I just went for a quick drive to pick up my G/F from work and had the battery light come on shortly after starting my RX8 up. About a mile later i took a corner at about 30 and suddenly my brakes locked up and steering froze without the car stalling. Needless to say it took some difficult adjustments to keep from hitting the curb and after straightening out the car more problems arose. After a few hundred yards i got up to a red light where I stopped, and when I tried to get moving again the car lost almost all power and i barely managed to limp it into a parking lot where it still sits. The odd thing was that once it was sitting there idling it ran fine and would rev up normally. however every time i turned my lights from mid position to on everthing in my car: radio, heated seats, inside lights and everything else, shut off. At that point most of my lights were lit up on the display: battery, abs, airbag..... but the car still ran. I turned it off and after letting it sit a second tried to restart it and all it will do is click and flash all of the lights on the dash. The battery seems strong, lights, door locks, etc., except for when I try to start the car.

Does anyone know what could have caused this? My car is an 04 6 speed and I have not had any issues with it until now.

 

The battery might be "strong" but the connections to it may not be.
Verify the connections are tight and clean.

 

Sounds like you may have a bad alternator...or bad connections...

If the alternator quits...you are running on the battery only..and that won't last long...

 

I will start with both of those suggestions when i can get a ride across Tucson . Could a bad battery connection cause the brakes to lock up and let go soon after that though? I am keeping my fingers crossed that it is something that simple.

 

Sounds like a bad connection, my old car did similar things when the negative clamp was loose and dirty. The brakes and steering problems could be the electronics going nuts when they dont get enough current...

 

I just had the battery checked and it was fried so I replaced it and checked/cleaned and replaced a loose connector and she fired right up. The problem is that I now still have a battery light on along with the stability control light and the traction DSC light is flashing. Also The lights still all dim oddly when I turn on the lights. The engine seems to be running fine, but I am scared to say the least when it comes to driving it home after my near crash.

What does the flashing DSC and a steady traction light mean combined with a charging system malfunction?? I am going to have the alternator tested as soon as my G/F can follow me to a checker auto parts store, but that can't cause the other two lights can it? Also, do the traction lights have to be cleared after a major malfunction like that, or should they just turn off on their own. Thank you all for your help so far and any additional info you can give me.

 

The TC/DSC light is because the battery was dead...turn wheel all the way left...then right.....restart the car an it will go away

If the charging light is on the alt is likely not charging properly...it will run on the battery for a bit...but not long with the power steering using a ton of power

 

Samething happened to me. Turned out it was my alternator. Good luck with the stealership. They tried to charge me $900 for a new one plus install. I went to autozone got a new one for $150 with lifetime warranty and installed it myself.