As the title says, the car stops or refuses to start randomly and the battery and anti-theft lights are on when this happens.
The first time it happened, the car was parked for an hour or so. When I tried to start it, it cranked normally but didn't start, that's when I noticed the battery and anti-theft lights were on. Since I changed the ECU 2 days before, I put back the old ECU (which had a totally different problem) but the two lights remained and the car refused to start. I thought it was an anti-theft problem so tried all methods I found online to reset it (except disconnecting the battery) which took some time and then I decided just to put back the new ECU since the problem wasn't ECU related anyway and when I did, the lights turned off and the car started right away.
The second time it happened (after a few days and more than a 100 kilometers), the car was idling and all of the sudden it stopped, the battery and anti-theft lights came on and it refused to start again. I tried again some of the methods I remembered to reset the anti-theft system to no avail and that's when I decided to disconnect the negative terminal of the battery and let it rest. I connected back the battery after 5 or 10 minutes and the lights were off and the car started immediately.
The third time it happened (also after a few days and more than a 100 kilometers), the car stopped at cruising speed (3rd or 4th gear) and only the battery light turned on. I turned the ignition off and on and the anti-theft light also turned on which led me to believe that it wasn't an anti-theft problem and that the anti-theft light turning on was rather a consequence than a cause. I tried to start the car but it refused so I disconnected the negative terminal of the battery and connected it back within 10 seconds only and the lights disappeared and the car started normally. Now I was confident that the anti-theft system wasn't responsible since 10 seconds aren't enough to reset it.
When I went home, I tried to reproduce the problem. So I disconnected the ground wire that is attached to the throttle body and sure enough, when I turned the ignition on, both the battery and anti-theft lights turned on and the car refused to start but strangely enough, when I connected the ground wire again, the car started immediately and I didn't have to disconnect the battery for it to start. I made another test where I first started the car and then disconnected the same ground wire, and sure enough the car immediately stopped and refused to start but again, as soon as I connected back the ground wire, it started immediately without need for disconnecting the battery. But what is weird, is that when I remove the ground wire while the car is running I hear a clicking noise in fuse box, some relay is making some loud noise, so loud that I could hear it even inside the car with doors closed and if this happened before when the car stopped by itself I would have certainly noticed it which I didn't.
To further make sure it wasn't an anti-theft problem, I tried to start the car with the house key, and this time all 4 lights were on (engine check, oil, battery and anti-theft) but the car cranked and didn't start. I did another test where I started the car normally and pulled out the key (the key slot does have a problem allowing the key to be removed even when the engine is on) and I took the key inside the house but the engine continued to run as nothing happened.
All this led me to conclude that the anti-theft light turning on was a consequence and not a cause but I still can't find an explanation to why the car is turning off randomly. If it was a loose ground wire, if the connection is lost than reset, than the car should start immediately with no need to disconnect and reconnect the battery, if on the other hand, the connection was lost and remained lost, than the car shouldn't start at all even when I disconnect and reconnect the battery. Also if it was a ground wire, I would definitely heard the clicking noise of the relay which I didn't.
Can anyone help please ?
The first time it happened, the car was parked for an hour or so. When I tried to start it, it cranked normally but didn't start, that's when I noticed the battery and anti-theft lights were on. Since I changed the ECU 2 days before, I put back the old ECU (which had a totally different problem) but the two lights remained and the car refused to start. I thought it was an anti-theft problem so tried all methods I found online to reset it (except disconnecting the battery) which took some time and then I decided just to put back the new ECU since the problem wasn't ECU related anyway and when I did, the lights turned off and the car started right away.
The second time it happened (after a few days and more than a 100 kilometers), the car was idling and all of the sudden it stopped, the battery and anti-theft lights came on and it refused to start again. I tried again some of the methods I remembered to reset the anti-theft system to no avail and that's when I decided to disconnect the negative terminal of the battery and let it rest. I connected back the battery after 5 or 10 minutes and the lights were off and the car started immediately.
The third time it happened (also after a few days and more than a 100 kilometers), the car stopped at cruising speed (3rd or 4th gear) and only the battery light turned on. I turned the ignition off and on and the anti-theft light also turned on which led me to believe that it wasn't an anti-theft problem and that the anti-theft light turning on was rather a consequence than a cause. I tried to start the car but it refused so I disconnected the negative terminal of the battery and connected it back within 10 seconds only and the lights disappeared and the car started normally. Now I was confident that the anti-theft system wasn't responsible since 10 seconds aren't enough to reset it.
When I went home, I tried to reproduce the problem. So I disconnected the ground wire that is attached to the throttle body and sure enough, when I turned the ignition on, both the battery and anti-theft lights turned on and the car refused to start but strangely enough, when I connected the ground wire again, the car started immediately and I didn't have to disconnect the battery for it to start. I made another test where I first started the car and then disconnected the same ground wire, and sure enough the car immediately stopped and refused to start but again, as soon as I connected back the ground wire, it started immediately without need for disconnecting the battery. But what is weird, is that when I remove the ground wire while the car is running I hear a clicking noise in fuse box, some relay is making some loud noise, so loud that I could hear it even inside the car with doors closed and if this happened before when the car stopped by itself I would have certainly noticed it which I didn't.
To further make sure it wasn't an anti-theft problem, I tried to start the car with the house key, and this time all 4 lights were on (engine check, oil, battery and anti-theft) but the car cranked and didn't start. I did another test where I started the car normally and pulled out the key (the key slot does have a problem allowing the key to be removed even when the engine is on) and I took the key inside the house but the engine continued to run as nothing happened.
All this led me to conclude that the anti-theft light turning on was a consequence and not a cause but I still can't find an explanation to why the car is turning off randomly. If it was a loose ground wire, if the connection is lost than reset, than the car should start immediately with no need to disconnect and reconnect the battery, if on the other hand, the connection was lost and remained lost, than the car shouldn't start at all even when I disconnect and reconnect the battery. Also if it was a ground wire, I would definitely heard the clicking noise of the relay which I didn't.
Can anyone help please ?
