Hello guys,

Did a quick cruise by the river near my house after work today and something very strange happened.

After a few easy pulls, the engine got shut down, no steering (could hardly steer), everything on the dash went blank.

Fortunately I was able to pull over safely. I restarted the car and everything seemed to be fine...Had it happened on the freeway it would have been a lot more dangerous...

Here is a picture of right after I restarted the car:


Could someone possibly give a few pointers on what happened? I am planning to track it this weekend but I am giving it a second thought right now.

Thanks,
Kevin

 

No CEL codes? I'd first rule-out hinky ground connections.

 

If the EPS light is on while the engine is running, your first step is to get the code from the EPS.

 

Thanks for the responses guys.

No CEL at all.

Actually I am not sure if the EPS light is one of those lights that would go on during the initial start up and then disappear, or as Billman have said, it was probably the problem. On the way home it was totally normal, no CEL nor EPS. Just so strange!

 

Guess the EPS could be starting to go out. You live in an area of high humidity and/or salty air?

 

take my statement with a grain of salt, or not.

Something kind of similar happened to me in my last car.. As i was pulling up my street after a long drive home from work, everything went blank, but came right back within a second.

From my years of experience as an amateur backyard mechanic, i assumed it was the alternator on its way out, or showing signs of going out.
At that time, i worked far away from home, and i couldnt take the risk of my car dying on the road, so that night i quickly swapped out the alternator for a brand new unit.

Never happened again.

test your alternator at the least.

 

Billman's right, that EPS light goes away with all the other check lights once the engine is running. There is no delay.

 

The EPS light is on when I put the key in but after the engine started it's gone! So I am guessing my knee must have knock the key somehow and shut the engine down?

Quick Video of Startup.

 

Top pic. Car idling, eps light on. Yes?

 

I had this happen once at speed on corner entry at 60mph+ everytime I hit a bump right before turn. Scared me pretty good. Turned out my battery wasn't locked down well and terminal made contact with frame. Check to see that nothing is loose.