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Montana 2000 - stalls with low battery warning

Hi,

This afternoon, I was about to pull into a parking lot today and all of a sudden, I lost steering (couldn't turn) and the battery warning light was up. I then stopped the car (was driving maybe 3km/h) okay, shifted to park, then shut off ignition and started again. There wasn't any hesitation when restarting, then I was able to drive again.

I remember this happened long ago (2 years maybe) and it happened twice in a day. The engine was fairly hot though (almost reaching red mark) and I took it to the dealer and they couldn't reproduce and they said the battery check was fine. This was before I got the gasket changed (famous 3.4L problem).

So what can I do? I hope I don't lose control while I'm driving on the highway and this is what concerns me so much.

Thanks for your suggestions,

Simon

Reply to
Newbie
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Intermittant problems are really tough to figure out. And it gets very expensive. Your vehicle needs fuel, air, and spark to run (and proper timing of those). About the only thing they can do is hook a laptop to the diagnostic port and let it run while you drive in the hopes that it will record something of interest. BTW, you can still steer your vehicle. It requires some strength though.

Reply to
« Paul »

Thanks for your information, Paul. So far the few times it happened, I was driving at very low speed (or even at idle waiting for a light). If a car loses electricity, would the brake still work? Having trouble stopping is much worse!

Thanks,

Simon

Reply to
Newbie

Do you know if any codes have been set - and what the codes are? The brakes and steering will still work without the engine running and without electricity. It will be similar to a vehicle with manual brakes and steering - no power assist. I could steer and stop that vehicle without much trouble with engine off but I doubt if my 95 pound ex wife would be able to.

Reply to
« Paul »

If your engine stalls, you will have about one application of the brakes with power assist. As soon as you lift your foot and apply again, you might get one more application, but usually by this time, the vacuum booster is exhausted.

Ian

Reply to
shiden_kai

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