Electronics go out but car stays running
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92 sc300. I have been searching for a solution. I can only think i have a short somewhere, but havent been able to locate it.
So the car will fire right up and run fine. Drives fine and ill be driving around about couples hours. Then all of a sudden all the electronics go out. No Dash, no Radio, no Headlights or blinkers. The car is still running and im able to drive it back to the house perfectly fine. No limping it because it still drives like normal. Just no electronics. Then when i shut it off it wont start again like theres no power to anything.
So the car will fire right up and run fine. Drives fine and ill be driving around about couples hours. Then all of a sudden all the electronics go out. No Dash, no Radio, no Headlights or blinkers. The car is still running and im able to drive it back to the house perfectly fine. No limping it because it still drives like normal. Just no electronics. Then when i shut it off it wont start again like theres no power to anything.
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[QUOTE=Scsliderrr;10262504]92 sc300. I have been searching for a solution. I can only think i have a short somewhere, but havent been able to locate it.
So the car will fire right up and run fine. Drives fine and ill be driving around about couples hours. Then all of a sudden all the electronics go out. No Dash, no Radio, no Headlights or blinkers. The car is still running and im able to drive it back to the house perfectly fine. No limping it because it still drives like normal. Just no electronics. Then when i shut it off it wont start again like theres no power to anything.
Man is your battery charged when you get home? its got to be ECU or some kind of ground problem i feel like to affect so many systems yet leave the car running
So the car will fire right up and run fine. Drives fine and ill be driving around about couples hours. Then all of a sudden all the electronics go out. No Dash, no Radio, no Headlights or blinkers. The car is still running and im able to drive it back to the house perfectly fine. No limping it because it still drives like normal. Just no electronics. Then when i shut it off it wont start again like theres no power to anything.
Man is your battery charged when you get home? its got to be ECU or some kind of ground problem i feel like to affect so many systems yet leave the car running
Last edited by scsexy; 07-26-18 at 09:32 PM.
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I had this happen with my car only once. I was driving down a city interstate freeway with many turns and dips. My SC was loaded down with a LOT of cargo since I was moving at the time. I had the 600/325 Hypercoil springs in by then but the extra weight was probably at the safe limit for what the car could handle. The suspension was bouncing a bit more than it would have with less weight on board and at one point I hit a pronounced road expansion joint which jolted the car.
The electronics all seemed to shut off from the dash to the headlights but the engine was still running. The car was basically running totally dark at that point and it was late at night. No amount of fiddling with switches would get the aftermarket HID ballasts to fire or the interior lights to come back on.
I was traveling at 70mph at the time and there was no way to pull off. While not a good thing to do I put the transmission into neutral (manual SC), cut the ignition, waited a moment and then restarted *in neutral* while the car was still coasting. This is not possible with an automatic. The headlights and all systems came back on normally. Then I carefully brought the revs back to where they should be for that speed and clutched it back into 4th or 5th gear. I don't recommend anyone do that but given the circumstances I was in a didn't have much choice. I didn't want to be hit by another car whose driver couldn't see me with no lights on. This never happened to me again. Strange occurrence and I am still unsure of what was tripped electrically by the sudden jolt from rolling over that particular expansion joint in the highway.
OP, it sounds like in your case it was not a jarring event that caused a similar loss of all running lights and non-engine power circuits. I'd check all of your relays and fuses under the hood and also make sure they are seated properly. I also echo O.L.T.'s suggestion to remove the driver's side wheel (jack up the car on stands, remove the wheel and then the outer metal strip and plastic upper fender liner) and inspect the harness located under the fender liner in that location if you suspect that in any way it could have been affected. Sometimes lowering an SC significantly can affect that hidden harness.
Under normal circumstances it is an odd thing to see happen though.
The electronics all seemed to shut off from the dash to the headlights but the engine was still running. The car was basically running totally dark at that point and it was late at night. No amount of fiddling with switches would get the aftermarket HID ballasts to fire or the interior lights to come back on.
I was traveling at 70mph at the time and there was no way to pull off. While not a good thing to do I put the transmission into neutral (manual SC), cut the ignition, waited a moment and then restarted *in neutral* while the car was still coasting. This is not possible with an automatic. The headlights and all systems came back on normally. Then I carefully brought the revs back to where they should be for that speed and clutched it back into 4th or 5th gear. I don't recommend anyone do that but given the circumstances I was in a didn't have much choice. I didn't want to be hit by another car whose driver couldn't see me with no lights on. This never happened to me again. Strange occurrence and I am still unsure of what was tripped electrically by the sudden jolt from rolling over that particular expansion joint in the highway.
OP, it sounds like in your case it was not a jarring event that caused a similar loss of all running lights and non-engine power circuits. I'd check all of your relays and fuses under the hood and also make sure they are seated properly. I also echo O.L.T.'s suggestion to remove the driver's side wheel (jack up the car on stands, remove the wheel and then the outer metal strip and plastic upper fender liner) and inspect the harness located under the fender liner in that location if you suspect that in any way it could have been affected. Sometimes lowering an SC significantly can affect that hidden harness.
Under normal circumstances it is an odd thing to see happen though.
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