Got a strange electrical issue I'd like some guidance on....Yesterday while driving to work, I had a very brief power interruption (all power clicked off and maybe a half second later kicked back on). When I parked my truck at work and shut it off, I lost all electrical power. The doors locks would not even operate. When I restarted it, it turned over, fired, then died. It did that about 4 times until I just mashed the pedal down and crank it. It finally started and as long as I kept the RPMs at about 1k it would stay running. If I let off the pedal it would idle out and die. As I was driving home after work, my gauges were tuning on and off and my dash lights were coming on and off. The engine stayed running but the gauges and dash lights were going hay wire. I thought it might be an alternator due to the fact I had to keep 1k RMPs to keep it running. So on my way home, I bought a new one and went home and changed it. This seemed to fix the problem for about an hour. I thought I had it fixed until I noticed the same brief power interruption as I was pulling out of a parking lot. Again I started experiencing all the previous symptoms. Any idea what it could be????? I would rather fix it myself than take it into a shop. Any pointers in the right deirection would be great

 

First off, what year, make, and model pickup is it???

I'm thinking that a faulty ground could be the culprit, but I'm not positive. I'd start by unhooking both connectors from your battery and taking a wire brush to them. Then unhook the ground cable (right behind battery) and clean that off really good as well along with the bolt.

 

It's a 2000 GMC Sierra 5.3L. A faulty ground was also one of my suspicions but I didn't know where the actual chasis ground connection was. Is it where you suggested? Behind the battery? Why would everything work fine though when I get up to speed? I don't notice any problems at highway speed, but start to notice the gremlins at about 25 mph and under. When I come to a stop light or stop sign, I have to put the trunk in nuetral and keep the RPMs up or the thing will die. This does not seem to be symptoms of a bad ground. Seems like somehting else to me but I will check the ground when I get it back from the body shop. Any other thoughts?

 

Anybody know anything about electrics that can help me out? Anybody?