On the ignition switch, yes it could allow the ignition to drop out while running but it's rare. Yes it does commonly cause ghost idiot lights to pop up without any real cause other than the switch. If restarted, the idiot lights that were on will disappear or some will reappear or new ones will appear. It drives you crazy. My car would intermittently drop out of cruise control. Couldn't find the cause until I mistakenly came across a thread speaking of ignition switch problems. Found out if I moved the switch slightly the cruise would again set.

The fact that it doesn't crank changes everything. The fact that if you let it sit it will restart again shows the battery and alternator are likely good and it does point more towards the ignition switch than anything else I can think of.

I'd still have the battery and alt tested so you know for sure but you might be to the point of swapping out the switch. It's not very difficult and the steering wheel doesn't need to come off to do it like some cars.

 

Man, I have never heard of an ignition causing a car to stall.

The issue with the car not cranking is likely not connected to it stalling. My car has that no cranking issue as well. It is related to a bad positive cable issue. You should take the positive cable connection apart and clean between each wire, then put it back together. It could also be the starter jump ground wire.

As for my guess, install a jump wire in the fuel pump relay slot and see if it stalls again.

 

Took it on a 1000 mile road trip with no problems. I had the battery and alternator tested before I left just to make sure they are fine, which they are. Before leaving on the trip I cleaned the battery cables and the ground wire and I do believe this is the issue as it seems electrical in nature. I did order a fuel pump relay to place in my glove box (as those from reading the forum tend to go out) as well as three J relays to keep on hand in case it was a faulty relay. In the next week or so I will check the cables going to the alternator and other ground wires to make sure there are clean connections.
Thanks for all the input!

 

So it happened again. Driving along, some of the nonspecific dash lights start to pop up. SRS, arrow sign, etc. Then the odo and speedo go out. Next the car starts to lose power. Essentially, the electrical power is going out as I'm driving over the course of a couple miles. I'm able to pull over. The car won't restart. Take the battery out, charge it, test it and it's fine, put it back in and the car starts fine. Test the alternator, starter and battery again and they all check out ok. I'm thinking it's the cables--not charging the battery since the alternator is ok. Anyone have a similar experience and does this make sense since the alternator checked out ok? It's been about six months since this last happened and the car has been driving fine in the interim. Any other pieces to the electrical charging system puzzle? Alternator--battery cables--battery.
Thanks a lot.

 

Bad battery cables are a common issue. I also experienced a battery low charging issue again so I took the cable cleaning to another level and now the car is charging stronger than ever. I don't know if alternators get a little intermittent but this video shows what I did next.

 

" The car won't restart"

Could you elaborate a little bit on this part?

 

Vehicle won't restart . . . as in you turn the key and the engine is not turning over ?? You charge the battery and then the vehicle will restart. That's easy enough, the battery went dead. Since it runs for months properly it's something intermittent and so very difficult to track down. Does the Alt/battery idiot light work and has it come on at all even momentarily while driving ??
Just to eliminate it as a possible cause I'd run a separate 10 gauge wire from the alternator output to the battery. I'd make sure it was properly routed, tie wrapped in place and I'd use a 100 amp fuse at the battery just to be safe. This is in addition to the wire that is presently on the alternator and runs through the connection at the starter.
I would check that connection at the starter for corrosion along with the connections on the bottom of the fuse/relay box under the hood.

 

Thx for all the responses. So the car dies out while I'm driving but it's over the course of a couple miles. Then I try to restart it and it's as if the battery is partially dead. Some dash lights go on, the interior lights will go on, and the engine tries to turn over but doesn't. I took the battery out and it was dead. Charged it back up and tested it and it held a charge. Put it back in the car and it started just fine. I then rechecked the battery, starter and alternator twice and all three are good. I did a thorough clean of the battery terminals and where the cable connects to the starter. I will try to clean the connection to the alternator and under the fuse box. It's a tricky problem since it's been so intermittent. The alt/battery light and CEL did not come on during any of these cut outs.

 

This is just a suggestion, but here goes. Measure the voltage on the battery "resting" and then monitor it when the car is running. You should see about 14 volts with the car running. That is easy to measure, and if you have 14 volts, then the car can't just stop due to lack of electricity. You see what I mean? If you don't have higher voltage when the engine is running, but the alternator is "good", then that points to very specific problems. Diagnosing things is easy if you measure stuff.

If you don't have a volt meter, get one. They are very very handy. Harbor freight gives them away free if you have a coupon, but it's oky to pay a few bucks.

 

Charge the battery and it starts and runs till the battery dies it easy... the alternator is not charging the battery. If the alternator checks out fine, then there is a failure for the alternator to get it's good power to the battery. Cable...

 

Cleaned the other connections. At resting the voltmeter reads 12.5 and when the car is running it's at 13.8. Seems to be working fine right now. Maybe I will retest in a few months to see if it's actually corrosion at the terminals causing the problem--which is what I suspect. This time I used CRC battery terminal cleaner and then CRC battery terminal protector, both found at Oreilly's.

 

Maybe you should hook up a voltmeter to the cigarette lighter and monitor the voltage. At some point the voltage has to drop for the battery to die. If you see the voltage at 12 or less you know you aren't charging and if your alt/battery warning light doesn't come on there is a second problem in that circuit.
It could be you have a very intermittent failure of the regulator. BUT if so it should turn the alt/battery light on long before the battery dies.

It's a lot of work but you could pull the serpentine belt off and fire it up and see if the alt/battery light comes on. Maybe the circuit is dead, have you checked the bulb

 

Bulb works--at least when I turn the ignition. I like the idea about the voltmeter. Any recommendations on which one?
Thanks!

 

If you first turn to "ON" and the idiot light comes on, you're good. I'd be happier if it didn't work as it would make a diag much easier. That sucker should be shining for a good 30-60 minutes before you get the dash light / engine dies stuff.

If you don't have a DVOM I'd just get the cheapest one you can (harbor freight??) and if you have an old cell car charger cut the end off and wire it to the voltmeters leads, cheap and easy Then tape, rubber band it so it's not slipping around.
You can also buy one. WOW, ebay has it for 3 bucks shipping included
LED Display Cigarette Lighter Electric Voltage Meter for Auto Car Battery Dr | eBay
14 bucks walmart
Equus Innova 3721 Battery Charging System Monitor - Walmart.com

And I'm sure the auto parts stores have something like it but that 3 bucks on Ebay is hard to beat !!

 

CEL does come on occasionally. Definitely not getting a heads up that power is being lost other than the last couple miles. Just bought that voltmeter on Ebay.

 

That thing is just crazy cheap but for your problem it's the bomb !!! That just happened to pop up when I was looking for an example. That's so much better than cutting up a car charger or trying to stick a voltmeters leads into the socket.
Hopefully that way you will see a voltage drop BEFORE you end up on the side of the road dead. Might even be able to see it cut out intermittently. I'm still thinking voltage regulator but no idiot light bugs me because ..... it should be on
.
.

 

If it does drop, here are some possibilities other than the cable (which is a good possibility)

1. The alternator is not fine.
2. The alternator is not operating in the car at the same conditions at which it was determined to be "fine". The big hazard here is not turning the alternator on. Alternators do not self-start. Most people don't realize that. If the charge warning light comes on, and then goes out, the alternator should have kicked on. It gets power through that lamp. If that lamp burns out, she'll never work. You obviously don't have this problem, but it might be useful for future reference.

This is where a voltmeter and 2 seconds of effort is so incredibly awesome.

 

Well put.

 

Umm, no. Maybe in the bad old days of early alt systems, but that lite is just an indicator; look at the schematic.

 

Was it the cheapest group size 47 battery for you car or just the cheapest ??