Car died while driving/gauges freaking out/no start

[GT500KR]

driving to work this morning and a guy in front of me throws a cigarette out the window and right as it hits my hood the car dies. now i am sure the cigarette is not the cause for this obviously. but i also honked my horn as it happened.

so the first thing i notice is the dinging and the dash saying check charging system. then i noticed it read it had no miles and i had no fuel etc etc... turn the key off and on several times and still will not crank.

i was able to coast it into a parking spot fortunately at work.

tried searching for similar people with this issue but have had no luck.

i am truly growing tired of this car...

i assume this is the ecu that has failed on my car??

thanks for any help you may offer.

 

[stkjock]

check the battery and alt - they cause wacky electrical issues in these cars

 

[GT500KR]

check the battery and alt - they cause wacky electrical issues in these cars

will do thanks.

even a no start?

 

[Mustang Mark]

I would check the grounds on top of the core support near the passenger side headlight, make sure they are grounded to metal not just paint.

Do you have an SCT tuner and recently flash a tune?

 

[stkjock]

will do thanks.

even a no start?

well battery certainly could cause a no crank.

\/ however see this comment as well

I would check the grounds on top of the core support near the passenger side headlight, make sure they are grounded to metal not just paint.

Do you have an SCT tuner and recently flash a tune?

 

[Mustang Mark]

When I was having issues Lito told me dashes for the mileage indicates no communication with the ECM.

 

[GT500KR]

I would check the grounds on top of the core support near the passenger side headlight, make sure they are grounded to metal not just paint.

Do you have an SCT tuner and recently flash a tune?

you know now that you guys bring this up... i did redo my HIDs and the harness for them as well. which ground to the grounds on the core support and feed from the power distribution box too... maybe something is loose... F!!

thanks for the tips... ill run out there soon and look. i hope i didnt fry the computer...

and yes it is SCT tuned about 2 months ago. why?

 

[Mustang Mark]

I was having issues after flashing my base tune for the vortech. I finally got it to flash and it seemed okay until 3 or so drive cycles, then my car did what you described and left me on the side of the road. Turns out my "stock tune" was not a stock tune and was overloading the ECM and causing it to go into a no crank failsafe type mode, or at least that is what SCT told me. I also fixed my ground issue at the same time so I can't say which was the culprit. I do know though that those grounds are for the horn and headlight/marker lights.

 

[GT500KR]

I was having issues after flashing my base tune for the vortech. I finally got it to flash and it seemed okay until 3 or so drive cycles, then my car did what you described and left me on the side of the road. Turns out my "stock tune" was not a stock tune and was overloading the ECM and causing it to go into a no crank failsafe type mode, or at least that is what SCT told me. I also fixed my ground issue at the same time so I can't say which was the culprit. I do know though that those grounds are for the horn and headlight/marker lights.

so i wonder if when i hit the horn it caused this issue?

 

[ZmanM3]

Mine did this to a lesser degree when the alternator died. It still cranked and ran for a while though till the battery died.

 

[Mustang Mark]

It may have something to do with it, maybe try flashing your stock tune and see if it makes a difference. I know when I had the ground issue the car wanted to die when I tried turning the lights on, but the horn didn't work at all.

Don't forget about the basics either though, fuses, relays, etc.

Will your SCT power on when you plug it into the obd2 port?

 

[GT500KR]

It's running again! Thanks guys!

These 2 grounds were very loose... I'm an idiot... but thanks you guys for the help

 

[Mustang Mark]

I'm just glad you got it figured out!

 

[bujeezus]

At least it was an easy an cheap fix. Mine went all haywire a couple o weeks ago and it turned out to be the alt.

 

[DiMora]

At least it was an easy an cheap fix. Mine went all haywire a couple o weeks ago and it turned out to be the alt.

Mine too, and it was the alternator.

Buy an AeroForce Interceptor and you can see the voltage go crazy when the alternator starts to wet the bed.