I hit some water while making a turn at speed and lost control of the car. It spun once and then COMPLETELY SHUT DOWN. I didn't hit anything, I just came to a dead stop in the middle of the road. No radio, no Onstar, no domelights, No dashlights, no 'clicking', I mean nothing. I disconnected the battery for 30 minutes, and then reconnected it, and I could not even get the windows to roll back up. It's at the dealership, and they've already replaced the battery, but nothing changed, and they cannot figure out what's wrong. I'm being told it's not under warranty because of the audio upgrades, but they have no idea what's wrong yet, they're just sure that it must be something I had done to the car a year ago. I'm prepared to argue the warranty issue once the problem is actually identified, but any ideas to get the tech charging me by the hour who has already had the car a day and a half, on the right track? I'm in trouble here, and I'm already at the best dealership for my area.

Thanks for any ideas!

If you say no power then....master fuse. My guess,

Exactly my first guess after disconnecting/reconnecting the battery. I could lock the car with the key fob (couldn't unlock it though....), and manually turn on the headlights, but no domes or even dashlights, and the key in any position in the ignition produced no results. I guess "NOTHING" isn't entirely correct on my part. Are there any safety features our computers have to shut down if it senses an accident? I think there is one that is mechanical, you actually have to impact it to set it off, but is there a g-trigger or anything else I could have set off without an actual impact?

suck up water hydrolocked?? sounds farfetched but possible

What kind of audio mods did you do that could result in a catastrophic electrical failure?

Sounds like a lot of the electrical got knocked out.

The ECM for the motor does sit pretty low in the front of the car, is it possible it got wet?

Well give us some details and pics into these audio upgrades that caused you to spin out and make the rest of the electrical system not work!
Seriously, lets see your set up.

What kind of audio set-up do you have that would make your car shut down after a spin out??

isnt there something.....when the car thinks its crashing, that trips and shuts the fuel off? you have to reset that

^^ That's why police use the PIT move. It spins the car and shuts it down.

isnt there something.....when the car thinks its crashing, that trips and shuts the fuel off? you have to reset that

inertia switches... i know they are in at least 3 locations on most cars

designed to shut the car off in any uprighting type situation. rollovers car up on side type of things, if you spun fast enough i think they are set for anywhere between 3 and 4 g's... that could have tripped it....


they usually look like a plunger switch about 1"x1"x3" with 3 wires coming out of them, at least on most of the cars i've ever worked on... good question for ewill

^^ That's why police use the PIT move. It spins the car and shuts it down.



kinda sorta... the main reason for using the PIT maneuver is to spin out thec ar not to shut them off.... if that was the case there wouldnt be a push to develop some sort of passive EMP shutdown grenade....

more often than not the PIT maneuver is recommended to put someone in a ditch or slow them down enough that they can be boxed in, it is not listed in the manual as a method for DISABLING a vehicle.

and yes, i checked the emergency responders manual ...

^^ That's why police use the PIT move. It spins the car and shuts it down.


Uhhh.. No.


3P35OWX6960

SLOW!

Just another satisfied Bondurant graduate...:yup:

Just another satisfied Bondurant graduate...:yup:

:yeah:



Wish I could help, I have never had a car completely shutdown on me, and I have spun a couple out. I spun out my Saturn once and the engine didnt even shut off. It was idling when I came to a stop.

I'll post some pics of the audio when I get home, but it's pretty tame and very clean. 2 amps, 1 cap, R/F 360 with 0g power line fused twice, just standard stuff and wired tight. I think the dealership is just so unsure that their only reaction left is to blame me until it's figured out. You should have seen the look on the shop managers face when I asked him if we had a crash or g-sensor......he had no idea.... I'll definately let you know once it finally get's figured out, and thanks for the suggestions so far! (and I don't know if the water was deep enough to splash up the front to short everything out, but I'm heading to the dealership to roll up my sleeves and get under the car myself, so I'll make sure it gets checked out.)

Well I would make sure that power is going everywhere it is supposed to first.

There is a power cable that runs to the two fuse boxes under the rear seat as well as the box under the hood.

Yeah, most cars have an inertial switch, although I was always under the impression that it just shut down the fuel system. But someone with a manual should be able to look that one up for you. I used to know where it was on the C5, but I have no idea on the V...

-B

My Maxima was at the dealer one time for intermittent starting problems (in that it wouldnt). The had the car two weeks. The service manager and their lead mechanic (a Nissan God believe me) spent countless hours on the phone with Nissan USA and even the engineers in Japan trying to diagnose it.

In the end, the answer came from a Nissan dealer in phoenix who had fixed a Maxima with the same exact problem. Turns out it was corrosion between the engine and transmission causing a variable voltage drop that was confusing the computer into prohibiting spark.

My point, is the tiniest thing that no one would ever think about could be the culprit, in your case as well.

You could have snapped the ground cables/connections on the rear of the heads or any # of places under the hood.

Kind of wierd for just a spin around.

You didn't go off or hit a curb.

I could see the fuel pump fuse blowing as the pump gets starved.

Interesting links: http://www.cartalk.com/content/columns/Archive/1993/May/01.html

http://autorepair.about.com/library/faqs/bl526.htm

Uhhh.. No.


3P35OWX6960

For that same reason.. Per our General Orders.. Our Dept is not allowed to use pit moves. Sucks Gonads!!:banghead:

JRoller,

There is a fuse located on the passenger side (back seat) that is a 10amp I believe that I blew when doing my stereo installation. It basically made my car dead except for some of the things you are talking about. I'm not in the car today but I could get you the fuse location when I get home. It's kinda funny that a mini fuse that small can shut the whole car down.

Shane

That was a funny video with perfect music! Jersey love them girls in them Daisy Dukes.j

35150

Not the clearest picture, but pretty easy to see it's not that intense. I'll keep my fingers crossed and keep calling with your suggestions. I'll let you know! Thanks again.

Nice Setup! Neat and compact!
Definately the cause of your spinning out, you had the music to loud! (JK)

I won't argue with any of that.....

Got the car back from the dealership today after a lot of arguing. The tech that worked on the car knew his stuff, but spent more of his time tracing the aftermarket audio in the car than trying to diagnose the problem. It ended up being the starter and ignition relays that blew and shut down everything from the ignition lock cylinder control actuator to the DIM. They blew because the shop that installed my nitrous system tapped into the line before the fuse...I saw it before they put it back together. Not Cadillac's fault for sure. Oh well. $500 in mostly labor (after they started out asking for $1600) and my car runs just fine. They disconnected EVERYTHING that was put in aftermarket - radar detector, amps, shift light, none of that works now, but the car runs and the rest I can fix.
Thanks for all of your suggestions! It gave me an excuse to call 5 times a day to get it done!!:thumbsup:

Do you have an aftermarket headunit?

Stock unit to R/F 3 Sixty that meets up with two R/F amps after a cap. Since I didn't run my center speaker through an amp, right now I have my radio playing from 1, 4inch speaker.....nice....

They blew because the shop that installed my nitrous system tapped into the line before the fuse...

Hmmmm. The shop wasn't in Arizona were they?:eek:

Hmmmm. The shop wasn't in Arizona were they?:eek:


Amazing isn't it. It did work almost a year though.....a lot better than some people's issues that didn't go 5 minutes and 2 miles....

Had a similar incident with my Tahoe, but i put the key in the ignition and nuttin...No mods, no aftermaket attachments. GM fixed it for free, but it took them 5 days to resolve it..

As for the spin out cut off switch, none of my cars had them, and i rolled one of them 60' into a revine...the engine was screamin when i came to its final restin. My old tahoe, wacked the crap out of the curb, and i was still able to get her home, Very Very Slowly...

Its just those crappy cheap fuses...Cheapest bidder won and we get it in the end...

I had a similar problem after a hard straight line ABS stop in dry conditions. I didn't hit anything, but the car shutdown and would not give any sign of life. It ended up being the ignition switch. Cadillac sent a tech out who worked on the car for several hours ruling out other possibilities. He couldn't replace the switch there, so they towed it to the nearest dealership.

It took a few days to get the part, but they replaced it and it runs great. Of course I haven't repeated the 60-0 ABS stop.

Sorry I am late to this one, glad it is fixed.
I wouldn't have guessed properly. Adding stuff can be a real nightmare if they don't do it right.

GM doesn't use inertia cutoff switches of any type that I know of.
They don't use oil pressure backups for fuel pump voltage anymore either.
It is all PCM controlled.
I know that four letter F word company used to use inertia switches in the fuel pump system, but GM never did.

I was thinking the same as ewill but thought I'd let the experts chime in. Only crash related things are controlled through a gyro in the SDM (sensing and diagnostic module). It would energized the airbags though.

Norm

ECM got wet. my guess.

yeah i gues i should have finished reading the thread before i put my 2 in huh!

Yeah, most cars have an inertial switch, although I was always under the impression that it just shut down the fuel system. But someone with a manual should be able to look that one up for you. I used to know where it was on the C5, but I have no idea on the V...

-B

When manufacts first started that inertia switch, the release button was in the trunk on driver's side fender, as I recall.

It will be labeled. I think I saw them in Tauruses.

Glad you got it going! Time to buy an ipod (with no attachments).

Glad your back on the road.

That must be some speed shop.:banghead:

You said it!


I almost have the wife convinced that if I have to strip half of the dash to re-do the nitrous install, I might as well follow Shane and replace the factory stereo.....If you want it done right and all that....

:helpless::nono:

Good luck man...