What could possibly cause this?
04-04-2015, 01:14 AM
#1
Pro
Thread Starter
What could possibly cause this?
Never had anything like this happen before. Driving down the highway last night and all of a sudden I got service charging system, service active handling system, service abs system, service traction control system on DIC. About 30 seconds later all the car's electronics restarted themselves (gauges flashed and went through start up sequences, interior and headlights went off and then back on. Radio restarted, but engine stayed running the whole time this is at about 80 mph. Manual car
Immediately slowed and got into the right lane anticipating having to pull into the emergency lane. Once all the electronics restarted the error lights disappeared for a few minutes. From this point on any time I would hit any bumps in the road I would get a service ABS system on DIC. Nothing else. I would also hear some sort of static interference coming out through the radio only when it was showing the error message and light so I shut the head unit down. I limped the rest of the way home and even at about 30 mph any kind of bump would light up the ABS error.
If I was just getting the error driving over bumps I feel it would be easier to troubleshoot and wouldn't be as worried but I'm not able to find any information on what could cause the car to restart it's systems in the middle of the highway.
Car has a brand new battery
Immediately slowed and got into the right lane anticipating having to pull into the emergency lane. Once all the electronics restarted the error lights disappeared for a few minutes. From this point on any time I would hit any bumps in the road I would get a service ABS system on DIC. Nothing else. I would also hear some sort of static interference coming out through the radio only when it was showing the error message and light so I shut the head unit down. I limped the rest of the way home and even at about 30 mph any kind of bump would light up the ABS error.
If I was just getting the error driving over bumps I feel it would be easier to troubleshoot and wouldn't be as worried but I'm not able to find any information on what could cause the car to restart it's systems in the middle of the highway.
Car has a brand new battery
04-04-2015, 03:12 AM
#2
Safety Car
My son's '07 did something eerily similar, except he did not have a new battery. Turns out alternator was going out...and took the battery with it less than 10 mins later. He didn't make it home on his own.
I know yours seems to be related to hitting bumps in the road... but I would have the alternator checked immediately.
I know yours seems to be related to hitting bumps in the road... but I would have the alternator checked immediately.
04-04-2015, 01:09 PM
#3
Le Mans Master
Never had anything like this happen before. Driving down the highway last night and all of a sudden I got service charging system, service active handling system, service abs system, service traction control system on DIC. About 30 seconds later all the car's electronics restarted themselves (gauges flashed and went through start up sequences, interior and headlights went off and then back on. Radio restarted, but engine stayed running the whole time this is at about 80 mph. Manual car
Immediately slowed and got into the right lane anticipating having to pull into the emergency lane. Once all the electronics restarted the error lights disappeared for a few minutes. From this point on any time I would hit any bumps in the road I would get a service ABS system on DIC. Nothing else. I would also hear some sort of static interference coming out through the radio only when it was showing the error message and light so I shut the head unit down. I limped the rest of the way home and even at about 30 mph any kind of bump would light up the ABS error.
If I was just getting the error driving over bumps I feel it would be easier to troubleshoot and wouldn't be as worried but I'm not able to find any information on what could cause the car to restart it's systems in the middle of the highway.
Car has a brand new battery
Immediately slowed and got into the right lane anticipating having to pull into the emergency lane. Once all the electronics restarted the error lights disappeared for a few minutes. From this point on any time I would hit any bumps in the road I would get a service ABS system on DIC. Nothing else. I would also hear some sort of static interference coming out through the radio only when it was showing the error message and light so I shut the head unit down. I limped the rest of the way home and even at about 30 mph any kind of bump would light up the ABS error.
If I was just getting the error driving over bumps I feel it would be easier to troubleshoot and wouldn't be as worried but I'm not able to find any information on what could cause the car to restart it's systems in the middle of the highway.
Car has a brand new battery
Make sure all the battery cable connections are tight, and if so, have the new battery load tested. Is this problem the reason you have a brand new battery in the first place?
04-04-2015, 02:15 PM
#4
Pro
Thread Starter
New battery wasn't for a specific reason. I DD the car and like to change the battery every few years. I think I may have found the problem though. (Or just a separate problem if I am unlucky)
I was just looking under the hood and my headers have burnt off the starter solenoid post, which unfortunately is a problem I am not unfamiliar with on this car, but this time I noticed that the cables and the post itself actually completely fell off the solenoid and was dangling down. I initially poked it around a little and learned that when it would bounce just a few inches it would make contact with something metal below which would lead to a nice spark show. I have since disconnected the battery which I should have done first before poking it BUT, it also makes sense that when I would hit even small bumps it would cause the cable to bounce and short out which I'm sure wreaked havoc with the car's electrical systems. I am not sure exactly how or why it specifically caused the ABS light to come on, but I can definitely imagine a huge short like that may cause all the systems to reboot themselves.
The only course of action now is to have the solenoid repaired and then if I continue to get any codes I will have to pull them and see what exactly is going wrong. Car has over 130k so I am going to have the alternator checked out as well anyway. Thank you both
I was just looking under the hood and my headers have burnt off the starter solenoid post, which unfortunately is a problem I am not unfamiliar with on this car, but this time I noticed that the cables and the post itself actually completely fell off the solenoid and was dangling down. I initially poked it around a little and learned that when it would bounce just a few inches it would make contact with something metal below which would lead to a nice spark show. I have since disconnected the battery which I should have done first before poking it BUT, it also makes sense that when I would hit even small bumps it would cause the cable to bounce and short out which I'm sure wreaked havoc with the car's electrical systems. I am not sure exactly how or why it specifically caused the ABS light to come on, but I can definitely imagine a huge short like that may cause all the systems to reboot themselves.
The only course of action now is to have the solenoid repaired and then if I continue to get any codes I will have to pull them and see what exactly is going wrong. Car has over 130k so I am going to have the alternator checked out as well anyway. Thank you both
04-04-2015, 02:39 PM
#5
Safety Car
you found your problem! good work.