Noticed the dash lights, radio,and clock lights flick/dimming for about 2 miles, then car lights engine and everything shut down and restarted, Then car shut down and I had nothing, no headlights, no hazards, completely dead in the water. 10 min later everything came back for about a mile. I have basic mechanical knowledge, and my car has all the bells and whistles, and I have a lot of relays and fuses.
I would first concentrate on all ground cables, straps etc going to firewall, battery, engine etc.
I wonder if the connection to the Power Distribution center (under hood, (lots of relays and fuses) could cause COMPLETE loss of electric power, (no headlights or hazards) Please see addentional comment on my original post.
Mr. Butler, I see you have a lot of experience and I was looking at "suggested solutions" . Since I lost everything,, do you think The power distribution center having a bad connection(s) can cause loss of even hazards?
Update: as of 6-23-2014 it has never happened again. My car has this crazy way of "self repairing" I heard a horrible ticking that sounded just like lifters and sped up and down with the engine. I was freaking out sure that the engine was in serious peril and I changed the oil, and "wallah" it stopped as quickly as it started. Of course now that I have said that, everything will start going to hell with her.
Update as of 9-3-14 Has still yet to happen again. My car was dead, DEAD, and I think It may have been the anti-theft that malfunctioned. I did start using the other key, (Spare) thinking the chip in the other may have caused the anti-theft malfunction.
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SOURCE: 2004 PT Cruiser headlights and dash lights flicker
Your alternator is starting to show its age. If you get it tested you will likely find that under load it is not putting out 14+Volts. It is probably closer to 12 and it's time to retire it or get it rebuilt. If the battery is the same age as the alternator get it tested as well with a "load test" to make sure it is still healthy. Hope this helps.
SOURCE: my 1998 plymouth voyager my interior shuts down my
well this is a very common problem for these cars and there have been two different fixes that i have found. first is what sounds like is going on with your and the instrument cluster is bad and starting to fail because of a faulty circuit board and will need to be replaced if that is the issue.
now the other one is the vehicle body module and when that goes bad it will not respond to bangs on the dash and usually is just no response from the gauges.
one other thing i have found is a bad plug to the instrument cluster.
either way it comes down to a bad connection and if it is the cluster or body module they have to be replaced , but if it is the harness it can be pin pointed by a wiggle test. remove the cluster but live it plug it to the harness and while it is running wiggle the harness and see if it effects the cluster. if so remove the plugs from the back of the cluster and inspect the pins inside the plugs for damage , corrosion and broke or spread out pins. if any are bad they will need to be repaired and that should take care of the issue.
but until it is diagnosed you won't know.
good luck and if you any more question or help please ask.
SOURCE: Reocurring need to charge battery to srart, though dash lights up
There is a fuse box under the hood with a power wire running from the battery to this box. Check for corrosion around this box and make sure the connection is good. Had a similar problem everthing checked out good, then found this wire had a terriable connection, check this out and clean the post for the connection.
SOURCE: after driving a couple of miles, all the whistles
all you have described is most likely your body computer..
SOURCE: after car warms up it
After it stalls, open the gas cap. Does it pull in air? If so the tank vent is plugged up. Most of these were on the top of the tank where mice and dirt collect around them. You have to drop the tank to get to them.
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Thank you all for your help. I am still reading them, but, I know it is not the altinater because I failed to mention 1) car was warm and 10 min. later it started, and then 1 min later it Shuit Down completely, no electric anywhere, even hazards. Next morning started up and went home. Pleqase keep them comming. I own a Haynes Repair manual and have very good pre 1981 machanical knowladge. Again Thank You for your help.
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