran diags and found nothing wrong - terminals are tight and clean. I just checked mine for cracks and found one - guess I'll replace them at lunch.