Hey all, its been a while. My 2001 Max has 76K miles and this Thurs and Fri drivng home from work (about 10 miles, 1/2 hour in the car) my car died. All power stopped and interior dash lights came on, wheel locked up, etc. On Thursday when I was about to have it jumped an hour after it died, the Max started right up. On Friday I didn't want to mess with it so I had it jumped right away and drove it home.

I recently installed a battery so my first thought is this has to be the alternator. I took it to a mechanic this AM and said I think I need a new alternator. They called me hours later and said they hadn't forgotten about me but they could not get my car to duplicate the problem so they haven't done anything yet. What am I supposed to do here? These yahoos have put 40 miles on my car and cannot get it to die. I am picking it up now and I guess crossing my fingers.

Come Monday night driving home from work, chances are I am going to be stuck on the side of the road like last Thurs and Fri. Ugh.

Any thoughts?

Thanks.

 

whoa...your steering wheel locked up?? That has nothing to do with the electrical system - the steering wheel lock is a simple mechanism controlled by the key being turned in the ignition.

 

Okay, perhaps I am embellishing a little bit, I guess the "power steering" went out. All I know is I felt lucky to get it pulled over off of the road safely. I don't know anything.

 

ok, thought that's what you meant.

let me think...I know I've seen someone else with this problem before....maybe some alcohol tonight will bring it back into my memory what the problem was

 

That happened to me once with my old('96) max. The car died, then all the dash lights came on and the power steering was dead. Although it didnt happen to you, i opened my hood and the car was on fire by the battery...

 

It sounds like the alternator. Had the same thing happen on RT 66 in VA during rush hour.

 

it could be the alternator.. take it to Autozone and they will test it for free.....

 

i had the same thing happen to me. CAr died while i was in traffic and all the dash lights came on. Steering wheel didnt"lock up" its just that the power steering went. Replaced my MAF and all was good.

 

Thanks to all. Yes Irish, that sounds like a plan.

Not sure if this would help, but when it would start to die I would turn the A/C off and then it would run fine. So Friday on the way home I didn't run any lights, radio, A/C, etc, and it still died just before I made it home. When it did die the gauges all went to zero, my clock dimmed and my other dash lights came on.

If Autozone can test a battery/alternator, etc, why can't an actual mechanic. Silly me.

Also, what type of mechanic says they can't fix this unless they actually witness it die? I explained to them the problem. Seems opposite of a normal mechanic (they take your money no matter what).

Anyway, thanks.

 

HAHAHA, also, a guy there said that it was because I am running a sub in my trunk and it was taking too much power. HAHA.

 

Make sure the battery cables/connections are clean.
Check both ends, battery and vehicle contact points.

 

This can be true too......

 

How, it has worked fine for months and the guy that installed it knows what he is doing....

 

Remember not everyone that tells you they know what they are doing really do. And sometimes even when they know what they are doing, they cut corners and take shortcuts and that something they definitely won't tell you. Just something to keep in mind.

 

Yes, but this is a very good friend of mine who knows everything about cars. He assured me this was not the issue when I spoke of it.

 

go to autozone and have the your battery and alternator tested for free. If either of those are not the problem then further diagnose it. But when my car dies while its running, its usually the alternator.

 

Jeez man..just take it to autozone already and either rule out or rule in the alternator. Then we'll go from there.

 

Sounds like your altenator is going. The same thing happened to me, except I was able to get it to the dealer before it died.

 

Battery and Alternator tested today at Autozone just fine.

 

That is just hillarious!

 

The sub in the trunk itself won't kill it.

However, without a capacitor it will fry alternators every few months.

Have a capacitor?

If not, replace your alternator, then get one.

You'll be fine.

J

 

Capacitors are a GIMMICK, and put more strain on your electrical system than they help.

 

Not the hardcore neon light ones, just a simple one that sits near the battery terminal. Prevents overloading the alternator.

 

Aye..... Capacitors drain power from your alternator. Everytime your bass hits it expells the juice from the capacitor. The capacitor is NOT a battery. It does not store energy, it is used to displace quick bursts of energy at a given time. What do you think happens once the cap is emptied out? It puts a strain on the electricals especially the alternator. The alternator has to work harder to re-energize the capacitor. Once that is done the cycle repeats.

A cap near the battery? How the hell would that help his sub? This makes no sense because now the path that hte extra energy would have to travel would negate the benefits. Who the f puts a capacitor near the battery?


If you look in the audio forum there are probably about 50 - 60 guys in there NOT using caps and NOT having to replace their alternators even with 2000+ watt systems.....

 

Hasn't died on me since Friday.

The sub was installed by a friend who had run it in his car for two years with no problems....

 

Check out the voltage before you start your car. Your car battery should be around 12 volts before starting the car. After you start the car, check the voltage. It should be up around 14.5 or so. Nothing under 14 volts. If its under 14 volts, then its your alternator. If not, change the battery.
Keep us posted.

 

I had this problem. Replaced my MAF sensor and no more stalling.