I think the problem is kinda an emergency so I didn't do a lot of research of the threads. If there's any threads had discussed the same issue before, please direct me to the right thread. Thanks!

The problem started about a week ago. One day the battery warning light came on and off few times. Then I was stupid enough to drive it the next day then stalled. Towed to a shop and thought that either was the battery or alternator problem. Replaced with a generic battery then gave it a test drive. 1st day was ok.

2nd day (yesterday)!! Traction and Low Tire warning lights came on while driving! Then Hand Break warning seconds later!! Then no AC, no stereo, no power steering, all meters stuck at the point where they were!!! The car was still drivable. After kept driving for few minutes, all get reset to normal. But happened all over again for several cycles.

Today I drove it again but could not get the same problem, but it was a short drive.

It's a 03 MCS, never had a battery change before. Upgraded with a 400w custom stereo about 3 years ago.

Can anyone please help me figure out what is causes to the problem? BIG THANKS!

 

Wjhat do you mean 'generic battery?'

 

I had a similar set of problems a year ago. The power steering goes out immediately when there is any problem with the charging system. The car is designed to conserve energy when there are charging problems.

To make a LONG story short, for me it ended being a wire that had become bare (insulation melted off) and would intermittently ground out in the engine compartment. Each time it ground out, the car would go haywire. It took a while to find the problem, but once we did and changed it out, the problems all went away...

 

You should visually inspect the belt and tensioner and test the charge system.

 

JAB, I meant a non-mini brand battery.

 

THX, anitan! It really explain the power steering and the intermittent problem. What I don't understand is it happened after the new battery. I just check the new battery connection seems pretty solid. I get a closer look of all the wiring later. Could you tell me which part of the wire got the problem on you? Thanks!

 

The bell is 5~6 years old when I had my 15% pulley. It seems fine to me now, but I couldn't reach it to feel the tension.

The charge is (this morning):
14.29v
14.24v w/ac
13.85v w/ac, head light
13.15v w/ac, head light, stereo (max volume to what I use, not max volume it can get)

Does it look ok?

 

More likely a bad alternator. If the Alt is bad the PS shuts down . If the alt still puts out 12V with a dead battery then the PS should still work.

 

I put my money on a bad battery. My car did the same thing when it was starting to kick the bucket because of a bad cell. Car kept lighting up like a X-Mas tree. Got a recommended battery (Found a thread on this site with all acceptable battery makes) and didn't have a problem since.

 

The shop got the fault code P1692 - Electronic Throttle Control Monitor Level 2/3 Motorised Throttle Control and Fuel Injection Switch Off 'A'. Any thoughts?

 

Just an update. The problem was solved by replacing the alternator.