QuestionJosh:
It seems that all the interior electrical components (gauges, radio, windows, seats, door locks, etc.) will come and go at random. Nothing predictable, sometimes they work sometimes not.
Is there a central port for diagnosis? What is the easiest way to troubleshoot? I wouldn't be surprise if there was just one bad point in the curcuit to track down.
It doesn't make sense to me but I want to mention what remedied what sounded like a similar problem for a guy I talked with at Kragen. After not finding any problems with any electrical curcuits and replacing the alternator, he put high octane gas (100) in it and the car has been free of these electrical problems ever sense. Does that hold any water?
AnswerMike,
As far as you friend at Kragen, I'm not going to denounce his solution to the problem, however I HIGHLY doubt that was the fix for his car. Depending on what kind of car he had, there is a knock-sensor that detects "spark knock". Low octane fuel will ignite before high octane fuel, so higher compression engines need higher octane fuel so they wont spark knock. The only thing that could have happened was he was running low octane fuel and the knock sensor activated, and somehow shorted out the whole system. This is EXTREMELY unlikely though... Infact I've never heard of it.
As for your car, there is probably a loose ground, or other wire somewhere in the system. I would check the battery first. Loosen the battery connectors, pull them off, and clean the contacts on the battery, and then clean the clamps. Reconnect and see if it helps. Also when/if you get the car started, go back to the battery and start wiggling wires. Go through the whole engine bay wiggling wires, and if the engine dies because of it... you know which wire is at fault.
good luck,
Josh
