Anton Perminov

Today I was driving to work and stopped on a red signal. After couple seconds all the interior backlights started flickering. I turned off the car. I tried to start it couple minutes later and it started normally. Couple hours later the story repeated. This time I tried to push gas pedal hard on neutral so the car will produce more electricity for the accumulator and it worked! Both of the times I also got EPS and EPC light on. I had had EPS and EPC lights problem before, but mechanics could not figure out the problem.

Please help!!!

Thank you so much!

Anton

John535is

I would start with the basics.
Start with the battery, check:
1. the electrical condition of the battery, (most auto parts places can put a basic load tester on it if you don't have one, or any auto -electrician).
2. the battery terminal lugs are tight and not corroded,
3. trace both the the earth cable and the positive to the other end and make sure the terminals is clean and tight.
4. the battery is tight in place, not able to bounce around and touch anything.
5. for water sitting around the battery and the ECU housing. There are drain holes under but they can block up with some tree leaves and you find your electrics have a little pond under there.

Next, start checking for damaged wiring or moisture. There is wiring running under the floor in the rear seat, up through the trunk to the rear parcel shelf for lights and the radio. Have a look for damage to the wiring.

Do you have the original radio? A couple of recent issues have been when previous owners have removed aftermarket sub-woofers etc out of the trunk and just left the wiring. This would randomly earth against the body of the car. Really frustrating.

You can do all the above for no cost, just some time and a flashlight.

Both times it did it, did you have your foot on the brake pedal? Is so, check the rear lamps are not corroded in their lamp holders and the plugs are still tight, check for moisture in the fittings. These cars have a brake light switch at the pedal under the dash. They are notorious for failing, but normally you get the ABS, ESP lights on. The switch is easy enough to replace, instructions on this site, the last one I purchased was about $20 from memory if you decide that might be it.

Can you get the codes downloaded? The CEL will come on if you have a significant issue, but the ECU stores lots of codes which can help diagnose a problem.