Today I was cruising on the highway about 85 mph and I went to turn my radio on and noticed the alarm light was flashing and it would not turn on. Shortly thereafter the gauges and power steering went out. I stopped to check the fuses and they all looked fine. I went to open the trunk and realized it would it would not open with the trunk release (to get the owner's manual out) and ended up having to turn the car off to open the trunk manually. When nothing wrong was found and the gauges came back on, I tried to start it and nothing happened. I had to push start it just to get back home. Once I got it running, it would continue to run even without anything electrical working at all. I checked the alternator as well and it seemed to be ok. Does anyone know what might cause this? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

check all your fuses.
note the circuit(s) with blown fuses
inspect items in that circuit before replacing the fuse.

 

I do not recall seeing a post with the same problem. This is not a common problem. I would be suspicious of the alarm. Who installed it?

 

It was the stock alarm light on the cd player. Since then, I tried to drive the car to the dealer to leave it for them tomorrow and either the fuel pump quit delivering fuel or the ignition just quit because the car gave a couple of gurgles and died. That was the last time it actually started.

 

It sounds like you'll need to have the car flat-bedded to the dealer . This is the first time that I've read of a problem like this since starting with the board in the "old days"of H-A.net.

Are you sure that the alarm is stock? Normally the stock alarm light is placed in the center console, not near the radio head unit. If it isn't stock, then I'd agree with cdelena's suspicions and have the alarm installation checked out.

Good luck with the fix and keep us posted.

 

Guys,

I think G meant the little blinking red alarm light on the stereo head itself...you know, the one that blinks incessantly when the stereo is turned off? Basically, he was losing power to all systems fast, almost as if he had a sudden short someplace and it never fixed itself.

G,

Any juice left in the battery? If not, swap batteries with a junker...if that battery dies, you have a SERIOUS short.

 

I had a similar problem about 6 weeks ago. I was cruising down the freeway at about 80, when the car just died on me. As I was in the fast lane, I was able to pull over into the breakdown lane next to the divider. It looked like a total electrical failure. Luckily, after I turned the ignition off and back on again, the engine fired up immediately and I was able to carry on driving.

 

That's pretty scary. The cars today are so full of electrical equipment, I'd definitely take it to the dealer to get it looked at and to see what the failure is.

Clive, if I were you, I'd take it to the dealership, while the car is still running. Something like that happened to my Prelude and it died the next day. I had to have it towed to my mechanic.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by 1Y2KS2K
[B]I had a similar problem about 6 weeks ago.

 

Three cars quite at 80-85 mph; Watson, the answer is too obvious; either drive faster or slower.