Car randomly shuts off

[Brian95SVT]

Ok so this is my problem.
I was driving the other day and all of a sudden all the power to my car just went out and everything shut off *including the motor*
then like a second later it just came right back on and i freaked.
well it's been doing it for a few days now.
sometimes it shuts off and comes directly right back on *while driving/moving* and other times it will shut off completely and i will have to put it in neutral and start it back up *usually only does this when i'm stopped or slowly turning into like a parking space*

I've replaced my alt because Advanced told me mine was shit but that didn't fix it. my battery is also new...
i'm lost....

it JUST started doing it like a few days ago...

 

[Brian95SVT]

Also when I come to a dead stop in drive you can watch the battery gauge go from the middle then drop all the way down to the "N" in normal and sometimes it drops completely and shuts off...
when i'm drivin it is in the middle but when i slow down it goes down.

when i turn my a/c on and such you can see it drop more and more....

i'm losing power somewhere but it randomly started doin this...

 

[nesqwick_05]

check for corrosion on the wires, make sure your battery terminals are secure, and come back and let us know... :dunno: its hard to tell over the interenet but thats where u should start...

 

[xsoutherngun89x]

check your ground wire real good too. and be carefull, sometimes brand new alt are peices of junk anyways

 

[Brian95SVT]

this was doin it BEFORE i got the new alt
and everything is fine... grounds, terminals... all of it

 

[Jrgunn5150]

It's not all fine, because you are losing power... And you are losing it in a way that suggest's a bad ground. There are a few on the car, including one no one thinks of on the firewall.

 

[xsoutherngun89x]

this was doin it BEFORE i got the new alt
and everything is fine... grounds, terminals... all of it

i already KNEW that... i was simply sayin that that alt you bought might have been just as bad as the one you took off.

 

[Brian95SVT]

J.R., where all would these grounds be? so then I can check them all..

Jerrica, i'm pretty sure this one works fine... but thanks man.


can a ground just randomly go bad like that?
if so... that sucks haha

 

[Jrgunn5150]

It can get corroded up, or loosen up over time. Ish happens man.

It's on the passenger side, back of the head. There's another off the timing cover I beleive, I'm not really sure, and I don't have the book anymore, but they should all be listed in there.

 

[Bluesn95]

I have the book for a 96 stang. If you don't figure it out, I'll take the time to look up where all the grounds are.

 

[Brian95SVT]

you would replace J.R. as my new best friend
:hammer:

 

[Jrgunn5150]

It's 12 dollar's cheapskate! :hammer:

 

[xsoutherngun89x]

J.R., where all would these grounds be? so then I can check them all..

Jerrica, i'm pretty sure this one works fine... but thanks man.


can a ground just randomly go bad like that?
if so... that sucks haha

yes ground wires can go bad after time. body rust around the site of the groun can be the main cause... i did state this but its whatever. Jr knows the symptoms of a bad ground just as i do

/thread

 

[Bluesn95]

No, I'm talking about the 1000+ page book that the guy that I bought the car from gave me. Its the actual complete book from Ford.

 

[Bluesn95]

Yeah I just checked its like 3 inches thick. Doesn't have page #s, just sections with #s and letters.

 

[Jrgunn5150]

Oh, the factory service manual, that's the one I had too, it will have them ALL in it.

 

[mike97gt]

are you sure its not a short at the alt itself?

i've had a few problems where the electrical systems shit the bed by one of the wires arc'ing at the alt itself. messes with the system a shitload. or just a corroded wire.
electrical problems are hell sometimes. a schematic will help you a LOT!