Spent two full days on this – so now I am surrendering and passing over to the great guys on this forum, who have never let me down!

Came back from 3 weeks vacation and turned the car on – no dash lights, no system check, no messages, no gauges and car stuck in park. However! The car starts and drives fine (when taken out of park). Still none of the above – no speedo and no tacho, no oil pressure and no volts.

After some time, we found that disconnecting the battery, turning ignition on THEN reconnecting the battery solved all the issues UNTIL the engine was turned off and the key removed. Then back to nothing. Battery voltage without engine running between 12.1v – 12.4v. With engine running (but no lights or gauges) about 14.1v.

After continuously going through these cycles maybe 10-15 times we discovered that if, when you turn the engine off but only as far as the accessory position, everything would work. At times, we could even remove the key and it would still be fine. If the car is left for more than an hour or two, we were back to square one.

We also discovered that sometimes (not always by any means) we would turn the ignition on and after 15 seconds or so, the lights and gauges would come on.

I know some of you are already thinking, ‘It’s the battery!’, but the battery was new 3 months ago.

For complete info, the alternator failed a few months ago and was replaced with a used unit, which has worked fine.

HELP!

 

12.1-12.4 is very low, so may be the issue or point towards it.

 

Definitely low voltage so you have a power supply problem. Take car to auto shop and they can check both the battery and alternator. Most Forum members use a battery maintainer/tender -Ctek etc.

In addition check the battery cables - clean and shiney both ends including the body ground joint and the HPP positive joint box. I upgraded both original cables with modern copper cables. Cheap preventative measure.



Plus you may have an intermittent ABS and/or Instrument Cluster (IC) problem but go with the above first.

 

Thanks JagV8 and Dave. Had battery on trickle charger all last night. Voltage registered 12.13v. Same symptoms. But After about 15/20 seconds with the ignition system in run position everything back. just a chk engine light. Turned it off - and back on - back to nothing. Put jump cables from my other car (running) - voltage 13.8v - still nothing.

I'm not sure how a poor battery voltage would explain why turning the key to run position and THEN connecting the battery would work - but it does, every time. As soon as the negative lead touches the terminal post everything lights up. But with key off - battery connected - key to run = nothing.

I will get the battery and alternator checked today - but I'm fairly confident both are OK - I checked the standing voltage on all my other 3 cars and they all register about 12.2 - 12.4 volts.

Open to further suggestions.

Thanks

 

Still think it’s a power issue so I would check the battery’s positive cable junction box. There’s a BIG fuse there.

 

Thanks Dave. I'm going to change the cables tomorrow and give the DPP box a thorough clean along with all the major earth points. I agree it's a power issue - it usually is - just a case of finding where.