UKDM_EM2

When i drive the car for x amount of miles and use the rear screen heater the dash/ head lights dim like its drawing too much current, then i arrive at my destination and stop and turn her off.

If i re-start the engine within a 5min period i get nothing, no indication of ignition on or no dash lights not even at accessorises!

Then i take the key out try to locjk the doors but i still get nothing. So i wait 1min then re-insert the key and she starts up fine no problems, except the radio re-sets itself and all my factory settings go out the window so there i am re-tuning everything!!!!!

What could this be??

Loose battery terminal

Earthing kit not earthing the car properly..

Starter motor not engaging properly = remove, clean out and re-lube and re-fit

Alternator failure = not charging the battery fully while running

Imobilzer = battery dying, damp connections


I must say tho its only started happening since November last year but its gradually becoming worse!!!


Help would be appreciated! Thanks in advance

Jacyn313

Question: Do you have an aftermarket sound system or alarm system in your car? The reason I ask is because some mom&pop shops might do a hack-job on your system looking for grounds and cut into your wiring harness causing intermitten electrical problems.

I can safely say you can probably eliminate your battery as the cause here because if the battery is low the car would crank very slowly or have trouble turning over no matter how much time elapsed. If the starter motor or relay was going bad you'd DEFINITELY know it because when you tried to start it you'd hear the starter engage erratically. You can't entirely rule out the alternator as having an issue here though because unless you have some serious A/V in your car (like 2000w amp and no cap) then your alternator should be more then able to supply the car with the operating power it needs. So that's something you'd definitely want to check with a multimeter to see if it's putting out the proper voltage.

To me it sounds like you have a bad ground in your electrical system. That's the only thing that could cause ALL the lights to not work and the car to seem completely dead. Just to be safe however check your battery terminals FIRST to make sure their properly tightened no corrosion or breaks in the cables if not then you'll need a wiring diagram for your vehicle and a multimeter to track down the bad ground

UKDM_EM2

I have an audio system which i installed myself, the only thing we had a problem with was i didnt have enough cable to earth to the chassis, so we eathered it to the rear sturt brace as its in contact with the chassis.

Glad to hear that its not the alternator or starter tho the starter sometimes makes a noise on cold starts where its not engaging properly but thats just a 3 bolt removal and a quick clean out. Some of the earth connections in the engine bay are fraying for example the thermostat housing to front slam panel is shot to bits! but i do have a full earth grounding kit with voltage stabillizer could that be the case!