Hey all, unfortunately it's my turn to start a thread in the problems section lol.

Once in a while, when I get into my car and try to turn the engine over, all electrical power gets cut the moment I turn the key. I know there was power immediately prior, as I had used the remote to unlock the car, and the cluster ring lights do light up. I know that all power was cut the moment I turned the key, because all dash lights go off (including the cluster ring lights), radio appears to be completely off, and I have a hardwired dash cam that makes a sound indicating that it has lost its hardwired connection and has fallen back to battery power. I've had this dash cam hardwired for 1.5 years now, so I'm kind of doubting it to be the issue, but I'm certainly not ruling it out.

Other important details at this point:

• When the key is turned and this issue occurs, none of the dash lights come on. I don't recall the green key light being on.
• When I turn the key back to the initial position, take the key out, put it back in and try again, still nothing happens. It appears that power is still cut.

Just when I thought that it was my battery and it had suddenly drained, I open the door, act all confused and come back in to try again, and it all works as if the issue was never there.

But, there are some other important details at this point:

• Radio is not asking me for the radio code
• Average fuel economy is reset (this is a somewhat important point to keep in mind for later)

This happened for the first time a week and a half ago after I finished pumping gas and was about to be on my way, and it happened to me again yesterday after work (I parked the car for about 10 hours, so this time it was a cold start). I also noticed last Sunday that my average fuel economy reading was reset again after leaving my parents' place, but I didn't have the startup issue that night. This further confuses me because the startup issue I'm experiencing is intermittent, yet the fuel economy reset symptom seemingly happens outside of that action. I doubt my car will randomly shut off while I'm driving, but this last point certainly doesn't help.

I know this sounds kinda silly, but I've inspected my key last night to see if there were any issues with the chip on it. I honestly can't really tell... it certainly looks like a used key without a doubt, with signs of parts of the metal being polished off due to repeated use. But there was a fair amount of dirt and grime, so I brushed it all off and it's as clean as it ever was lol.

If the issue happens again, I'll move onto pulling my hardwired dash cam connection. For what it's worth, it's tapped into a constant-on fuse in the passenger side footwell (I believe Fuse #2, Right Side Small Lights (Exterior)). The dashcam will stop drawing power and fallback to battery power if it notices the voltage has dropped beyond a certain amount.

If you guys have any ideas as to why this is happening, please chime in! Thanks

 

Man, I don't know.

Have you inspected the battery ground and cleaned the posts and terminals?

 

Bad ignition switch contacts seem likely. Testing req'd to confirm.

good luck

 

Thanks guys. I inspected the battery, the posts, and the connections. It does appear that some battery acid leakage had occurred, but I'm not entirely sure when this happened. There was a tiny bit of residue closer to the negative which I have since cleaned up (albeit not with any particular liquid solution). The connections seemed fine, but I suspect this might be subjective. The negative connection looked normal to me, but if you try to wiggle it, it's not like it would be loose and move all over the place. However, it did present a little bit of movement. I've tried tightening the connection down more.

I've only experienced this issue once more since I originally posted, and that was on the same day I left work to go back home. Hopefully it doesn't happen again .

 

Check the positive as well. Corrosion could be WITHIN the strands of the copper wire itself and that's where it can pose an issue. My corrosion was left unfixed on the positive and the terminal was eaten away. I was driving on the freeway and the electrical cut out completely from the car when it hit bumps.. Replace the cable and buy some battery terminal protectant to inhibit the corrosion.