First, details about my car:
2004. MT. GT. 60k miles. fully modded. Relocated battery. carputer.

so today im driving over to swoope's house, get on the interstate, get to the toll and the car is at idle, radio cuts out and starts popping.

As i rev the car to start going again the radio comes back on. Few seconds later the instrument cluster lighting starts flickering. Radio starts whining...

Few minutes later on the interstate cruising about 70, the battery light comes on, immediately after, the abs light comes on, then the tpms, then the steering, then the traction control, then the DSC off, the the brake light...

They all start intermittently flickering and going on and off.. few seconds later the car starts cutting in and out of throttle.. slowly pull off the interstate... car still idles fine but none of the electronics are working even the cluster or windows.. no lights no radio..

So i let it sit for an hour, car starts up with no problems and everything works fine! drive about 5 minutes down the road to the gas station, same problem slowly starts happening then car cuts of with a crazy *** lopping idle in the middle of the red light. I would say it jumped idle up and down from 600-1500

Car wouldnt start so i had it towed back to the house.

Notations:
-battery was fine when car was running. not the battery
-ive replaced power steering harness, also re clipped all connectors to try and get it to work
-made sure my battery and harness grounds were secure and clean.
-gauges would erratically sweep up and down when attempting start after the issue
would not even try to turn over once it shut down
-i have push button start, stereo system, relocated race battery, carputer, leds in the entire car, but no issues from them before and all worked fine once car re-started the first time.

Ive tried looking at everything i can think of i am just down to replacing the entire engine bay harness. Other thoughts are ECU related. Bout to give up :'(

Oh yea, im blacklisted from any kinda dealership work. HELP

 

alternator?

 

i would have thought so, but it charges the battery fine, and hasnt had any issues in the past. its got maybe 35k on that alternator...

 

parasitic drain?

http://www.wikihow.com/Find-a-Parasitic-Battery-Drain

edit...nvm

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

 

god i wish i could help. but im stumped

 

The symptoms are a bad connection at the battery, but I'm sure you've checked that, which only leaves - Bad battery.

Broken cell/connector inside.

Radio symptom is a classic - the whine means the radio is running directly off the alternator.......

Alternator wouldn't leave stuff dead as you drive, every symptom can be explained by complete loss of 12volt power intermittently.

Get some aligator clips or booster cables and run them to a second battery on the passenger floor - drive around with it hooked up in parallel with your present battery. Symptoms should disappear.

S

 

you da man Stealth - sounds quite likely ....

 

hmm i will try this . but to clarify further, i have an odyssey PC680 race battery, which has bolt terminals and are direct connected. there are no posts and there is no corrosion.

Also, once i leave it sitting for an hour or so, the car starts and runs just fine. The whining did not go in sync with RPM, just a ridiculous chatter/popping/high pitched whine. Radio did not work at all, i turned if off and still made the noise through the speakers.

Thanks ray

 

this similarly happened on a stock battery about a year ago, i actually found the video i took on my cell phone..

note i have the radio completely off during this video, and yes, the top dash is missing but the speaker is still hooked up and connections are solid at the radio.

again, this is stock battery, and first alternator ( the one on now is a different stock one i had powdercoated)

 

anyone else? :'(

 

Wow, just skipped to the videos... weird.
I'll read the rest of the thread to get an idea what has occurred so far...

 

Is that tapping sound coming from your speakers?
If so, does it occur with all or only certain speakers?

 

popping comes from all speakers, with or without the radio even on. I tried doing the brake pedal reset and steering reset... none make a difference.. tried pulling room fuse, did nothing.

might try a different ecu first, to see if it even acts normal.

 

Electrical problems can sometimes be a process of elimination job.

I think its interesting that you can't start the car afterward without waiting for awhile.
As you know, the starter is wired straight to the battery and it only takes the key turned to "start" to energize the solenoid on the starter and get it turning.
I would be curious to see if the starter solenoid is receiving voltage while the key is turned to the 'start' position.
Not saying the starter is the issue, but trying to work back from the components that aren't working like they should.

I would also be curious to see if the interference occurs through your speakers if you disconnect the main radio unit.

Also, when you wait for awhile to start the car again, have you noticed if the battery voltage dropped much?

 

I agree---my 1st thought was uh oh--bad ecu--but , as was said the starter would still turn over if it was the ecu.
SInce you have relocated your battery to the trunk---do an elimination check on the battery and all connections to it---any cables getting hot, any shorts or worn insulation etc. If all is good there then as stated look at the alternator--the alternator keeps over 14 volts going to the system --the battery approx 12.5. Our electric power steering will draw a lot from just a battery only.
The alternator you installed was it an rx8 one that was powdercoated? I have heard only that substitute alternators do not do well on our car.
other question ? is the fuel pump starting ok with you switch the car on? Lights work when the car died?
olddragger

 

That sounds like a bad alternator. The alternator is cutting out and the vehicle runs on battery power. As the power runs down it will start switching off different components to try and keep the battery up so the vehicle can still stay running. After sitting for a while the battery will have had a chance to regain some charge, enough to start the vehicle.

 

You're going to need an old priest, a young priest, and 100 gallons of holy water.

 

I am going to fiddle with the car in a little bit and see what happens now that it has sit overnight.

 

report? Did the priests do it?
OD

 

If not, maybe Ghost Busters. Sounds like a class 2 Gremlin. Sorry, nothing constructive, but, best of luck, man.

 

Do you have a OBDII reader like accessport that can monitor voltage output? If you see the voltage is below or around 12v while the battery light comes on and then followed by the other trouble lights, it is probably the alternator going bad. An alternator in good condition will output ~14v

I had similar problem. When the battery light came on, i could drive for 10 to 20 mins before the car stalls, during this period, I could see the voltage slowly decreases, and then the trouble lights would follow one by one. When the voltage is below 10, power steering would be gone, then shortly after, the car would die.

 

^Why not just use a meter to check that?

 

ive had this happen with a different car almost same stuff and it was the alternator not sure about yours but it was because the battery was being used and cut off components one at a time juss like ^^ said.

 

check what?

 

hmm sounds like the most probably cause is the alternator.

The battery is dead now. Wouldnt even turn the inside lights on...

On a side note though, when i first got it started back, my tire pressure was low in the rear so i used the travel charger, on my car it sounded like a banchee ( getting way too much voltage.. on swoope's car it sounded normal. both cars running and using same cig lighter socket

Something is giving that cig lighter of mine a ridiculous amount of voltage.