[NOS2Go4Me]

So we're coming back to NB today from Sudbury. We get to the Hwy 90/17 interchange, go to pull onto 17... and the car barely moves. Finally we make it onto the highway, the dashboard goes berzerk, and the car refuses to accelerate beyond 60 KM/H. Finally the "door open" light stays on, and I pull the car over to the shoulder. We never "lost power" at this point, but we weren't going far either at that rate. I turn the car off, turn it on, it starts without a problem. The "door open" light stays on, and the car once again refuses to go over 60 without slipping out of gear. I shift to Neutral, shift back to Drive... nothing. I hit the O/D select button... the light comes on denoting no 4th gear, and back off again when I thumb it again. Still nothing over 60. We pull over again. We're both starting to freak out here.

I park the car on the side of the highway, hit the 4-ways. They work. I get out and methodically open and close the doors and trunk, but all were latched fine. I pop the hood - nothing smells "burnt", there's ZERO fluid leaking anywhere.

I should note that none of the "serious" warning lights came on during the whole course of this.

I closed the hood and got back in the car. Fired it up. Accelerated away from the shoulder. Everything's fine. We got to the edge of NB and the car "hiccups" as it has done a couple of times before... never thought anything of it till now. Slight "stalled-out" feeling for a fraction of a second, and then everything's fine again... and no lights.

Now for the ironic part. I'm heading to work tonight to finish up an infrastructure deployment for a meeting tomorrow morning. As I drive the two blocks from my house to our main artery, the headlights and indeed the whole electrical system "blip" once - they flicker quickly and then come back. As I get to the stop sign, the headlights and everything else electrical begins sending morse code. I parked the car (running) for a minute in a parking lot that's right there... and they flicker a few more times. Finally, I decide to drive to work, and the 5 minute drive is uneventful.

Same thing after I was done 40 minutes later... uneventful. I'm really starting to suspect either: 1 - the alternator, especially given the last occurence, or 2 - the ECU in addition to the alternator (possibly), this supports the weird occurence in Coniston and the "hiccuping", but not the headlights.

I noticed a bit of "flux" in the brightness and consistency of the headlights and interior lights when the car is stopped in reverse, but that's probably a low idle at worst. What happened tonight happened under a constant engine speed or acceleration.

I was also thinking that maybe a corroded main ground wire could have caused some of this.

Your ideas guys? It's going to Stockfish in the morning regardless after I drop Sara off at the office - I'm due for an oil change and minor inspection this week :blink: