[spin]

I was stopped at a traffic light and my car just turned off. When i tried to turn the key to start it back up, nothing would happen (lights would turn on on the dash but that's it). It wouldn't start for about 20 seconds and finally started and I got home fine. This is the first time it happens to me. I don't know if I'm posting this on the right section of board. Does anyone have any idea what happened to my car? thanks a lot.

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[banditsc]

You just had some recent work right, belts and alternator? Did you battery ever get down real low or was the alternator preventative? Did you happen to notice your volt gauge when this happened?

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[spin]

yeah I just had some work done on the car... you remember [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif[/img]
when this happened, the gages all went down so I didn't notice anything. The only light on the dash that stayed on was the exclamation mark.
The battery never got down real low and the alternator was working fine I guess. I didn't notice anything special since I last got the car fixed.
The car wouldn't even crank.

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[ds968]

loose connection in one of the distributor/coil wires ? unplug and plug all of them back just for the sake of it..

also do not overlook the battery terminal connections - if they're clean and tight on, no problem, but check them out nonetheless ..

was there a rapid clicking sound ( when you tried to start the car and it would not crank ) , or totally silent ?
either way, I think that generally points to a dying battery..

if all the lights were strong, no clicking but the car would not crank ( and all the coil/distributor wires are fine ) perhaps the starter solenoid could be going bad..

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[blue968]

The same thing happened to me about 2 yrs ago at a traffic light but my car started back up. it has never happened since.
It was a scary experiance, however I had since driven my car about 3K miles including a trip to Hershey (300+ miles) and has been fine.

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[Anchorman]

Pardon me for digressing...but "3K miles including a trip to Hershey" in 2 years? You're not giving yourself enough chances at smiling!!!

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming.

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[spin]

<!--quoteo(post=68143:date=Mar 6 2009, 08:09 PM:name=ds968)-->QUOTE (ds968 @ Mar 6 2009, 08:09 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->loose connection in one of the distributor/coil wires ? unplug and plug all of them back just for the sake of it..

also do not overlook the battery terminal connections - if they're clean and tight on, no problem, but check them out nonetheless ..

was there a rapid clicking sound ( when you tried to start the car and it would not crank ) , or totally silent ?
either way, I think that generally points to a dying battery..

if all the lights were strong, no clicking but the car would not crank ( and all the coil/distributor wires are fine ) perhaps the starter solenoid could be going bad..<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->


it was totally silent... really weird and scary!! the battery is brand new... I will check all those connections tomorrow and let you know what I found out. Thank you guys.

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[firefish]

I'd bet your solenoid is ok as a faulty one would't cause the engine to stop ruinning once started. I'd start with checking connections too, all that pulling and yanking when changing battery might have messed something up. Also, don't rely to much on that new battery. A bad battery can cause the weirdest of problem, as can bad grounds.

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[DayDreamer]

DME relay took a break, then worked again. Same happened to me, I jumped out, swapped in a new DME relay and was back on road in 2 minutes. I've subsequenly tested the other relay and it works again. Maybe it got hot.

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[ds968]

<!--quoteo(post=68149:date=Mar 7 2009, 01:50 AM:name=DayDreamer)-->QUOTE (DayDreamer @ Mar 7 2009, 01:50 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->DME relay took a break, then worked again. Same happened to me, I jumped out, swapped in a new DME relay and was back on road in 2 minutes. I've subsequenly tested the other relay and it works again. Maybe it got hot.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

the car would crank though...

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[gryphon]

<!--quoteo(post=68157:date=Mar 7 2009, 08:03 AM:name=ds968)-->QUOTE (ds968 @ Mar 7 2009, 08:03 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->the car would crank though...<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

That's one of the (numerous) symptoms of a bad DME relay.

Tom

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[rhudeboye]

<!--quoteo(post=68169:date=Mar 7 2009, 02:24 PM:name=gryphon)-->QUOTE (gryphon @ Mar 7 2009, 02:24 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><!--quotec-->That's one of the (numerous) symptoms of a bad DME relay.

Tom<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Agreed. a lot of bad things are linked to that faulty DME. I had an intermittent starting issue that proved to be the DME. After swapping it out things were fine. about a year later I had the engine die, in a parking lot, with the new DME in. It started right back up but the starting trouble came back, about once every 4 drives I had to crank it about 4 times before it would start. I was ready to change out the starter when a few wise chaps on this forum told me to try the DME, even though it was only a year old. And yes, it was in fact the DME.. again.

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[blue968]

Just read the recent adds and perhapes that relay was my problem as well. I am going to buy a spare and leave it in the car. Its worth a shot if that happens again, everytime I drive the car thats always in the back of my mind if its going to decide to shut off again. Kinda an uneasy feeling.

Not to get off subject but I have been working many long hrs and never get a chance to drive my car but I plan on changing that this summer. Slow ecomomy, limited amount of work = more drive time.

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[spin]

<!--quoteo-->QUOTE <!--quotec-->never get a chance to drive my car but I plan on changing that this summer. Slow ecomomy, limited amount of work = more drive time.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

it's my everyday car, I drive it 60 miles almost each day of the week. It better not do it again!!

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