S60 2003 N/A weird engine shuts off

enriquepr21 · Post by **enriquepr21** » 10 Dec 2016, 19:48

Hi, what do you think of this behavior:

The engine shut down when i was going at about 5 miles/hour but i was able to turn it back on and everything was fine.. however, i noticed that the clock had reset to --/-- and radio also reset to default settings, just as if the battery had been disconnected

I checked battery terminals and they were a bit loose and corroded so i tightened and cleaned them real good. I haven't tested for much time after that to tell if this fixed the issue. I was also on low on gas (on reserve)

Why would this happen? Could it be related to the battery connections? Or is there something else i should check? I'd appreciate any help

Post by **abscate** » 11 Dec 2016, 05:40

Loose battery connections will cause this. Get them tight and test drive for a few days

Post by **oragex** » 11 Dec 2016, 15:49

As above. Also check the red cable near the alternator, it may develop cracks

enriquepr21 · Post by **enriquepr21** » 11 Dec 2016, 21:54

Thanks for all the help,

I went through the engine bay and saw that the grounding points had paint over the part where the terminals are bolted to. The car was re painted recently so I imagine they painted the grounding points. I took a wire brush and made sure it was free of any paint and bolted the ground wires back. I previously removed the negative battery terminal.

Checking now to see if this helped fix the issue

enriquepr21 · Post by **enriquepr21** » 17 Dec 2016, 21:11

So unfortunately the issue is still there, the car shut down today when braking to a stop

I cleaned battery terminals and grounds and made sure everything was nice and tight. The car only shuts down when braking to a stop and at very low speed, it never shuts down at higher speeds and it's only about one time every 15 days or so..

Please help me figuring out where to start checking, this is a S60 2003 non turbo

Post by **abscate** » 18 Dec 2016, 05:04

How many miles or kilometers are on it?

How old is the battery?

Ignition switch is another possible suspect

enriquepr21 · Post by **enriquepr21** » 18 Dec 2016, 21:31

abscate wrote:How many miles or kilometers are on it?

How old is the battery?

Ignition switch is another possible suspect

The car has 115k miles, the battery is brand new.

How could I start checking for this?

Is cleaning MAF and Throttle body a good starting point?

Post by **abscate** » 19 Dec 2016, 05:32

Two things that can intermittently fail

Fuel pump relay

12 VDC to coils

The only way to troubleshoot a fault like this is to hook up a voltmeter to monitor supply to the power points while you drive the car, or try replacing the parts.

Post by **oragex** » 19 Dec 2016, 08:05

Before it shuts down, does the rpm gauge drop below 700rmp? That might mean the throttle body is sticking, needs a cleaning around the butterfly valve in and out, easy to do on the non turbo.

But the fact you get the clock reset, means more of a shortcut somewhere. Not something typical on this car. Was the car in an accident?

Maybe look inside the ECM box, in front of the power steering reservoir. Maybe some electrical component is moving when braking, causing a some undue electrical contact.

It's strange the radio does reset. The clock will reset, but not the radio when the battery is disconnected. What would reset is the climate controls (go on automatic).

enriquepr21 · Post by **enriquepr21** » 19 Dec 2016, 10:13

abscate wrote:Two things that can intermittently fail

Fuel pump relay

12 VDC to coils

The only way to troubleshoot a fault like this is to hook up a voltmeter to monitor supply to the power points while you drive the car, or try replacing the parts.

Thanks I'll check on that today, also what do you think about the rpms dropping to about 500 then back up to 700 when braking to a stop?