Help! Car Completely Blacks out
 

Ok this happened to me several times this weekend.

Under very light load my car completely would completey shut down on me. (From stop and applying gas) When I say completely, I mean, no lights, no hazards, nothing, nada. Completely dead. After a few seconds car would come back online, lights and everything and would start right back up. Also I should note when it starts back up everything has been reset, just like when you disconnect the battery.

I've cleaned battery and have chaecked connections going to get it tested out this morning. Also when @ idle and fans come on, car will struggle.



Someone help, what is wrong?

anybody???

Um, yeah, I'm gonna have to go ahead and say we're going to need some more info, Ghostrider.

What year? What mileage? Are you the first owner? Is your car really FI? What shape are your coils/plugs in? Etc.

have you done any work to your car lately that your cpu might need adjusting to... your car could be re learning its idle and shutting off because its bouncing to low... also is your car manual or auto... we need to know these things before you get any help

Check battery cable connections at the battery posts, the cable connections at the alternator and also the chassis and engine grounds. Sounds like a loose electrical cable connection somewhere.

Yeah it's manual. Well come to find out my battery only has 50CCA and I have reason to believe that the - terminal is jacked. As I can fully tighten the + terminal but the - just keeps turning, & won't tighten down firmly.

Sounds like it's new battery time.

Yeah, I would start with a new battery and then perhaps get the alternator tested. That may have made your battery fail if its messed up recharging your battery.

Another easy check would be your ground connections.

ok this exact same thing just started happening to me to. Were you able to find a solution for it yet?

The battery clamps sometimes seem to run out of adjustment before they get tight. First, make sure the clamp is as far down the post as it can go. Some (gentle) tapping with a hammer and screwdriver can make sure they're seated all the way down. Since battery posts are often tapered, this can be enough to allow you to tighten fully.

If they're still loose, you can use a shim to get things tight again. Parts stores may sell shims for this purpose. Or you can make your own with a piece of 3/4 copper pipe. Cut off a piece slightly shorter than the height of the battery post. Sand it to bright copper inside and out. Then you need to snip out a piece about 1/4 of an inch wide to make a split ring, so that it can compress. Place this split ring over the battery post, slide the clamp over it and tigthen. Voila!

Was the battery fully charged before the load test?