Dead as a door nail

[Not the Autorx Frank]

Funny thing happened w/ my truck today.

Got home from work, went inside, came back out to get my briefcase and went to unlock my doors with my remote and nothing? So I used the key manually then checked the door locks from inside and nothing again. Put the key in the ignition tried to start and you guessed nothing again. Went inside, had a beer, came back out 10 minutes later and every thing worked perfectly normal. Any ideas on where to look first? I don't want to get stranded somewhere.

Thanks a bunch...

 

[The_Jeff]

Remote battery?

Is this an aftermarket alarm? Factory alarms usually/always accept the ignition key as a "last chance override" for various malfunctions: Your truck would have started.

Even if the alarm came with the truck new, it could be dealer-installed aftermarket with starter lockout.

 

[Not the Autorx Frank]

nah everything is factory original including keyless entry...

 

[ZR2RANDO]

Are the battery connections tight and clean??
I have seen electrical connections work hot and fail cold, and also work cold but fail hot,,
weird huh?
Good luck,
Rando

 

[Not the Autorx Frank]

They look clean but I took them off and wire brushed them good and made sure they were snug. I'll just have to see if it happens again?

 

[Amkeer]

Unplug the negative battery cable to reset the module. Leave it unplugged for 30 seconds or so and reattach it.

Daily Drives:
-2003 Toyota Tacoma PreRunner XtraCab, 2.7 Liter , Mobil 1 Synthetic SS 5w30.
ODO 8600 Miles.
-1995 Toyota 4-Runner 3.0 V6, Mobil 1 Synthetic SS 10w30.
ODO 85000 Miles.
http://community.webshots.com/user/amkeer

 

[TheLoneRanger]

Check the ground cable attachment to the engine block. My Cherokee would do the same thing, and it only took me two years to find the loose ground bolt. It was apparently only finger-tight when it left the factory........

 

[tom slick]

i just had that happened on one of my cars. the car died on the highway at 65 mph. completely dead, nothing. tried to jump start it, nothing, no radio, no door locks, no windows. had the tow truck drop it off at the house. 5 mins later while removing the battery terminals i notice the corrosion, not much, but some. i clean them and reinstall them and the car starts up and runs great. it took a $80 tow bill (luckily i had AAA) and $.10 worth of battery cleaner to figure that out.

 

[labman]

quote:

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Originally posted by TheLoneRanger:
Check the ground cable attachment to the engine block. My Cherokee would do the same thing, and it only took me two years to find the loose ground bolt. It was apparently only finger-tight when it left the factory........

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I think it took me longer than that to find the loose screw on a ground wire under the dash on my 81 Phoenix. When I hit a bump, the wipers would take one swipe. I worked and worked on that one, tearing the steering column apart twice. Finally I found a never tightened screw just under the dash.

 

[Schmoe]

It was telling you that you needed a beer break!!!

SA-LUTE!!!!!

 

[TheLoneRanger]

Somebody say beer break???

 

[ekpolk]

What type of vehicle? A month ago, I had a similar happening in my year-old V-6 Camry. I turned the key, engine started to crank, but before it caught, everything went dead. Turned it off, then tried again...nothing. A moment or two, and a few choice words, later, I retried, got a calibration dance from the instruments (fun to watch), and then a normal start. Everything was normal, except the CD player part of the stereo was dead, which in a Toyota, is a tell-tale symptom of improper battery disconnection (you're supposed to turn everything off first...). Dealer said they found nothing wrong, but replaced stereo under wty. This still has me worried. This thread gives me some food for thought, thanks.