Like the title says, at random times while I'm driving the car, I lose a electrical...just like you hit a switch. If it happens while I'm at highway speed, it dies, gauges zero and then poof it comes back to life. The outage usually lasts 1-2 seconds. No codes. No performance problems immediately before or after. I suspect a fusible link but I removed the one up by the battery a couple of years ago. Is there another one that would cut off main power? Where else should I be looking?

Thanks!

 

If truly everything ; Headlights/Dashlights , Engine ignition & fuel injection , Gauges & warning lights , each and every single electrically driven device , looses power it's gotta be somewhere between the battery & it's two big wires and where they connect to the car are making poor contact (at times) along with the possibility of poor grounding of the engine to body .

While running , as long as the alternator is working properly , the engine should stay running even if connection to the battery is lost for a second or two* . The fact that everything looses power like that means not only is there at least the one bad connection , but that while the bad connection is occouring the alternator can't keep it running for whatever reason of it's own . That's why I think you may have more than one poor connection issue or maybe even the one poor connection coupled with a weak alternator , but testing would reveal that if proper alternator testing procedure is followed . One simple thing to try as long as your not nervous working near a running engine would be to start the engine , turn on all the lights & whatever other electrical stuff ya got (rear window defroster , etc) and one by each starting at the battery begin wiggling wires to see which one wiggled makes it quit . For it to kill all electrical it's gotta be a pretty bad connection indeed and the wiggle method is very likely to point you in the right direction .

* With transistorized electronics in the mix , it's NEVER a good idea to disconnect the battery of a running car as an alternator test . The momentary spike in voltage at the instant the connection to the battery is opened can be enough to damage them .

 

Had quite a few cars with bad connections inside the power wire to fusible link connection down on the starter..

 

What they both said and are pointing at:

The fusible links at the battery.

Replace them. In like kind. Resist the temptation to think that you're "improving" the car by eliminating them, hacking in-line fuses into their place, or anything else.

They are color coded, the color denoting their rating; usually "rust" color (on account of the gauge of the wires they are protecting from setting the car on fire with). Replace them with "rust" colored ones. Or other, if you discover that they're some other color.

 

Hello

I live in Europe, and fusible links are things that cannot be found here....
Is it possible to replace the fusible links near the starter with fuses?
And if yes, how many Amps should I take?

If I have to order them in the USA, will need to wait for several weeks to drive...

grtz, D