2001 Malibu wierd electrical problems

[zooeyhall]

Hi everyone! I urgently need some advice on my brother's 2001 Malibu V-6.

Tonight he said he was driving down the highway when he noticed the ABS light going on and off. Then he noticed the charging indicator light coming on. He had his air conditioning on and he noticed it wasn't cooling like it should have.

Suddenly the car stopped for him. When he tried to restart, it cranked for about 2 seconds and then stopped. He also said all the gauges went "crazy". After leaving it sit for a while, he was able to restart.

I recently fixed the infamous leaking manifold gasket on this car. At the same time I replaced the alternator. He had a new battery installed about 8 months ago.

Can someone tell me what is going on? I have heard that the ignition switch can cause this problem. He has had similar episodes like this once or twice in the past. I really appreciate any advice!

[taillight]

Charge the battery. Test the battery. If it will start test the alternator. If it will not start check battery cables and loose wires.

[rodeo02]

Anything less than ~14VDC with the engine running will cause what you describe. Could be a ground, cable, battery or alternator issue like previously said.

Joel

[Johnny R]

I had similar symptoms when I was driving my 99 Malibu about 50,000 miles ago. Also, the cruise control turned off, but with my foot on the pedal I maintained speed. That was good, because I was way out in stony lonesome. When I finally came to a red light in a town and hit the brakes, the engine shut down. Took it to a dealer. The battery was replaced, ran good for 2 days, then the car woulod not start. The alternator was replaced, along with another battery and the problem hasn't come back. PS: the first battery replacement was exchanged under warranty.

[Speedy_1234]

Well, My case was that the car start it would reach 4,000rpm that turn off would had to start the car again in order to stay on cause of this problem (battery) one cell no longer good

[mrfireball]

I've got to fix the head gasket/manifold gasket myself next weekend. I'm having all sorts of electrical problems as well, such as when driving in colder months when there is a lot of rain/moisture, my temp gauge stops working and the check engine light comes on, it works fine in warmer months/etc.

Not trying to take over this thread or anything, just curious if anyone has seen this before. As far as the stalling/charging system problem, I have no clues as I haven't seen that problem previously. However, I have had a problem with my car not starting due to a faulty/corroded primary battery cable (the one that takes the positive power to the entire engine and runs all the way around the block...not fun to replace-cost me 250 or so at dealer to fix)