Electrical Gauges dying while car is running, eventually leading to the car dying

[Spotlight625]

I have a tough problem here. I have a 2001 Ford Focus, and while I am driving, I look down and I have no gauges anymore. They have all gone to zero and all I have on is the little "Airbag Readiness" Light. The first time this happenned I pulled to the side of the road thinking that if I restarted the car everything would be fine, but then when I turned the car off that was it. It wouldn't crank or anything. After about 20 minutes of trying, I eventually did get it back going again. This time though, the car would lunge forward and then seemingly stall, only to catch itself again and keep running, still with no gauges.

I have taken it to a dealership, and they have looked at it, initially thinking it was just some bad wires. They did, in fact, find some bad wires, but when I was driving it home from the dealership, it malfunctioned again and I had to get it towed back there.

I have stumped the dealership. Please don't let this stump you too. I need help!

[NS1]

Had same problem with all gauges, but the car would immediately start again. Whe I took it in, they said that the speedometer going to 140 and back to 0 upon start up was a sign of needing a new battery. With a new battery from Ford some of the problem has gone away. It is still going to zero and stalling after about 10 minutes of no speed on the speedometer.

[osoblanco]

Spotlight - I hope you have your problem dealt with by now, but is not a tough one, and should not have stumped a competent dealership.

Gauges and dash lights will fade out as your battery loses voltage. The car will still run for a while, but not long. I'm surprised that it started again, especially if you kept trying. Sometimes the battery will have enough reserve to start the car if you leave it alone and let it rest, but it usually needs more than a few minutes. (Using the starter takes more amperage than anything else in your car.)

I would bet that the "dealership" that serviced your car simply put it on a battery charger for a few hours, then sent you on your way. They didn't really deal with your problem, which is "why is the battery dying?". Hope they didn't charge you much, but you still had to pay for a second tow!

Five years seems short for battery life, so I would suspect that you have a problem in your alternator (worn brushes?) as I did, or that your drive belt is slipping due to a broken or weak tensioner. If the latter, you will hear a squeal from the engine area on cold starts.

"Bad" wires??? WTF is that? Wires are inert, and they don't fail unless they are overloaded due to a short somewhere, or unless they break from fatigue if they are allowed to vibrate. If wires are "bad", you will notice that something stops working, and it stops all at once, it doesn't fade out.

If your "dealership" is "stumped", they a gang of incompetent crooks. Go and find someone who knows something more than just how to remove some cash from your wallet and send you out the door.

[pistonring]

I had the same problem, dash guages stopped and the airbag light came on. Twas the alternator. I told the dealership the alternator light should come on if I had a problem but it didn't. They told me there was a way the alternator could go bad and not give a light. They replaced the alternator and I never had the problem again.