2004 Toyota Solara Stalling Problems

2004 TOYOTA CAMRY SOLARA

82,000 MILES • 4 CYL • 2WD • AUTOMATIC

KYO2008

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Car randomly stalls while driving. The dash lights will flicker (brake,battery, oil, etc.) and car will look like it has just been started while driving...loose control of power steering and brakes. Car can be restarted just fine after putting the transmission in park. Usually happens after slowing down and accelerating to make LEFT turns and there would be a sudden lose of power for a split second but car had completely shut down once. Also, i noticed that it is more likely to occur when i have the car stereo on but it doesn't happen when i turn it off and dim the dashboard lights while driving at night. I am totally clueless, Any ideas? Thanks!

-Kyo

Mar 19, 2010 at 3:14 AM

KHLOW2008

CERTIFIED EXPERT
41,814 POSTS

Hi kyo2008,

Thank you for the donation.

Symptoms indicates a possible fault with a grounding circuit or a loose wireharness.

When turning, some wires are being swayed causing power interruption.

I would suggest checking all grounding circuits, both underdash and underhood.

Mar 20, 2010 at 1:01 PM

G-MONEY

MEMBER
1 POST

I had the exact same thing happen to my Solara and found out it had to do with the battery shorting out. The mounting bracket had been left loose and the metal was connecting with the positive terminal, causing the whole electrical system to arch and overload. It was scary to be driving and have the whole car stop functioning so I know how you feel. It's definitely something electrical that is causing your problem.

Jul 8, 2010 at 1:24 PM

KHLOW2008

CERTIFIED EXPERT
41,814 POSTS

Thank you for the input. A loose battery is rather dangerous as the battery can jump out of it seats and cause shorting and is a fire hazard.

Batteries should be secured properly and constant moving around and juddering would cause premature deterioration of the battery as well.

Images (Click to enlarge)

Jul 8, 2010 at 2:15 PM