Brakes and steering wheel locked up while going to class

[Hundred]

Wanted to see if this has happened to anyone else, and if anyone knows what could have went wrong.

This is what happened in order

Driving to class, half way there and noticed I could not accelerate

My oil and battery indicator lit up

Hit the brakes, took both feet for the pedal to budge

Steering wheel felt the same way, very hard to turn

Took everything I had to turn the car into a dirt road, turned her off, back on, all the problems were gone. Drove fine the rest of the night.

Prior to this, I was thinking about selling her. Took her to three different mechanics to see if she had any problems. All of them confirmed she was fine. Grandfather in law-ex mechanic-helped me bleed my brakes and checked the car out on labor day.

I think I read about someone else losing power but not about the steering and brakes. I think the car is trying to kill me for thinking about selling her, lol. Any help is appreciated.

 

[ScratchNSniff]

Sounds like the power may have gone off...have you checked the battery terminals to make sure they are not loose...

 

[Hundred]

To be honest no, and it's always the simplest things that get you, lol. I still think she's trying to kill me.....

 

[PR5speed]

Are you sure that the engine didn't stall/turn off before you turned it off??

That sounds like what would happen if your car stalled or got turned off while moving...(uhm)

 

[ScratchNSniff]

Which is why I am thinking it may be a loose connection on the terminals...this happened to me before...

 

[low_psi]

Did you hit a large bump in the road before this happened, or even earlier in the week? If so, pop the fuse panel cover off and make sure the main relay hasn't popped out. It will have the same symptoms as a loose battery terminal as the others have suggested.

 

[pasadena_commut]

Wanted to see if this has happened to anyone else, and if anyone knows what could have went wrong.

Was it raining and/or had you just driven through a large puddle? It isn't uncommon for car motors to stall like this when the electrical system gets good and wet. Once the water evaporates the car runs normally again.

 

[Hundred]

First off thanks to everyone who replied.

No to the large bump and to the rain as well-but I was f'ing with the fuses the day before. I blew the fuse that powers the radio so I opened up the fuse box on the driver side to test each one out.

I looked over the battery, fuses and oil when I got back. All seemed to be fine and installed right to my knowledge.

I am leaning toward something electrical happening. Maybe I touched a fuse wrong, the car stalled going down the hill. Gonna go back over her and make sure everything is tight. Come to think of it, it happened right after I pulled my subwoofer from the trunk, something may be loose....

 

[ScratchNSniff]

Did you make sure the power/ground were capped off and not touching...also, I know you looked at the battery cables, but did you test to make sure they were very tight...

 

[KrayzieFox]

Yeah I had my P5 die like this a couple times. My problem ended up being the "Engine" fuse (15A I think, in compartment by your feet) kept going out. I finally traced the problem to a worn out ground wire on the back of the transmission. After replacing the wire the fuse stopped popping and the car stopped dying.

I know your problem is different cuz your car still starts after, but check the ground wire connections and make sure they are clean. No dirt, grime, rust, whatever. If my memory serves me right there is a ground wire on the passenger side of the engine that goes from the power steering fluid reservoir to the engine mount. And then on the driver side it starts from the fuse box, goes to (-) battery terminal, down to transmission. You'll probably want to take out the battery tray to get to the transmission mounting spot.

Also do what others have said and make sure there isn't excessive corrosion on the battery terminals and make sure they're on secure. Remember, negative terminal first when taking off and last when putting back on (prevents sparks when you connect the positive terminal).

 

[slavrenz]

But...if the car had stalled...it wouldn't have turned back on of its own accord...would it? The OP says that they turned the car off after pulling over.

 

[KrayzieFox]

He said it stalled in his last post, and from the original post if the lights lit up and the power steering went out I think it's safe to assume the car stalled. It's definitely an electrical issue. Fuse, battery connections, or ground wires.

 

[slavrenz]

No, I agree - it does sound like the car stalled. I just don't know how to explain it restarting again. I thought there were safeguards in the ignition circuit to prevent this.

 

[Hundred]

Did you make sure the power/ground were capped off and not touching...also, I know you looked at the battery cables, but did you test to make sure they were very tight...

That is what I was thinking, everything is tight but the power cord for the amp was lose in the trunk-I forgot to wrap it with tape before I left. I am thinking it touched something and everything went out of whack.

 

[Hundred]

I'm thinking the amp power cable-because it was loose, touched something metal and maybe stalled the car? I was suprised that it turned off and started right back up though. As of right now everything is fine, replaced a blown fuse and hooked the amp back up. Now all the lights in the instrument cluster are out, just my luck, lol. Thanks everyone again for their help as well. Tomorrow I will go through all the wires mentioned and make sure they are all okay.

 

[ScratchNSniff]

If you need a spare cluster to test I will be in Columbia on the 25th...I can bring my extra...if yours is fried you can have it for a few bucks if it works...

 

[ChaRLeS23]

Did you had a fuse on your power cable for your amp near the battery?

 

[Hundred]

Did you had a fuse on your power cable for your amp near the battery?

Yes sir I did. Turned out not to be a power issue at all. Long story short, the 02 sensor wire was caught on the EGR pipe and it got melted, causing my random misfire. Wires are fixed, car runs as before. Took her all around town, up and down every hill I saw and no stalling, no loss of power!!!

 

[P-Funk!]

Thanks for reporting the fix!