Car Died -- Electrical Problems?

[Suitcase Jefferson]

Howdy all,

During a recent adventure in my beloved '89 Supra, I encountered a peculiar problem that I am trying to diagnose. I was cresting a hill and slowing down for a four-way-stop when all of a sudden my car... died.

The first thing that happened in my eyes was the power-steering went, followed immediately by every-single light on my dashboard illuminating --followed by complete darkness as every light shut off.

I coasted to the side of the road and calmly shifted into neutral (automatic transmission) and restarted my car with no problems. Infact, my power-steering felt better than it ever has afterwards! (Although that could have been me compensating for the lack of power-steering just moments before).

Here are some things you should know:

The temperature was -35 Celsius without wind chill. The car is parked outside and has been sitting for a few days. Prior to driving it, I plugged in the block-heater and let it run for four hours. Before driving the car I let it run at idle for roughly fifteen minutes.

The battery is brand-new as of last month -- I bought the best winter-battery I could get my mitts on.

Here are some possible causes: Once I parked after this little mis-adventure I popped my hood to look at my battery. The positive terminal was loose, but not too loose. (You could wiggle it with your hand slightly. It still had full contact).

Apart from that, this is the only possible cause I can think of. I will tighten the nuts today when our city gets its four hours of daylight.

Thanks for your time,
Suitcase

 

[jetjock]

...The temperature was -35 Celsius without wind chill...

Dunno what your problem is (could be bad CPS wiring) but wanted to say you're a better man than I...

 

[Chambers]

I have had a similar event happen to me and my 87, I pulled out from the car wash and coasted to the nearby red light and the car died, all lights went off, hit the hazards and they didn’t come on. I popped the hood and check the battery, sure enough the negative terminal was slightly loose. Next day I thought it was fixed and went to start the car, everything came on ok until I hit the starter, everything just died again. So I cleaned the terminals and tightened the heck out of them and have been good for a long while now.

 

[mkiii222]

The positive terminal was loose, but not too loose. (You could wiggle it with your hand slightly. It still had full contact).

This or the the 100 amp fusible link in the fuse box.

And I agree with JJ. -35C makes you my hero for even leaving the house. Since I've been in FL I won't get out if it's at or below 0C.

 

[Nick M]

Dunno what your problem is (could be bad CPS wiring) but wanted to say you're a better man than I...

That is what the GM Suburban is for.

 

[Suitcase Jefferson]

Well, I tightened the hell out of the positive terminal whilst freezing my ass in slightly warmer -30'C weather. The temperature didn't help much because the plastic terminal protector seemed frozen to the lead... it was just a pain in the ass, lemme put it that way.

I'm going to test it out again tonight.

 

[hvyman]

battery terminal was prob most likely problem. They need to be tight and clean.

 

[Suitcase Jefferson]

Well, just got back from my drive -- everything seems fine, if not better.

This might sound crazy, but my power-steering seems a lot lighter now; and all my interior lights seems to shine brighter and work better. (Before the lights would dim if I, say, had my heat cranked up and the rear-defroster on).

Everything seems jim-dandy now!

I'll update this thread if anything catastrophic happens regarding my battery.

 

[hvyman]

That because you had a weak spot in the electrical system and at a major spot. My car used to randomly not start with no power and tight terminals. Replaced them with new toyota ones and ive never had a problem and my problem was with the positive terminal.