This is my second engine, this engine has about 50K miles on it. I've been noticing a little loss of power lately, but today I started it and it was giving me an error code with the gauges.

Click here for the video


I've never seen anything like this even when my last engine failed catastrophically. I do have a bluetooth OBDII installed, but it wouldn't initialize this morning, I'm assuming because of the error. I've tried searching around the forums [briefly], but all I can find is thread about OBDII engine codes.

 

Looks like an electrical grounding problem.

Disconnect your battery cables completely, negative then positive. Clean the clamps and the posts thoroughly. Reconnect positive then negative, making sure they are seated firmly before you tighten them down.

 

Confirmed: I cleaned the battery terminals and it was resolved. Thanks!

 

The issue keeps coming back! It happened again about a week later - I took it and had the battery/alt tested and the battery crank amps were a little low but seemed to be "ok". It went away for another week and today it did it again.

The last 2 times it happened, it started on my drive home (about 30 mins interstate) when I stop for gas and start the car again. The only way to resolve it is to disconnect the battery for a few minutes then reconnect it.

When it's happening, the battery voltage seems to be ok. I can drive, with headlights on and radio is working fine. Voltage readouts are steady and normal range.

Any idea what else could cause this?

 

What kind of voltage reading are you getting?

 

about 13.8 - the same as when it's running normal

 

That's a bit low, should be 14.25 - 14.5.

 

Yeah, but 13.8 is still in the "ok" range. I don't think it's a matter of voltage though, like I said, I can start normally (it's not slow to start or anything like that) and runs with headlights on and sound system thumping. There doesn't seem to be "trigger" for when it happens or anything that I can "fix" to make it go away, aside from unplugging the battery for a bit and plugging it back up.

Could it be a bad computer issue?

 

How old is the battery and how badly did it fail the load test? I would suggest you check the alternator belt tension and insure the battery connections are still clean and tight.

 

It's a 2 year old Optima red top, rated for 720 CCA pulling 680

 

How did you measure the amps?

 

I took it straight to Advanced Auto last time it started, had them do a battery test, they tested the battery on and off the car, and that was the reading they got

I realized today using the app Torque and my bluetooth OBDII reader that the voltage readings are different than my stereo voltage meter is telling me. The stereo was reading 13.8 when the OBDII port was reading these values

 

You may want to have the battery retested using a conventional load test. See page 2 of the link. http://www.mcicoach.com/fyifrommci/m...tters/1110.pdf

 

Long shot, but have you tried removing your Bluetooth OBDII. I once plugged in an OBD scanner while the car is running, and it interfered with the gauges and threw a code. Maybe it's loose.