Electronics Went Crazy

[MarriedToIt]

Hi there, I'm new to the forum. 2008, 100k miles.

Last night my wife was driving and she says she went over a dip in the road and suddenly the windshield wipers started running, the headlights went off, and other lights and sounds were coming on. She pulled over and turned off the car, but when she took the key out, all the interior lights were still on. Then she tried starting it again and it wouldn't turn. I drove up to where she left it and it wouldn't turn for me either, so we towed it to a mechanic.

The mechanic found it stone dead this morning, and had to put a new battery in it. Then he says everything worked fine. He thinks it either could have just been a battery issue, or it may be the TIPM.

Has anyone else had this problem? He said it would cost maybe $1,000 to replace the TIPM if I went that route. Is that something I could replace myself? (I am a decent shade tree mechanic.)

Please help, $1,000 is not something we could easily spend, but we also have two infants in the back seat and can't have this thing suddenly going out on freeways! Thanks.

[LionPT]

It's called a TIPM, it holds all the fuses & some relays under the hood. It is between the air box & master cylinder on the drivers side.

[ptcruisersteve]

The PT Cruisers are know to be sensitive to voltage drops so the battery might have been the problem.

Did the mechanic do a battery load test? This is important to make sure your electrical charging system is okay.

If the problem happens again I would suggest to start checking all your ground wires including the ones going to the drivers fender.

[MarriedToIt]

Thanks for the replies. I don't know if it's related, but a few months ago we had to replace corroded battery terminals with some flimsy aftermarket ones. Could the dip in the road have caused it to lose contact partially? Had a number of battery issues with this car come to think of it; every winter the first time it freezes the battery won't turn and we have to replace it. Year after year.

[dalandon]

Originally Posted by MarriedToIt

Thanks for the replies. I don't know if it's related, but a few months ago we had to replace corroded battery terminals with some flimsy aftermarket ones. Could the dip in the road have caused it to lose contact partially? Had a number of battery issues with this car come to think of it; every winter the first time it freezes the battery won't turn and we have to replace it. Year after year.

Sounds plausible