02 Es300 - Strange, Fatal Behavior Today

kashi125 · June 4, 2008

My ES scared the heck out of me today. A little background first--for the past two days, my navigation and audio system has been shutting off for like a second and then restarting automatically whenever I made a sharp left turn. The navigation screen would go black, CD audio would stop, and then after a second it would come back on and everything would work fine until the next sharp left turn (sometimes it would work OK through the turn). I thought the wiring somewhere was loose and I would look into it over the weekend.

Today, while making a left turn, my car stopped automatically as if the brakes had been applied. I was driving at about 20 mph at that time as it was a residential area. So imagine this, my foot is on the accelerator, my car stopped for 2 seconds or so, and when I glanced at the instrument panel, the ABS, Brake, and headlight indicators were on. Probably some other lights too, but it all happened so quickly that I can't be sure. The way the car stopped suddenly, it was as if the brakes had been applied automatically. And then, it moved forward as if nothing had happened. This happened when I was turning into the street to my house, so no more left turns after that--I just parked it in the garage. Obviously this can be a very fatal situation.

Any idea what could have caused this? What do I look for?

steviej · June 4, 2008

sounds like you got a short somewhere or a wire is loose and when stressed by a left turn causes loss of power to certain items.

The "fatal" one may have been the main power in the fuse box. Did the engine "shut off" and restart or did it always stay running?

be safe, have it checked out by a qualified technician....one that can follow wires and read a meter.

steviej

kashi125 · June 4, 2008

Gentlemen, I think I found the problem. When I started poking around in the engine, I noticed that the metal bar that goes on top of the battery and holds it in place was loose at one end (rear engine side). This means that whenever I made a sharp left turn, that metal bar moved and touched the positive terminal of the battery. Since the other end of the metal bar is connected to the body, it caused a short and hence my disappearing NAV/Audio and also today's problem. I have no idea why I only experienced the stopping problem today and not on other days when I had NAV/Audio problem....

My suspicions are further confirmed by burn marks (caused by sparks) on the positive terminal connector on the battery. Based on this, I am 99% sure that the problem is solved--but I will know for sure tomorrow. Keeping my fingers crossed!

steviej, thanks for the prompt response.