Hi all,

Strange thing happened to me when I started my RX-8 GT MT yesterday as follows:

I turned the ignition key, saw my facial lights come on and then tried to turn the engine over. I heard a click (as if a fuse or solonoid poped) and then nothing, no power, no lights anywhere, the car was dead.

I turned the key off and on to no avail. I got out of the car, closed the door and tried to lock it using the keyfob. NOTHING!

less than sixty seconds later, I tried the keyfob again and it worked, my parking lights blinked twice and the car was locked.

I prompltly got back in the car and successfully fired her up. I noticed the clock had reset itself to 1:00 and noticed the DSC light was on, I played with the switch a bit and the DSC went out and was replaced with the warning light with the emblem of the car slipping icon.

I drove to the movies and when I returned to the car and fired her up, there were no more warming lights at all.

What the hell happened and do I go about my business or is there something more serious going on here?

Anyione care to venture?

Thanks,

Claude H.

 

Claude, I would check to see if the battery connections are properly secured, both at the battery and at the ground and starter terminals. I hope your problem is that simple. There have been several complaints with regard to the battery cold cranking amps and/or durability. Some have changed their batteries rather wait for problems to arise. I haven't had any trouble with that, or any other of the more popular problems, so I consider myself lucky. If the connections are tight, mail back and I'll try and think of something else for you.

Charles

 

...may have "protected" itself for some reason. Having owned several Audis (talk about electrical/electronic gremlins!) I've learned that many ECUs will actually self-protect the rest of the car by shutting all power responses coming out of the unit if a major fault is encountered. During this time, the ECU will go through a diagnostic phase and try to reset itself. Usually, after an ECU reset, the car will be fine, but you may have several system warning lights (ABS, CEL, DCS, etc.) on until you do some driving so that those systems re-establish their programming from the ECU.

I would definately have it diagnosed by a dealer no matter how well it drives. There is always a danger that the ECU could be faulty, damaged or that its programming has been compromised. While I believe that, mechanically at least, today's cars are incredibly reliable, if the ECU locks up...we're not going anywhere!

Good luck!

Arvin

 

I'd vote for the battery connection(s) as the problem, since this sounds very similar to problems I've had with other cars, but ArvinC could also be right about the ECU.

 

My guess is between the two - the ECU probably has some kind of built-in self test which failed due to a power supply or similar problem.

No need to get the ECU re-flashed imho, cause all the control and monitoring stuff should be stored in non-volatile memory anyway, protected by some checksums. Though that's just a guess from my knowledge of jet-engine ECUs.

 

Either way, let us know what happens so we can enter this situation into our collective memories.

Charles

 

Yea..there is a thread floating around here some place about this happening to sombody else...try searching for it and you may find your answer...Otherwise just go to the dealership and ask them whats up

 

Go to the service dept and have them check the CEL code. A ECU reset like this should have stored a code when it reset.

 

Thanks guys,

I'll have it checked out in a couple of weeks when I return from my trip.

Claude H.