Thread: electric issue - all power loss, gauges twitching when turned to run position

Backed out of the driveway, put it in D and the car flatlined as though the battery had been disconnected. Got out and checked the connection to the battery and it was fine. I left the key in the 'run' position and within 5 seconds, it had power again. Did it again about 30 seconds later. Then all worked fine and got to work alright.


At work I played with it a bit and got it to do it again, while NOT running. Turning it to 'run' a couple times, it lost all power and the gas gauge and odometer started twitching up and down.....just like when you turn it to 'run' the first time. Know what I'm talking about?

Any intuition would be awesome. 1998 Grand Prix SE 3800 with 196K.

Possible ignition switch

Test for power coming out of the switch when it's not working.

There is no power to anything, even the radio. The clock got reset to 12:00 every time it happened.

I believe that leads to a battery connection issue based on clock. I don't think battery power for it runs through the ignition switch.

I am not too electrical savy......could a short anywhere in the electrical system cause it to lose all power to the point of resetting the radio?

thought i'd let anyone else viewing this that it turned out to be a bad connection coming off the body back to the battery. Very corroded and dirty. Cleaned it up and everything has been perfect for over a month

Are you losing ALL power, as in even the radio and trunk lights?