Intermittent no electrical power

Tiny
STEVEAL01
  • MEMBER
  • 2013 CADILLAC ATS
  • 2.4L
  • 4 CYL
  • 2WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 101,000 MILES
From time to time, when I park. After normal drive (sometimes loses power steering in process), when I turn car off, all electrical power is gone. No alarm arm, instrument lights, etc. Not sure what causes this but in order for me to restore power again, I have to arc the positive and negative battery posts under hood, cause arc, and full battery power would be restored. Note, that I also have a brand new battery on car too. Could this be a relay going bad? I could not find a bad ground.
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Tuesday, June 23rd, 2020 AT 7:56 PM

3 Replies

Tiny
JACOBANDNICKOLAS
  • MECHANIC
  • 108,014 POSTS
Hi,

What do you mean by arc the battery posts? Are the terminals tight and clean, free of corrosion?

Take a look through this link and let me know if it mirrors what you experience.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/everything-goes-dead-when-engine-is-cranked

Let me know.
Joe
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Wednesday, June 24th, 2020 AT 7:27 PM
Tiny
STEVEAL01
  • MEMBER
  • 140 POSTS
Not similar at all.
Once I shut car off, normally infotainment stays on and cluster but everything shuts off like dead battery, nothing works down to the key fob functions. I have to arc (tap negative and positive battery terminals with something) to create an arc, then I get full function (battery power).
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Wednesday, June 24th, 2020 AT 7:35 PM
Tiny
JACOBANDNICKOLAS
  • MECHANIC
  • 108,014 POSTS
The only thing I can think of is the battery sensor is faulty and causing an issue. I attached a pic below. Check to make sure the connection to it is good.

If it is, then you will need to perform a CAN bus scan. CAN stands for computer area network and is what is in this vehicle. Here is a quick video showing how and why it's done:

https://youtu.be/InIlnsjOVFA

Let me know what you find.

Joe
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Wednesday, June 24th, 2020 AT 10:34 PM

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