My car just started doing something weird today. When I was going around a turn I pulled the steering wheel toward me a little bit and the car shut off. It started right back up though. After I started it, the stereo wasn't working, the windshield wipers wouldn't come on and the windows wouldn't roll down. but after I drove it for about 5-10 mins everything worked fine again. I got back to my apartment and parked, but when I parked I wanted to see if the car would shut off again, so I pulled the steering wheel towards me and the car shut off again. But it starts right up every time, so i don't think its anything major, it just seems like a short. Could yall please help me in diagnosing my problem?

Thanks,
black_89gt

 

most likely a loose connection between the ignition switch and the harness. being able to affect it by pulling the steering wheel towards you would also indicate that your column is starting to lose its tightness, and any competent inspector for state inspections will probably fail it eventually, depending upon where you live.

 

well I dont have inspections here. I don't know if it would have been the last guy that worked on the car either. I recently got the a/c fixed and heater core replaced and he f***ed up the wiring and everything, I'm not sure if it would have been his fault or not. But he did pull apart the whole dash and dropped the steering column, could it have been his fault?

 

anything is possible, and they are pretty brittle with age.

 

What gets pretty brittle with age? I'm thinking that it is the wiring and not the column because the stereo and windows stopped working. I guess I'll just have to take it to him or someone else to get it looked at and fixed.

 

both the switch and wiring get brittle, and they have a known problem with melting too, so you might find that to be an issue as well.

 

check your solenoid same thing happened to me minus the steering wheel part and the one side of my solenoid was loose. hope this helps.

 

Thanks for all the help guys