Scary Problem!!!

[PRmustang]

Just today while driving to work my car just shut off going 50 miles per hour!!! Luckily it just turned back on and I never lost control, but it was scary. I have a radar detector that beeps when it senses low voltage, and it's been doing it for awhile, but the car had never died on me. And it only does it higher speeds, not while cruising around town or in traffic jams. I have an aftermarket amp, but It's nothing out of the ordinary, and it was installed long ago and it never gave me problems, so I don't know if that could be it. Another thing is, one of my battery terminals is broken, so it is not properly tightened to the battery pole. My question is, could the broken terminal be it, or could the alternator just be going bad?? Any help you gearheads can give me is appreaciated!!! Oh, and it's a 99 Gt 5 speed.

 

[Mustang4119]

Just today while driving to work my car just shut off going 50 miles per hour!!! Luckily it just turned back on and I never lost control, but it was scary. I have a radar detector that beeps when it senses low voltage, and it's been doing it for awhile, but the car had never died on me. And it only does it higher speeds, not while cruising around town or in traffic jams. I have an aftermarket amp, but It's nothing out of the ordinary, and it was installed long ago and it never gave me problems, so I don't know if that could be it. Another thing is, one of my battery terminals is broken, so it is not properly tightened to the battery pole. My question is, could the broken terminal be it, or could the alternator just be going bad?? Any help you gearheads can give me is appreaciated!!! Oh, and it's a 99 Gt 5 speed.

Could be losing connection for a second since its not on secure, bumps on the road, anything. I would fix that minor problem and see if thats it.

 

[timeless2]

How's the alternator holding up?

 

[2002GreyGT]

I would start with replacing the battery and terminal. No matter is the alt is working if the connection between the battery and terminal breaks the alt can't charge anything.

With an aftermarket amp, I would go for an Optima battery, they are great.

Ford's stock battery is not all that great IMO.

~K

 

[Mirrahasmycar]

The amp is going to need alot of amps to work, and the alternator can only put out so much juice, first you should check all of the connections to the amp and battery, if the alternator is going you will most likely get some type of flag on the dash, I would have it checked out, it could definatley be the alternator though, I had the same thing happen with my jeep where it shutoff at about 85mph and then I let off the gas and it was fine, but then the alternator went not too long after

 

[Kilgore Trout]

I think it is battery related...

 

[squares98]

your battery terminals/ wires must be perfectly connected to work correctly, cutting out at high speed would be likly with your issue

 

[todd4566]

If your car was sitting in your driveway at idle and you yanked a battery terminal off for a sec, the car would stall. That being said, fix your terminal issue before you consider buying another battery or alternator. Your additional amplifier is probably not causing a problem, assuming it's not shorting out. Running 350w, I've never had an issue and I don't use a capacitor.

Imagine you were exiting on a freeway off-ramp when the car died, but it didn't start back up. Hopefully you've got this issue worked out already.

 

['13_ImpactBlue_GT]

And clean your battery terminals too.

 

[PRmustang]

Thank you all for your help. I disconnected the battery while the car was idling and it didn't stall, so I went ahead and tightened the terminal as hard as I could and it hasn't happened again, so I'm guessing the broken terminal is it. Hopefully is nothing else, thanks again!!!

 

[ooraceredgt]

a car will run without the battery. if you have an aftermarket chip installed on your ecu a bad connection will cause your car to shut down. i had the same problem you are describing and it was the chip wasnt installed properly. you didnt list any mods in your post so im just throwing this out there.

 

[topless98gt]

I had this same problem. It went away when I got a new battery (with an 8 year warranty ) and new terminals (which took me about an hour to install since they are soooo damn heavy duty).

 

[Shiroelex]

The battery actually acts as a power filter in most automotive systems, and if disconnected, can cause sporatic performance, if none at all. I know in some GM cars, they won't even start if the battery is 10v or less. It will crank, but the computer won't turn on for lack of voltage. Also, higher RPM causes the need for more power. The coils take more juice, and if you are under load and just not cruising, they take even more power. The alternator in our cars is 110 amp, which is almost completely used by all of the car's current electronics, without that amp hooked up. I can imagine, if you were jamming the tunes, accelerating at high speed, you could run into some current flow issues, but that would take a big amp. I've never had a problem with mine, and the only aftermarket electrical item I have is a 760 watt amp, and a RF DVC 10".

 

[PRmustang]

You got it. That's exactly what happened, I had the radio cranked up, with the air conditioning going and the radar detector beeping as I accelerated to pass a car...guess what, it stalled on me...so after I tightened the terminal it has not happened again... Thanks for the lesson!!

 

[zeotide]

When my '97's battery had a cell in it go, I could not drive the car. I got it started but I couldn't drive it. The computer could not cope with the voltage change.