Hello all. While driving down the road, the electrical system completely shuts down. It has done this several times in the past week and is at the shop right now. The alternator needed to be replaced but that didn't fix the problem. Now they're looking at replacing the ignition switch. There don't appear to be any loose connections.

Another thing, I have an aftermarket stereo system and the amp was going into protection mode & it has an unregulated power supply. The installer assumed that was the issue w/ the whole car. However, I went a day without turning on the system and the car shut down again, only to be towed again.

I'm incredibly frustrated and am hoping someone might have some ideas. Thanks.

Scott

 

Sounds like a voltage regulator in the Alternator, and everything is going under-voltage (less then 10v), but if you replaced the alternator and it's still an issue..I'm not sure.

Get your new alternator tested, it should be around 14.4V when around 2000rpm.

Does the battery die on you? Maybe you have a dead cell in your battery screwing up the whole system... when driving the cell shorts the electrical system. Just an idea.

 

The new alternator has been tested and I'm told it works fine, as for the dead cell in the battery idea- that's interesting. I did replace the battery about a year ago, but who knows. I'll check it out.

 

Beware the shop that just keeps changing parts (at your expense) hoping to fix it. Find a place which will actually troubleshoot the problem.