Jlrose24

Hey guys my 94 4x4 truck with the 3vze engine keeps shutting off on me. Today while I was driving down the road to work and everything powered down on me. What could it be I recently replaced the negative terminal clamp on my battery and thought that fixed it but obviously not. Can someone please help with this.

wyoming9

iTrader: (1)

Just what kind of clamp??

Did you clean the battery terminals as well??

What about the cable it`s self ??

Any other possible loose connections??

Smooth road or did you hit a bump?/

Then what happened ?? Truck dead along side the road ?? Waiting for the Roll Back??

SunshineMcB

Could be one of 18,000 different things. More specific info needed!

scope103

When it shuts down, do you get all the lights on the dash? If not, it is most likely an electrical problem (as you undoubtedly figured by replacing the battery clamp). Caused by vibration.

When it shuts down, can you immediately restart it? If so, you have a slight intermittent problem that will be hard to catch. If not, when it shuts down, get out your multimeter and find where you have power and where you don't; start with the battery, move through the under-hood fuse box.

RAD4Runner

All of the above.

I also like to use this... to quickly show me voltage to system when problem occurs and it is impossible to probe anything (because you're driving) No need to worry about where to probe. HOWEVER, you still need a digital multi-meter for more thorough troubleshooting


Zero voltage when power down happens means electrical shut down. Yes most likely between battery and fuse block.

You sure you do not have a Chevy Cobalt ignition switch? - LOL!

Jlrose24

It's over slight bumps sometime and everything shuts down lights dash radio ect. So it's a problem between the battery and fuse box? I'll have to check it out

Jlrose24

Also when I'm driving and hit bumps sometimes my stereo shut off and turns back on. No idea if it's related. And this time it started right back up where as last time I changed the cable clamp because the old was worn out bad and it fired back up.

RAD4Runner

Sounds like loose connection somewhere. Make sure everything is tight, clean/corrosion free, bare metal contacts bare metal. Grey metal is not bare metal.

While lights may flicker (or incandescents may even stay on) when you lose contact momentarily, stereo's are sensitive. If voltage drops below a certain level, (i.e., 10volts when starter is cranking), stereo will reset.

Jlrose24

Ok I'll check the cables and corrosion and see what happens thanks for the posts and merry Christmas.

wyoming9

iTrader: (1)

You have a loose connection .

I would say it is on the ground start with the main ground cables .

Could even be the battery post or terminals.

jennygirl

Could be a short somewhere too, have the multimeter handy for the next time it happens to see if the battery voltage dips to 9V or below. Also check for heat around the power cables. If it is a short, it's an easy way to fry a battery/alternator or start an electrical fire- not good

I bet it is just a loose connection though. Happy hunting