Strange cut out episode

Just drove back down from Scotland this afternoon although I thought we might not make it. About 50 miles into the journey every light on the dash went out. the cruise cut out and the radio died. I started to pull into the hard shoulder when everything came back on. She drove beautifully for the next 100 miles or so and then she did it a again. As before it recovered in less than 10 seconds. It did it a third time about a mile from home but as before recovered. Did not get a lot of time to fully record what was or wasn't working but the first time it happened the radio lost all its memory settings. It did not loose its memory on the next 2 events. The last time it happened I just caught a message on the display saying something about engine disabled. It flashed up when the dash came back on and disappeared a second later.

Anybody got any ideas?

Sounds like loose battery connection or power feed even if radio loses it's memory??

definetly not a loose connection to battery or altenator. I was leaning towards a relay but they all look clean with no signs of overheating.

What about loose wire to fusebox ?

The thing is, which relay does the radio, cruise and dash ??

hi, im not an expert but i would say check, the the power feeds to your becm as everything you have described that you lost dash display, radio, etc is controlled by the becm , just an idea . and wont hurt to check them

regards jim

Never thought of the BCAM. Will check the connections to that in the morning. Was trying to think of what Electrics did not fail and the only thing I could come up with is the windows - or at least they did not drop back to "not set" mode. Also even though the instrument panel went dead she never reset the trip miles or MPG etc.

The becm does the radio too? Ffs is there anything it dont have a hand in?

gfromleeds said:

The becm does the radio too? Ffs is there anything it dont have a hand in?

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The glove box lid

Checked the BECM this morning and all the connections look pretty solid. Still at a loss...

maybe ignition switch? pull the cowling off and ave a look.

maybe the ignition switch??

Worth checking the alternator, diode failure can pull the voltage down. Otherwise check the fuse box for signs or smells of burning.

Well it happened again this afternoon. Everything died for about 5 seconds then it all returned to normal. Only quirk
this time was that it locked the doors.

Beginning to think the problem is BCAM related. I think all the quirky stuff (radio loosing memory, cruise switching off, engine disabled message, locking the doors etc.) Are managed in the BCAM. Is it worth removing and sending to someone for a test or do I just wait it out until it hard fails? Also is it OK to remove the BCAM from the car for inspection?

Problem isolated. This morning driving to work the whole car just died. No lights, engine, hazards - nothing. Was pitch black outside and I barely managed to pull over without hitting anything. I checked the battery connections and everything was nice and tight. Then checked the power feed to the fuse box and as soon as I touched it the car jumped back into life. Managed to get it home this evening with no further occurances.
Played with this cable a bit this evening and I now can replicate the fault. The cable is connected securely so I assume the post has corroded on the fuse box.
At the moment I am assuming that I need a new fuse box but can't find anywhere that sells them. EBay has few second hand ones but what's the point in that... Anybody got any ideas where I can get a replacement?

jt_armstrong said:

Problem isolated. This morning driving to work the whole car just died. No lights, engine, hazards - nothing. Was pitch black outside and I barely managed to pull over without hitting anything. I checked the battery connections and everything was nice and tight. Then checked the power feed to the fuse box and as soon as I touched it the car jumped back into life. Managed to get it home this evening with no further occurances.
Played with this cable a bit this evening and I now can replicate the fault. The cable is connected securely so I assume the post has corroded on the fuse box.
At the moment I am assuming that I need a new fuse box but can't find anywhere that sells them. EBay has few second hand ones but what's the point in that... Anybody got any ideas where I can get a replacement?

Click to expand...

Island 4x4 £124.00 + vat.

wammers said:

Island 4x4 £124.00 + vat.

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Thanks Tony. One ordered this evening. Just have to drive around with a torch in my hand in the meantime.