I was going to work today in the morning, I was driving about 50-55 mph when all of a sudden my car turns off, everything, completely, for about 4 seconds and then everything turned back on, it went back to 50-55 mph. I got no SES lights, my radio stations reset, and I just drove off like nothing happened. Its didn't jerk or stop or anything. The weirdest thing ever.
Anyone have a clue what the heck happened? Has this happened to anyone before?

 

Can it be the crank positioning sensor in a 2000?

I know it can happen to a 2k2 or 2k3 but there could be more than just that.

 

Are you...ok?

 

Man, that must have been scary for you.. in 4 seconds a lot could have happend that could have gotten you killed...Hope you get it fixed bro.

 

If the motor is off, it doesnt mean the steering or the breaks dont work

 

It used to happen to me all the time with one of the cars I borrowed from my cousin's dealership place. I'd be doing 50-60 on the freeway and the car would suddenly turn off. I had to always drive in the right lane so that I could pull over in the emergency lane whenever it happened. Then I learned that once the car turns off, I could just shift into neutral and restart it w/o pulling over. What a pain in the neck that was..... I know your problem is different, but I just hope it's nothing serious.

 

This is scary

 

Well, the breaks did work because I applied just a little to see if they did work, but I tried to stay up with traffic and for some reason I wasn't scared, almost like if it had happened to me before. I did move to the emergency lane but to my surprise, the car turned on and I kept driving, like nothing happened. TRIP!!!

 

Ive heard some horror stories where the car stalled or something and some car stoped ahead and the guy couldnt do any maneuvering because his power steering stoped working and he ran in to the car ahead (at 30 mph)...

 

Now that's crazy! I was on the highway and good thing I wasn't in the city (stop and go's). Anyone have a clue what it can be?

 

Well, something like this happened to my old 87 honda accord when I was driving.. I was driving and it felt like the engine wanted to turn off.. I floored the car but the RPMs just didnt want to stay up and then it suddenly just turned off... Dont know if its the same thing but mine turned out to be the fuel filter... or something to do with the fuel...

 

Well, I'm glad you weren't scared at least. I wasn't either when it happened to me, but now when I look back I think it was an insanity. I was there in the middle of the road going 60mph and all of a sudden next thing I know is that my engine stops on me and I need to somehow move 2 lanes to the right. And none of the cars in my way knew or cared about that! Ok, enough of the horror simulator..

 

Pablo, there was also this one time on my van this happend where it just turned off.. Turned out to be the alternator..

 

Something like that just happened to me on Friday too. Posted it on another thread but the details are eerily similar - except i also had transmission issues just seconds before the car turned off.

 

The alternator, maybe I'll have them check it out. Thanks guys!

 

Check your Alternator, distributor, battery.. gotta be something that deals with power. (I HOPE)
Thats some freaky chit man, wait a second, did you have sex in your car recently... cuz u know ur car gets jealous and gives off this bad spell over the car lol

 

hmmmm no I didn't

 

I agree with this! I had a similar situation happen a few times in my C5 Corvette. Car just shut off and rolled to a stop, then I fired her right back up with no issues. Freaked me out, turns out the computers in these machines can't handle low Voltage very well, and if the Voltage drops across your Power system, then it will shut down. Suggestion - load test on your battery, or just replace it if it's the original, it's about time anyway. A new battery solved my problem and it never happened again.

Good luck.

 

check to see how tight the wires are hooked up to the battery...
my battery cables came loose when i was on a bumpy road...pulled over and tighten them..never happend again

 

There is a recall on this for 2k2+.

I had it done to my car yest.

 

The battery connections would be the FIRST place (and most likely last) I would check.

Since the radio presets were lost it means the car lost connection to the battery.

If it were engine or ECU related the other systems in the car radio, lights, etc would not be affected. If it was the crank sensor the car would die but nothing else would change.

You can drive without an alternator. It wouldn't kill the power to other systems (without melting wires or blowing fuses anyway).

 

Same exact thing happened to me on the Interstate 2 weeks ago at 80mph. Died and then came back.. then car died altogether. It was a bad alternator and battery.

 

Your car battery is just used for starting up the car. The alternator is used for charging the battery and supplying the car with power. If your alternator dies, your car will run off the power given by the battery, but not for long. If it was your battery or alternator that died, your car wouldn't be able to start back up until they are replaced. I think it is either in you ingition switch or loose connections. I'm betting on connections because your radio reseted. Worst case senario, you ECU might be acting up.

Fix this asap, this problem is bad! Car dying out when you're moving that quickly can be fatal. If your brakes don't work, slowly pull the e-brake. That's why it's controled with a cable.

let me know how it goes and good luck!

 

since your radio presets reset, there was a spike in the electrical system. This is a 1st sign of a alternator going bad, its actually the voltage regulator that goes bad- but its internaly mounted in the alternator. Once the electrical system sees less than 10.5V the ECU gets shut off and if you try to start it the starter will just tick. This is what might have happened, the power dipped bellow 10.5V and it reset everything for just a second

Mike Jez

 

A little question: if it dies, how can it start by itself? It should not do that.