Electrical system shut down while driving

C

CentcomPete

Member
Twice in the last 7 days while driving my 4Runner, the truck's electrical system has completely "shut off" for just about a second (maybe less) and immediately turned back on. Each incidence happened while driving, each time lasting for a quick second - gauges and displays go out, radio off, etc. Power returns immediately after this "blip".

I have a 1 year old battery, no mods under the hood. New head unit radio installed last summer but that was at least 7 months ago and this gremlin just started. I do have LED backup lights I installed in late December. No recent 4wheel driving or off road use.

Any ideas or suggestions?

Thanks!
Pete
 
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Take them off, clean them, re-mount them to make sure they're mounted snugly.

Sounds exactly like a battery terminal issue.
 
I just took a wrench to the battery terminals. Tightening them more than they were was not possible. They were not loose in any way and they don't have a spec of corrosion on them - they are completely secured and tightly fastened.
 
I put in a kenwood a few months ago and it shut off 3 times but the gauges stayed on. I'm assuming a loose or hot wire.

What head unit? When mine was first put in they tried to salvage the factory xm wiring and that is what was giving me issues
 
SwayzeExpress said:
I put in a kenwood a few months ago and it shut off 3 times but the gauges stayed on. I'm assuming a loose or hot wire.

What head unit? When mine was first put in they tried to salvage the factory xm wiring and that is what was giving me issues
Click to expand...

It's a Sony but I'm almost positive I paid for new XM-wiring. I got it done at Best Buy so I could have them check.

Thanks
 
Cheap LED's can cause you electrical problems. I've seen it many times at work (building facilities). We switched some on/off indicator lamps to led a while back and they started shorting causing failures. took us forever to trace it to the led lamps, but sure enough, they were the problem. Just an idea.
 
So I do not know what the story is in Tampa but around my neck of the woods in North Texas rats chewing up wiring harness is a common occurrence and that causes all kinds of strange issues to those effected. I am no expert in vehicle electrical systems but I do not think LED backup lights would be causing a problem driving down the road. They would not be getting power at that point, to short anything out. I do not know about how a loose battery terminal would affect a running vehicle but you can pull your battery out of the car once it is started no problem and it will run just fine. It would seem that a bad terminal would be affecting your startup more than your vehicle as it goes down the road. I would vote for either rats or other creatures chewing on your wiring or possibly the wiring for your radio. Just because it did not start right after you got it changes does not mean the wiring did not work itself loose. This is not the same issue obviously but I brought my wife's Sienna into the dealership some years ago for a number of issues, one being a totally dead radio. They told us it would have to be replaced at a cost of $800. I was like I do not think so, I get an aftermarket radio. When I picked it up, the radio worked just fine and continued to work until she was hit at an intersection years later.
 
During the shut down, did you notice any change in the engine operation? Wondering if the interruption in power is affecting the entire vehicle, including injectors/ignition coils/sensors or isolated to what you can see, that being your dash display.
 
headpaneer said:
During the shut down, did you notice any change in the engine operation? Wondering if the interruption in power is affecting the entire vehicle, including injectors/ignition coils/sensors or isolated to what you can see, that being your dash display.
Click to expand...

I did not. Just the MPH and RPM gauges that went all the way down and back to normal in a fraction of a second. Radio went off and back on. I was doing 75 with cruise control on and it was quite unsettling!
 
CentcomPete said:
...I have a 1 year old battery...
Click to expand...

I had a similar problem long time ago on a Chevy and it was caused by a recent but faulty battery. I plugged a voltmeter to the truck and could see that when it was happening I had a suddent voltage drop. One cell in the battery was the culprit. I replaced the battery and problem solved !

Just another hypothesis to consider...
 
CentcomPete said:
I did not. Just the MPH and RPM gauges that went all the way down and back to normal in a fraction of a second. Radio went off and back on. I was doing 75 with cruise control on and it was quite unsettling!
Click to expand...

Ah, that's for certain a connector or harness that's loose. After I installed a Speedohealer in my Tundra, I had similar issues from time to time, especially when I hit a small bump. I took apart the dash I don't know how many times before I discovered that there was strain on the gauge cluster connector and if the conditions were just right, it would kill the dash electrics etc.

I'd start with the connectors at the back of the radio since you said you had it replaced recently. Anything that was "crammed" back into place when the dash was put back together would be suspect. A little kink or pressure can lift a pin and cause a temporary connection break.
 
Just a guess, but suspect something to do with the radio. It has been seven months, but something could have vibrated causing an issue. I just thinking this since the engine still runs fine when it happens, and the radio was replaced.
 
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