Deadness in the rain....need some help too

[87mercman]

Alrighty then, here's the deal...Big Red died today while going through a small puddle on her way to the interstate. Everything was running like normal, then there was a low spot in the road with a puddle from the rain that was falling. I drove through the puddle, and as I heard the splashing of the water against the fenderwells of the car I noticed that my wipers stopped, the music stopped, the lights went off, and the engine stopped. Just like that....zaaappp she's gone.

Well, I'd had a problem a few weeks ago and had to replace the starter solenoid. I noticed then that my battery was a little weaker than normal and would have to be replaced soon. So my first thought was that the water from the puddle shorted the battery. I called a friend and discussed it....his first thought was engine computer based on an issue he'd seen in his truck....I disagreed saying it was the battery.

I then waited until the rain let up, got out my volt meter and checked the battery. I was surprised to find that it did have a charge. 12.7 volts...and the engine compartment light was on. Which struck me as really weird b/c NOTHING in the cab worked. No door lights, head lights, dingers, radios, wipers, etc. When I checked the interior voltage off my gauge it was reading barely 00.13 volts when the key was on.

So I had it towed...

And I really don't know what to do about it, because it gets more interesting. When i went to get my stuff out of the car after it had been towed, I was shocked to find that the courtesy lights were very dimly shining, and the dinger that dings when the door is open with the keys in the ignition was very faintly ringing. I then went and rechecked the battery voltage...same thing 12.75. Out of curiousity I turned the key to the on position...and faintly heard the hum of the fuel pump come on. Being even more curious now I tried to start it and heard the solenoid click, but no start....like it didn't have enough juice to do it.

So you gurus of the box body....what must i/could i/should i/ would you do in such a situation???? I'm quite confused and very much without transportation.

[gadget73]

I'd bet its a cable problem. Water on top of the battery won't conduct enough to cause that problem. You could sit a battery in a bucket of water and it won't kill it instantly. Water is not nearly as good a conductor of electricity as people think. Check the + cable from battery to solenoid, as well as the connections at the solenoid itself. I'd also inspect the ground cable to make sure its good and tight. Even if the ECM did nuke itself (very unlikely), the rest of the lights in the car would work.

[monterey1962]

My '88 used to die in the rain when my mom still owned it (years back). Local mechanic splashed water on the engine and found that the plug to the coil was getting wet and cutting out. He put some sort of sealant in the plug and there's never been a problem since.

[Mista_k214]

I have had a similiar problem but my car doesnt turn off it just has the speedometer fogs up

[Enigma]

Mine just did that several months back. In my incidence, it all started with a wire shorting itelself out on the engine block and blowing the fusable link. I replaced all the fried wires, and went to try and start the car. I got the same thing you are experiencing. It was really frustrating. Picture an old fart hopping around in the back yard, shaking a fistfull of tools in each hand and yelling at the gods up in the heavens. I really hate electrical gremlins.
It ended up being corrosion on the fender mounted solenoid. It didn't even look corroded. Once I thoroughly cleaned everything and coated it all with dielectric grease, it was good as new. Your going through a puddle might have just been a coincidence, or could have been the cause.

[86VickyLX]

check your terminals and make sure they are tightened down, check the ground wire too, my car, when the ground terminal is not tight will not start, it will click and then everything will die. Sometimes it'll catch and not start. And believe it or not the battery has a great charge about the same you were reading, or so said the volt gauge. Anything that was power would make everything die. So make sure your terminals are clean and tight.

[87mercman]

Thanks for the advice guys. Let me bounce this off ya...what if it's the battery that's shorted out internally?? I had a friend come over and see if we could jump me off from his Supercharged Tacoma 4x4. And when we hooked up the cables, all the lights brightened and worked like normal until we tried to crank it. Then everything went back to the way it was...

I checked the ground cable, both the small one, and the larger one that grounds to the frame, and the seemed solid, uncracked, and clean. I know for a fact that I was getting the same voltage at my amp, which is grounded to the frame and gets positive feed from the battery, as I was from the battery. Which would signal to me that it's not the negative battery cable. I'm fairly certain the positive one is ok as it's short and just goes to the solenoid which I replaced about 3 weeks ago.

[gadget73]

the power till you try and start it is a classic symptom of a bad connection. Both the hot and ground cables can corrode internally, and the connection right at the solenoid can get funky too. Might want to pull it apart and clean it just to be sure.

[86VickyLX]

Thanks for the advice guys. Let me bounce this off ya...what if it's the battery that's shorted out internally?? I had a friend come over and see if we could jump me off from his Supercharged Tacoma 4x4. And when we hooked up the cables, all the lights brightened and worked like normal until we tried to crank it. Then everything went back to the way it was...

I checked the ground cable, both the small one, and the larger one that grounds to the frame, and the seemed solid, uncracked, and clean. I know for a fact that I was getting the same voltage at my amp, which is grounded to the frame and gets positive feed from the battery, as I was from the battery. Which would signal to me that it's not the negative battery cable. I'm fairly certain the positive one is ok as it's short and just goes to the solenoid which I replaced about 3 weeks ago.

Yeah the black cable. Cotta make sure that they're clean, take it off, clean it, and clean the battery. Put the terminals on again and tighten them up, the bitch might start right away. Dirty connections, I tried jumping my car when it did that, but it wouldn't stay running cause it was like it was running off the alternator alone, the lights would flicker, but the battery had a charge of 12.8 or so volts when it was in the accessory position, when I would go to start it, click* then nothing.

[91waggin]

Something similar happened to me about a year ago. Engine cut out, almost all the interior stuff went off, wouldn't crank, etc etc. And then it would go back to normal for no reason. What happened is one of the wires that runs from the battery/starter relay area under the hood and runs in that big black snake around the back of the engine compartment and goes through the firewall near the brake booster. One of the wires in that snake would sporadically create an open circuit killing all power. When it happens, check for continuity for every wire in that snake. For some reason, I still had dome lights when I had this problem.