Well guys...I still haven't been able to sort out the gremlin... for those that didn't catch my last message, when I went to go start my car a few days ago all I got was the initial click from the starter solenoid then bam all power went out. The radio turned off, interior lights cut, everything out. Weird thing is when I popped the hood to go take a look by the time I got around to the front of the car the "Key in ignition" chime. After that I noticed my radio clock was reset as well as the Trip Odo but the car started without a hitch.

Originally thought it was maybe a bad ground, I checked the terminals of the battery and there were fine. Obvious things to look over checked out ok as well like loose ground wires, the accessory relays, loose/bad fuses and for a loose power connection with no luck. What I haven't done is checked resistance across cables since I don't have any idea what the given values should be.

The power did not come back when I returned the key to the run position. The power comes back oddly after an event that I haven't been able to pinpoint. Like I stated above it came back the 1st time while I was walking to the front of the car (or maybe even when I pulled the hood release, which further suggests a intermittant loose connection somewhere). The key was still in the ignition at the time in the Run position with the door open, hence the 'door open, key is still in' chime.

While following the loose connection trail I removed and replaced the cables to the battery and the starter but the gremlin decided to show its face again this morning. This time IT did restore power just as I pulled the hood release and fired right back up (again with a reset clock and odometer). Am I missing another cable that can be shaken loose? And what confuses me is why it does it in the morning, or anytime after a few hours of being off (problem has occured after a 9hr shift at work).

Any suggestions or insight would be greatly apprecated...thanks.

 

Could be a weak fusible link somewhere. On cable resistace, you should have little or no resistance in any given length of wire. Good luck, Intermittent problems are the worst to troubleshoot.

 

Hm, is there anyway to test anything other than the old shake a wire and pray it shows its ugly face method?

 

That might work if you have a hidden break in the wire.

 

Try swapping in a new battery ? Sounds like a dead battery.. i had a similar problem that i spent a few hours trying to troubleshoot, i thought the battery was fine because i was getting the radio and other interior stuff coming on. Check for cracks and leaks on your battery before you try anything else...

 

Battery really? Hmm I'll try taking it down to the nearest autoparts store and have it checked out. I never would have guessed a bad battery from the jekyll and hyde, start/no start condition. I would have thought a battery condition would be a little more consistant. Thanks for the suggestion though!

 

Woohoo! Thanks Toby, it was a bad battery apparently it was venting.

 

Glad to hear it