everything cuts out

[shortyyy]

one day i was driving my car and suddenly my head unti turns off and reload and than when i stop and turn off the car.... everything cuts out like i can't even turn my car on nothing works and than i sit there and wait for about a min and than everything turns back on my head unit reloads, the clock in the car restarts???? i have this problem 3 times now and i don't know whats wrong.... it only happens onces in a whle.... so does anyone out there have the same issue??

[SATORI893]

Could be as simple as a loose wire, battery connnection or ECU problem, was the clock still on the same time?, if everything cuts out and the clock went back to normal time then it was still getting power, if it resets to 12 or whatever it resets to if you disconnected the battery then the battery or power to the car has been interupted either by a loose connection or ECU probs. These things are hard to pin point. When it happens take note of what settings are lost like stereo settings(treble, bass and radio stations), speed alert, bluetooth if you use it and even trip meters etc, as long as it doesn't cut out when you are driving and stops you in traffic it could be heat related, though you said you only have to wait for a min then everything is ok so that would not be enough time to cool down if it was heat and it would happen every time the engine/car got hot so rule that out I guess. I would say ECU or more so a loose connection, check your battery terminals, start with the basics and work your way up. If it's a problem that only happens now and then, taking it to toyota is a waste of money unless you can predict what circumstances it occurs under or you call them and talk to the service dept and see if it is a common problem. Sometimes it could be a simple as cleaning the battery terminals and refitting them but with all the modern electronics you never know, could be as simple as the battery terminals or even a faulty fuse, check all your fuses, see if any are loose or don't fit properly. Pain in the butt I know but narrowing down by what loses memory etc. can help isolate the problem. It could be as simple as a loose connection or dud fuse, doing your own fault finding 1st could save you heaps with what a toyota dealer whould charge you, but I am the first to respond, someone on here may give you the answer you need straight away so don't panic. Hope that helps you a bit.

[shortyyy]

thanks bro..... well all i can find out what restarts is my clock restarts back to 1..... and my sterio resets than starts loading,, reble, bass all reset as welll.....

[challengethemasters]

Without worrying you to much, I'd say the alternator is not doing it's job.

[SATORI893]

Yeah could be voltage regulator on the back of the alternator, that's where they put them on the Camrys, failing that if it is wiping the memory from the stereo etc, it means total power loss, you could get them to test the alternator, some places will do this for free cause the assume you will buy a new one off them. If that checks out ok, go through the fuses and see if any are cracked or damaged in anyway, loose connections are worse, involves a lot of wire wiggling to see if you can cause the fault to happen while the engine is running.