Weird issue help needed

[Ankh87]

Girlfriend phoned me this morning to tell me something odd happened to her Kia Picanto (2009).

She said she were driving along like normal when all of a sudden the EML, airbag and other lights came on but the car was still driving like normal then they went off after a few seconds.

She's recently had the car serviced & MOT (4 days ago), nothing came back just tyres and bushes.

Usually when all the dash lights up the car cuts out but for the car to keep on moving seems really odd. The car hasn't done much mileage for it's age and to be fair has been solid.


Anyone got any ideas what could be wrong? Only thing I can think of is the battery terminal came disconnected briefly hitting a pot hole or something.

[No ideas for a name]

Ankh87 said:

Usually when all the dash lights up the car cuts out but for the car to keep on moving seems really odd. ...
Only thing I can think of is the battery terminal came disconnected briefly hitting a pot hole or something.

Do you mean it is usual for THIS car to light up all of the dash lights and stop?
That would be an odd thing to think of as normal. Are we chasing the lighting up or the not stopping as the problem?

Loose or corroded terminal somewhere would be my guess... maybe even an earth strap.

[uncleluck]

Check the battery terminals are tight/clean and the main earth lead is good.

[Ankh87]

No ideas for a name said:

Ankh87 said:

Usually when all the dash lights up the car cuts out but for the car to keep on moving seems really odd. ...
Only thing I can think of is the battery terminal came disconnected briefly hitting a pot hole or something.

Do you mean it is usual for THIS car to light up all of the dash lights and stop?
That would be an odd thing to think of as normal. Are we chasing the lighting up or the not stopping as the problem?

Loose or corroded terminal somewhere would be my guess... maybe even an earth strap.

What I mean is from personal experience from other cars that the lights on the dash all come on and the car is usually dead. Of course in this case the car drove fine.



I were thinking battery connection. I'm trying to get her to check but she isn't that good with cars so asked her to get a friend at work to check them.

Thanks

[98elise]

Ankh87 said:

No ideas for a name said:

Ankh87 said:

Usually when all the dash lights up the car cuts out but for the car to keep on moving seems really odd. ...
Only thing I can think of is the battery terminal came disconnected briefly hitting a pot hole or something.

Do you mean it is usual for THIS car to light up all of the dash lights and stop?
That would be an odd thing to think of as normal. Are we chasing the lighting up or the not stopping as the problem?

Loose or corroded terminal somewhere would be my guess... maybe even an earth strap.

What I mean is from personal experience from other cars that the lights on the dash all come on and the car is usually dead. Of course in this case the car drove fine.



I were thinking battery connection. I'm trying to get her to check but she isn't that good with cars so asked her to get a friend at work to check them.

Thanks

Not always. When our MX5 alternator packed up the dash was lit up like a Christmas tree. The car still ran fine though, other than draining the battery.

When the alternator was replaced everything returned to normal.

[Ankh87]

Hopefully it won't be the alternator as that'll write off the car haha.

[Poshbury]

Multiple warnings usually mean a low battery charge and it's quite common on many makes. Make sure it's fully charged before doing anything else. Good luck.

[Dodsy]

On my jag this means either the battery is weak or a momentary comms failure between the various computers usually its just a fibre optic connector come loose

On that car i would guess its not got a fibre optic network so loose battery terminal , corroded earth or battery on its way out

[Oldandslow]

uncleluck said:

Check the battery terminals are tight/clean and the main earth lead is good.

Quite possibly the battery was disconnected during the service, it's often standard procedure. May not have been fully tightened up again.

[KAgantua]

omg was she ok

[Auntieroll]

Is it an Alfa Romeo ?!!
My 156 used to have random warning lights flashing on occasions ,
never did get to the bottom of it , sometimes would go many months without problem though.

[Monkeylegend]

Auntieroll said:

Is it an Alfa Romeo ?!!
My 156 used to have random warning lights flashing on occasions ,
never did get to the bottom of it , sometimes would go many months without problem though.

Not according to the first line in the OP's first post.

[underwhelmist]

Auntieroll said:

Is it an Alfa Romeo ?!!
My 156 used to have random warning lights flashing on occasions ,
never did get to the bottom of it , sometimes would go many months without problem though.

Ha me too! It’s been fine since I put a new battery in, I think they’re very sensitive to battery condition. All the scary “motor control system failure” messages have stopped.