joey b Posted March 16, 2008 Report Posted March 16, 2008 Used to happen on my sister's 96 cutlass. Random and total loss of electricity. Sometimes while driving!!! I now have a friend with a 97 cutlass that will sometimes, moreso when first going to start the car, will have no electricity. No interior lights, nothing. Then all of the radio is reset and with no interference suddenly has electricity again. Quote
Crazy K Posted March 16, 2008 Report Posted March 16, 2008 loose auxilary battery terminal? clean the battery posts? the groudn you need to check is around the base of the steering column, i think. it is probably attached to the support. Quote
ns87 Posted March 17, 2008 Report Posted March 17, 2008 That sounds like when my battery bolts were too long. I had some washers on them, and one fell out. So every so often I'd lose power to everything. Added another washer, and it was good to go Quote
joey b Posted March 18, 2008 Author Report Posted March 18, 2008 aux terminal is so tight that I believe that loosening it will break it. Battery terminals appear to be plenty tight. I will check the ground near the base of the steering column. Thank you! By base, do you mean near the floor, and do I look in the cabin or from the engine bay? Quote
chadz34 Posted March 18, 2008 Report Posted March 18, 2008 loose auxilary battery terminal? clean the battery posts? the groudn you need to check is around the base of the steering column, i think. it is probably attached to the support. X2 both have happened to me. Quote
joey b Posted March 21, 2008 Author Report Posted March 21, 2008 Check the ignition switch !!! I don't see that impacting interior lights and radio memory. Quote
joey b Posted March 22, 2008 Author Report Posted March 22, 2008 how do I "check" the ignition switch? Quote
MonteCarloDude Posted March 22, 2008 Report Posted March 22, 2008 X3 on the ign switch. i have to go x4 on this. Quote
rockfangd Posted March 23, 2008 Report Posted March 23, 2008 buy a new one and try it out. when the electrical is lost check the voltage at the yellow thick wire under the column. if it is dead it is the ignition if not it is something else Quote
slick Posted March 24, 2008 Report Posted March 24, 2008 There are contacts inside of the actual ignition switch itself. When the contacts get old and wear out, or simply break, not everything will be powered up. Also, if the contacts are worn, or loose, you may lose power to certain things as well. Very possible, but there's really no good way of testing it, other than completely bypassing the ignition switch. Quote
rockfangd Posted March 24, 2008 Report Posted March 24, 2008 basically if you can start it with the car starter but not the ignition the ignition is going bad Quote
SiNNERZ34 Posted March 24, 2008 Report Posted March 24, 2008 Check the major grounds. Bad grounds can give you symptoms of a whole host of things. Quote
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