Power Failure?
 

On the way to work this morning, my radio started going off and coming on in a split second. did this twice, when i got to work and shut the car off the power locks wouldn't work. The car doesn't start, it's totally dead. Anyone have any ideas? It's been running great, no signs of any electrical problems up till now. I popped the hood and the cables on the battery are tight and don't look to be corroded really. Just wondering if anyone has any clue on what this could be so maybe I can get it fixed during my lunch break.

Thanks

Beat You All!!!
 

YES!!! I get a FIRST POST!!!!

LOL....alright, well that sounds like a loose ground wire. It has been said that you should check the grounds from the battery, and the grounds from the firewall to the block...I don't know of the other ground wires...but yeah, it sounds like a loose ground wire.

Just play around with those ones, maybe get out a trusty ratchet, and then tighten up all of those. Hope that helps you out, and all works when you are done checking.

thanks for the quick reply. on my lunch now so after i eat something i'll go back to work and try that out. It does sound like something is loose since the radio went off and on twice in the span of a few seconds.

sounds to me like your alternator died

Question
 

If it was his alternator, wouldn't he have had an engine warning light go off? I would HOPE that the alternator current is being monitored by the ECU. However yeah, your right theWeezLe, it could be that as well....but both would have similar symptoms, however if he could provide all the info he can on this, then we could help out more.

As I would see it if the alternator died..specially while he was driving, the warning light would come on, probably with a "No Alt Current" code. And his engine would have still drawn from the battery...till it was dead. Either way, the best way to deal with this is to check your grounds, and then if those are fine, and your problem not fixed...then you should have the alternator checked out.

Tortilla, you either have a VERY simple, and no money fix...or your looking at around $100 Canadian...for just a core...or something like that. (The $100 is for the alternator...however I have seen an 80 AMP (opposed to the 70 AMP stock one) for as much as $250 US!!!)

yeah its the ground mine did it a couple weeks ago same exact thing the battery was too small for the battery tiedown and moving back and forth broke the ground from the terminal..

also there is a ground by the starter easiest to get to from under the car

ya i don't think it's the alternator. both the ground wire by the battery and the ground wire on the firewall were good. I will check the one by the starter though, thanks. The reason I don't think it was the alternator is it went from running with air conditioner, and raidio going fine till when i turned it off i had absolutely no power. power locks use minimal power and that's how i found out there was a problem, when i went to lock up the car.

Did the red battery light go on before it died?

Yah, The red battery light turns on if your voltage goes lower than about 12.5 volts. Does any power come on or just no start? it could be a loose wire inside the alternator tho, Or somewhere along the positive/negative cables. The car needs a complete circuit to turn the fuel injection on too, so you cant even push start it. Just replace the positive and negative cables. They shouldnt be that much. There kind of a pain to reach tho. Also look at all ure fuses and breakers in the box next to the battery.

i forgot there is one by the crossmember on the ass end of the tranny also we'll thats where mine is but it doesnt look like it would be affected by wear unless something hits it going down the road..did you check there?

Ok, battery tests fine, and the car appears to be grounded. getting a circuit from battery to ground wires, and from battery directly to the alternator. the wire that goes from the battery through the firewall into the dash has power running through it... yet the car has zero functionality. power locks, lights, nothing works. turning the ignition, no bells, no lights nothing. If the main positive cable lost connectivity, would that cause other things running off the split fused wire that goes into the dash not to work also?

Anyone with any ideas that would cause a total power failure? keep in mind, everything worked until i shut the car down. air conditioning, radio were running fine, except radio did flicker on and off twice on my way to work, which is what i'm guessing is when the problem occured..

by the way the car is an '89 turbo automatic, which i havn't mentioned yet.

Thanks

after you check all your fuses and circuit breakers, and are sure you have good juice in the battery, I would double check your grounds. Just having continuity is not enough, you can have continuity but not enough connection to provide adequate power. Resistance is the issue here.

starting to look bad.. sry =[

ecu?