[starspangled6.0]

I'm currently stationed in an extremely humid and wet environment, and I've been chasing a strange gremlin for a few months now. Today was the worst episode:

99% of the time, my car works great. 0.5% of the time, however, it will cut power to the radio and interior lights whenever I shut off the car. Very shortly after this, the radio will power back on, not in its normal sense, but almost like it was just a hiccup and it didn't lose full power. The other 0.5%... well that's when the radio burps while I'm driving, but I also lose steering, too. It happened twice today when I was leaving a parking lot, at low speed. Nothing major, besides the radio going out and loss of power steering. The motor didn't hiccup, nor did the brakes die out.

My first thoughts are some kind of grounding issue, especially since we received several inches of rain today. I checked the ground wires when I got home, but nothing was loose our out of place during a visual check. However, the hot wire I had attached to the battery for my fog lamp install was loose, so I tightened it up.

Any thoughts? I'm guessing as it dries up, like before, the problem will go away. I'd like to make it a permanent fix, though.

 

[starspangled6.0]

Battery was replaced when my injector died over Easter. The cables were very tight when I checked them tonight, and the car only saw road salt for a few short days in its entire life.

Not too sure about the ground cable recall....

 

[starspangled6.0]

Not a bad idea. I had zero issues this morning, but I wouldn't be surprised if that gremlin returns.

I'll call the dealer today and see if they can just swap in a new cable for free.

 

[starspangled6.0]

I spoke with the service rep today, and she immediately recognized that my 2014 was under a special coverage for that cable. They'll check it out first thing next week. They're 10 minutes away, and while I absolutely abhor the idea of other people working on my car, when they're offering free parts, it's hard to pass up.

 

[starspangled6.0]

They took my car in at 0800 this morning, and by 0830 I was back in the driver's seat with a brand new negative battery terminal. Kudos to this dealership. The service rep was even asking me how I liked it the car... seemed like she was interested in getting a diesel in the near future. You should have seen her face when I said they can hit 1000 miles to the tank .

My money is still on that hot wire I have on the terminal for my fog lamps, but I'm glad to have the cable replaced under warranty. I plan on re-wiring that hot cable to a more secure location soon, and will report back if there's any similar gremlins that pop up down the road.