Complete Intermittant Power Failure

[lcann25]

Hello Everyone,

I have a 2002 Limited that I have enjoyed for 3 years with no problems at all. Now all of a sudden a rather unsettling problem has developed. About 3 weeks ago while sitting at a red light at night, the car just quit, and I mean EVERYTHING quit. complete power failure for about 2 seconds, then all power came back on. The power loss was severe enough that I had to reset the clock on the radio! Then after that, everything was fine for about 3 weeks until yesterday when it happened again while driving, but was only for a split second, enough for me to notice the jerk from the power loss, but not enough to kill the engine. I have no idea what this could be, there is no check engine light, and everything else is normal. The car has a lot of miles, around 138,000 miles.
I am scared the car will leave me stranded... any help will be appreciated!
Thanks

[GALVANIZEDYANKEE]

Let me make an anology. I have a car with automatic climate control. After driving for an hour between 70 - 80 MPH, the AC craps out.
Below those speed it works perfect. Try to troubleshoot that problem. You have a simular situation except you have the advantage of running the diagnostics. Any tempory or intermittent trouble code will remain in the diagnostic computer for 50 starts before clearing. Or like me and my AC, you have to be there when it happens.

[thundercat2]

mine also does this and i cannot figure it out either.never got a response over at ptcc before it folded up shop but have not asked here because i have to get winter car running soon(1978 ss el camino).
i will be watching this one closely so i can start trusting my pt again.

ron

[GALVANIZEDYANKEE]

I am a retired owner of a large auto repair shop that specilized in auto electronics. Finding these type problems tend to be an expensive crap shoot.
An engine stops because it has no fuel, or spark. A power (12V) failure will stop both. Put a voltmeter between an always hot 12 volt positive point, and an actual chassis ground. Do not hook up the meter by connecting it to the battery or it's cables. Keep it hooked up so that you can observe the reading at problem time. At that time if the reading remains between 12 to 14 Volts you can assume that the battery and its ground connections are good. There still may be a faulty connection to othe devices.
If good, start looking for a bad fuel pump, fuel distribution system, or ignition system.
First run the diagnostics to check for a trouble code.
The diagnostic labor charge will probable exceed the cost of the defective part.

[littleblueGT]

Check the battery cables for corrosion(both ends of each positive & negative),it's a common problem with PT's.