Power loss with dash problems

[Doc K]

Driving down the road my radio cut out followed by a loss of engine power ( not complete). Charging system gauge at zero, speedometer at +80mph(pegged stting still), digital odometer flashing on and off. I was able to limp home about 4 miles at a crawl. Transmission was shifting very hard when i could get the speed up (down hill). I cleaned battery terminals but the truck now would not start. Put in on the charger for an hour; started truck ran fine speedometer retuned to normal as did charging system gauge. Any ideas?

[Torch]

My car was doing this exact same thing, gauges all kept dropping at the same time, all the lights in the car dimmed, had noticeably less horsepower than it should and the engine couldn't keep up with the A/C compressor and nearly stalled at times. Problem ended up being a bad alternator, have yours tested mine failed the voltage output test.

[LoseDevil]

I had a similar issue with my 04 F150 just a few days ago and the fix was surprisingly easy, so I hope yours is the same. Basically the wire attached to the side of the positive battery terminal was lose, so when the motor would flex it would disconnect and kill everything...obviously messing with the computer as well.

This wire was actually ran to the fuse box, alternator, etc. It's smaller than the wire that actually connects to the battery terminal and hung on the side. Just make sure all your wiring connections are tight and snug. At least this would rule out a brain fart moment taken to a auto shop.