Hi. This forum has been a great source for me for troubleshooting my 2000 Focus ZTS over the past few years, but now I need to ask my own question.
Today I was driving when suddenly my radio turned off. This had also happened earlier in the day, but I thought it was just a glitch because it happened as I was pulling into my driveway. Aside from my speedometer, the dashboard stopped working too. I quickly pulled into the parking lot of the mall I was driving past and turned off my car. Just to check, I tried the ignition, but it was weak wouldn't start.
I looked at my phone for about 10 minutes, and decided to try it again. The car started perfectly, and even the radio was on. I cautiously started to drive home, but before I was even out of the parking lot the radio turned off again, and I seems I didn't even have enough power for my turn signals, but the car was still running. So I quickly found another empty spot and parked again.
Again, not enough power to crank the engine. I thought "this is strange", and sat for another 10 minutes. I turned the ignition after those 10 minutes, again, and everything started fine. But rather than try to drive home, I called CAA for a tow.
They said it's probably the alternator, but I'm not quite sure about that. I've had an alternator die in another car, and it was very different. Once that car was off, it was not starting again. The battery was drained. That wasn't the case today.
Now, it's around 35°C (95°F) today, which is considered quite hot for my region. Could the heat be affecting something in the electrical system? Something that stops working when hot, but cools off enough to start working again when the engine isn't running?
Today I was driving when suddenly my radio turned off. This had also happened earlier in the day, but I thought it was just a glitch because it happened as I was pulling into my driveway. Aside from my speedometer, the dashboard stopped working too. I quickly pulled into the parking lot of the mall I was driving past and turned off my car. Just to check, I tried the ignition, but it was weak wouldn't start.
I looked at my phone for about 10 minutes, and decided to try it again. The car started perfectly, and even the radio was on. I cautiously started to drive home, but before I was even out of the parking lot the radio turned off again, and I seems I didn't even have enough power for my turn signals, but the car was still running. So I quickly found another empty spot and parked again.
Again, not enough power to crank the engine. I thought "this is strange", and sat for another 10 minutes. I turned the ignition after those 10 minutes, again, and everything started fine. But rather than try to drive home, I called CAA for a tow.
They said it's probably the alternator, but I'm not quite sure about that. I've had an alternator die in another car, and it was very different. Once that car was off, it was not starting again. The battery was drained. That wasn't the case today.
Now, it's around 35°C (95°F) today, which is considered quite hot for my region. Could the heat be affecting something in the electrical system? Something that stops working when hot, but cools off enough to start working again when the engine isn't running?
