Random Power Off

[SallySueSo]

Yesterday, I took my car in to have an oil change and get it inspected. Later that day, while delivery driving, my car suddenly shut off. The music cut out, four loud dinging sounds occured, my oil/engine/seatbelt/gas/ect. lights were on. Then the car instantly turned back on, music and all. This happened 3 more times. The second and third time it occured the brake between the time it turned back on was the longest. The fourth time it again turned off and on instantly, same as the first. This again happened today, on my way to school, and I realized that it occurs when the brakes are applied. First off, what's the problem? Secondly, could it have been caused when the inspection/oil change was done or is it a random coincidence?

[sierrap615]

changes are you have a problem with your tail lights. If you check this forum, you will find the L-series taillights have a few problems. even without the L-series lights problems, the taillights of any car can cause some crazy issues. in my mind this is because of main factiors 1. bulbs are really just cheap peices of wire inside poorly insulated glass, and 2. multiple circuits from different parts of the vehicle all come together at the same point, and normally a few other components are also electricly related(IE-fuel pump). think of electricly like a kitchen sink, you have water pouring in and draining out, if the drain gets clogged, the water is is going to keep flowing, then overflow the sink, and go somewhere else. electricly flows in(hot wire) and it flows out(ground wire). in the tail light circuit, you have power flowing in from anywhere from 3 to 6 seperate circuits. but only one ground connection for the power to flow out. if something happens to the ground connection, the power is going to backfeed into other circuits, and cause wield problems. like an overflowing sink. chances are every time you hit the brakes, the power that is feed to the brake lights if backfeeding the computer, radio, fuel pump, and/or somewhere else.

sorry, probily when a little to far in depth, in short, check your taillights.

[SallySueSo]

So how can I fix the problem? Just change the brake lights and everything will be fine? And could this be due to something the inspectors caused?

[sierrap615]

whoa hang on, i just checked your profile, you listed owning a 97 LS, the L-series (LS/LW) didn't come out until 2000. you must have an S-series (SL/SW/SC). thats ok, its a common misstake. the good news is you don't have the problematic L-series taillights. i would still visually check the operation of your taillights, if everything appears normal, a multimeter would be needed to continue testing.

chances are this is a coincidence unless they saw a dead bulb in the back and replaced it without telling you and jamming the wrong bulb in there(i admit, i've done it before)

[SallySueSo]

Oh, my fault. I guess there is a reason "AF Newbie" is under my name, ha. Okay, thanks for the pointers.