On a longer drive today I had two cases of scary electrical failure:

1. I was being overtaken in a dangerous situation so I applied heavy braking and turned on my hazard lights. That's when the car "stuttered" for a split second and I could see the abs/esp/some other lights in the dash come on then off, like when starting the engine. So it felt like the engine "paused" for a split-second, off/on.

2. At night, i flashed high beams to see ahead and again for a split-second the whole lights cut off, including the dash, boost gauge and stereo and the car again stuttered, then came back to normal. It did this again a couple of times, then not anymore. After I arrived I flashed about 20 times but couldn't reproduce the problem.

Ideas? Some friends told me it's a short somewhere, but I've no idea where to look or even where to start. It's quite a scary situation though as I don't even want to think what could happen if the electricity went away on the highway at high speeds :(

Thanks

Might be worth checking the main cable from the alternator and the fuse box on the top of the battery. Some of the connections can become loose in the box and then the increased resistance can cause things to catch fire.... (worst case)

Good idea, was first (and only lol) thing on my list for the morning

Coming loose is not the only cause of problems with the main fuse box - some of the early cables were crimped poorly and subsequently corrode, also causing high resistance. In my case the fuse box melted (similar symptoms of random electrical gremlins) and i needed to replace the fuse box and alternator cable (for a later upgraded part).

Rooster.

Cost me about £80 last year for a new cable and fuse box from skoda if that helps

Checked the battery and fuse box. No loose connections in the box and the box itself looked fine. I tightened two screws (well not screws but don't know the english word ) on the battery leads, but that's it.

One thing I noticed: yesterday as i topped up the washer fluid, i forgot the cap open :S Could it have been that some washer got knocked out on the road and sprayed the alternator causing the malfunction?

One thing I noticed: yesterday as i topped up the washer fluid, i forgot the cap open :S Could it have been that some washer got knocked out on the road and sprayed the alternator causing the malfunction?

Unlikely but I guess possible. I would still be on the lookout for the real cause of the problem....

Let the car idle with the lights or heated rear window on and see if any of the terminals on the fuse box above the battery get hot (carefully so you don't risk burning yourself!). If they do, then almost certainly it will be the alternator cable which has got high resistance and is heating up and will need replacing.

Great tip, i'll try it thanks! Yesterday was another 500 km drive and all fine.

Edited 24 January, 201115 yr by jmf