problem with my 7G...car shutting off

[mrjaydeeone]

the car seems to shut off on me. I don't think it's stalling, just shutting off. Or maybe it is stalling. Occassionally when I come to a light or a stop sign the rpms will drop and fluctuate arouns 500 or so. I have had the car shut off around the same times too. And When I start the car back up sometimes I have lost the settings for my radio. At other times I will have to reset the clock, also the CEL I have for EGR valve malfunction will disappear. This morning for example I left my car running at Dunkin Donuts while I ran in for about 10 minutes. I came back out and the car was not running. I went to disarm the alarm since the car was running with the remote starter, and the alarm wouldn't disarm, when I opened the door with the key and got in I noticed the light on the dash for the door being open was dim. I attempted to start the car once and no luck, I attempted a 2nd time and the car started right up.
I dunno if this problem is related to the cold or what. The only thing I have done to the car lately was I installed a set of HIDS a few months ago. And before that I had a problem where I blew the fuse under the hood for the radio, and for the dome light and the clock and whatever else is on that one. I replaced that fuse and that hasn't been an issue.
Whatcha guys think battery? I am not sure how old it is. Or maybe alternator?
any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Blazepr24]

If your radio keeps lossing its settings it sounds like you have a ground issue bro, I would clean your battery posts and make sure its tightly secure..... do you have a low battery warning on or something?? I doubt the HIDS have something to do with it unless when they were wired to the battery something else came loose..... I would say start there.....

[WhiteGalant]

Sounds like your alternator or possibly batter, take it to an autozone or something and have them both tested.

[JoeRad]

Get a new battery, this happened to me and it completly died on the motorway, i was there for about an hour blocking traffic,

If you stall the car is it real hard to start back up? this happened with mine.
I checked my battery and it was testing fine but when i swapped with a friend all the problems stopped.

[Stewi]

Jay, at night start the car (so you can see how bad the lights dim) rev it to like 1000 RPMs and turn everything inside the car on, headlights, radio, heater, all of it, when you do this, see if the RPMS drop. It seems like an electrical overload which could be a bad alternator or battery. On my car with the AEM EMS, I didnt have my voltage versus load calculations setup, so if I was idling and turned on the heat, the car would stall because it used up too much power. Obviously you wont have a setting like that on a stock ECU, but its the same idea.

Also like said above, cleaning your terminals doesnt hurt either. Check the terminal that goes on the alternator, maybe its corroded. You can always yank the alternator and bring it to autozone, they test em for free.

[mrjaydeeone]

If your radio keeps lossing its settings it sounds like you have a ground issue bro, I would clean your battery posts and make sure its tightly secure..... do you have a low battery warning on or something?? I doubt the HIDS have something to do with it unless when they were wired to the battery something else came loose..... I would say start there.....

The battery terminals are corroded slightly I have to clean those up, the connections to the battery are nice and tight. The HIDs aren't hooked to the battery just to the stock headlight harnesses. Nope no low battery warning

Sounds like your alternator or possibly batter, take it to an autozone or something and have them both tested.

hmm. perhaps when I am off on Friday I will take it in to get tested.

Jay, at night start the car (so you can see how bad the lights dim) rev it to like 1000 RPMs and turn everything inside the car on, headlights, radio, heater, all of it, when you do this, see if the RPMS drop. It seems like an electrical overload which could be a bad alternator or battery. On my car with the AEM EMS, I didnt have my voltage versus load calculations setup, so if I was idling and turned on the heat, the car would stall because it used up too much power. Obviously you wont have a setting like that on a stock ECU, but its the same idea.

Also like said above, cleaning your terminals doesnt hurt either. Check the terminal that goes on the alternator, maybe its corroded. You can always yank the alternator and bring it to autozone, they test em for free.

Brian, If I am reving the car to 1000 how will I see if the RPMs drop?
Also I left this tidbit out, once in a while when I tap on the brakes like to slow down while I am moving I see the lights on the dash and the radio dim. With that being said stepping on the brakes for slightly longer has caused the radio to shut off and then come back on.

[Blazepr24]

somewhere the G is losing contact to the ground (either bat or alt)...... I agree w/everyone else get them both checked.

[4-G-rim]

I say its a combination of a alternator on its last days and a weak battery thats causing your issues. Had the same issues you are having on my old 95 Galant years ago, trust me I know...it really sucked when the car would shut off at every stop light and interior electricals flickering like a scene in the move poltergiest :shock:

[kolio]

it's a bad ground and clean your terminals off. i had the same problem with everything turning off. i cleaned the terminals and it hasn't been back in over a year.

[mrjaydeeone]

I say its a combination of a alternator on its last days and a weak battery thats causing your issues. Had the same issues you are having on my old 95 Galant years ago, trust me I know...it really sucked when the car would shut off at every stop light and interior electricals flickering like a scene in the move poltergiest :shock:

haha. yeah everytime it happens while my fiance is in the car she's like why's it keep doing that LOL.

it's a bad ground and clean your terminals off. i had the same problem with everything turning off. i cleaned the terminals and it hasn't been back in over a year.

I will definitely do this 1st and foremost.

[skrap]

Ok the exact same thing happened to me idential. It is your ground wire for your battery. U need to get a new one from pepbuys. It grounds out to your transmission. so you just have to replace it. Be carful bev=cause you have to guy the tape that is holding the main harness together to get it out. Try that first because i had the same exact problem it was just old and dry rotted

[mko]

it's a bad ground and clean your terminals off. i had the same problem with everything turning off. i cleaned the terminals and it hasn't been back in over a year.

agreed. most def is terminals not making contact

[Blue Ice]

i could see bad terminals on the battery, but wouldn't the car still run if the alternator was good? The ground wire for the battery is also the ground wire for the majority of the electrical under the hood of car.

By right, if you start your car, and unhook your battery, your alternator should keep the car running. So when you say the car dies while idling it makes me seem to think it's the alternator more than anything else. Of course check the battery, clean the terminals. But you can take the car to advanced auto and they can diagnose what it is right there with a machine

[skrap]

yes but when it grounds out it does somthing funky with the electrical shit and cuts everything off. Its pretty much shorting out. Its the ground wire

[Proto]

Same problem I had with my 7G Jay. Replace the alternator, it's probably going to go out soon. Have the battery tested to be sure it's fine. Also check the ground for the battery to be sure no wires are frayed.

[Stewi]

The battery terminals are corroded slightly I have to clean those up, the connections to the battery are nice and tight. The HIDs aren't hooked to the battery just to the stock headlight harnesses. Nope no low battery warning


hmm. perhaps when I am off on Friday I will take it in to get tested.



Brian, If I am reving the car to 1000 how will I see if the RPMs drop?
Also I left this tidbit out, once in a while when I tap on the brakes like to slow down while I am moving I see the lights on the dash and the radio dim. With that being said stepping on the brakes for slightly longer has caused the radio to shut off and then come back on.

You would hold the gas pedal to keep a steady 1000RPMS and then the RPMS would drop a few hundred RPMS without you moving the gas pedal

With the new info you provided, I agree with everyone else, your alternator sounds like its on the way out.

[mrjaydeeone]

well I cleaned up the battery terminals on Friday as best as I could without removing the cables to get underneath the connectors. And the car hasn't been having any issues since. It's been warmer here the last few days so dunno if the temp had anything to do with it. The last time the car shut off was last Tuesday in the evening and it was snowing out.

[mrjaydeeone]

Well going on a month now the car has continued to run after I have started it. Cleaning the terminals was the issue. thanks much.

[DOHCstunr]

definatly get in there anyways and remove the terminals, clean those posts as best as you can, and clean the inside of the terminals.... or better yet, get some new ones at autozone.
glad to see you got the problem licked.

[mrjaydeeone]

definatly get in there anyways and remove the terminals, clean those posts as best as you can, and clean the inside of the terminals.... or better yet, get some new ones at autozone.
glad to see you got the problem licked.

yeah I was planning to do this next week while I am on vacation. But I gotta get that other issue straightened out too