Electrical failure after bump

[Fox2506]

Stuck in a parking lot atm. Hit a bump. Radio slowly fizzled out and then flickered on and off. Then noticed turn signals weren't working. Engine started surging heavily at idle. Stopped in a parking lot and attempted one start. Seemed low on power and starter clicked.

Everything else works. No bad fuses. Battery is tight. No signs of melting. Played with turn stalk and radio tried to come back on.

Ground popped loose somewhere? I've also been suspecting that my alternator is going.


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[Fox2506]

Solved. Battery probs.

[Bitsyncmaster]

The bump could have just made a bad connection worse. It could also have made the alternator go bad. Slim possibility a battery plate shorted.

[David T]

The bump could have just made a bad connection worse. It could also have made the alternator go bad. Slim possibility a battery plate shorted.

Actually it sounds like a bad connection at one of the battery terminals. Shine them up and tighten them up. Maybe get the battery tested.

[Fox2506]

To shed more light on the issue, the car was converted to EFI and needs a little tuning. When it's cold it stalls out at stops. Being a manual car and living in on a hill, I have no choice but to stall out occasionally. I'm sure the stalling and starting has taken a toll on the battery. I regret driving in those conditions, but I'd rather not let it sit. I think hitting the bump was a coincidence.

[David T]

To shed more light on the issue, the car was converted to EFI and needs a little tuning. When it's cold it stalls out at stops. Being a manual car and living in on a hill, I have no choice but to stall out occasionally. I'm sure the stalling and starting has taken a toll on the battery. I regret driving in those conditions, but I'd rather not let it sit. I think hitting the bump was a coincidence.

Get a Battery Tender and keep the battery fully charged. A Lot of repeated starts is hard on the battery making it chronically undercharged. Eventually it reduces the battery's capacity causing it to fail prematurely. Since there where major changes to the car's electrical system converting to EFI it could be any number of bad connections. Once the motor is warmed up it shouldn't be stalling out so much. You really should be fixing the stalling problem when cold too. As you now see it affects a lot of things, not just the inconvenience of always having to restart the car. You are also overstressing the alternator and the starter.