Very strange problem....help please!

[-tom-]

Yesterday, my wife was coming home from errands in her 2002 and stopped at the farm gate to open it. After she got back in the Ex, she put her foot on the brake, put in drive, let foot off brake....horrible grinding noise started (like the sound it makes if you try to turn the key with engine running...only much louder) car began to advance down the drive, ALL warning lights came on, no steering, no brakes...she continued to try to steer or brake. Noise stopped. Foot on brake, shifted to park, finally stopped. Turned off vehicle. Went back and closed gate. Returned to vehicle, followed normal starting procedures....everything was perfectly normal.

Does this sound like a computer issue, and if so, is this something I can do or does it need to go to the dealer?

Thanks for any help.

 

[therover1991]

Yesterday, my wife was coming home from errands in her 2002 and stopped at the farm gate to open it. After she got back in the Ex, she put her foot on the brake, put in drive, let foot off brake....horrible grinding noise started (like the sound it makes if you try to turn the key with engine running...only much louder) car began to advance down the drive, ALL warning lights came on, no steering, no brakes...she continued to try to steer or brake. Noise stopped. Foot on brake, shifted to park, finally stopped. Turned off vehicle. Went back and closed gate. Returned to vehicle, followed normal starting procedures....everything was perfectly normal.

Does this sound like a computer issue, and if so, is this something I can do or does it need to go to the dealer?

Thanks for any help.

One time I was getting off the highway the car died, lost all power steering and braking and it turned out the alternator was shot.

 

[High_Order1]

Sorry. To me it sounds like an electrical issue caused the starter to engage, then it all went batshit for a second, then back to normal as the voltage regulator in the alt kicked back in. Id start with a batt and alt test, myself.

Shawn

 

[sethmorgan]

I've seen a Toyota 4Runner's starter stick so that when the truck was shut off, the starter would continue to spin (or maybe it started to spin). Unable to actually start the motor since the ignition switch was in the Off position, the starter caught fire. It was assumed that the starter solenoid had stuck closed. Not sure why the starter motor didn't spin with the truck running, which sounds like your problem.

 

[1AJeremyD]

Welcome to the forum! I will have to say that it was the starter solenoid getting stuck as well. You can bring that to your local AutoZone and they can do a bench test for you.

 

[imp]

Welcome to the forum! I will have to say that it was the starter solenoid getting stuck as well. You can bring that to your local AutoZone and they can do a bench test for you.

Agreed! However, welded solenoid contacts which have "broken free" will be in very poor condition, burnt, and prone to repeat the bad experience again, especially if everything got REAL HOT, enough to WEAKEN the spring which RETRACTS the solenoid plunger, and OPENS those big electrical contacts.

Testing of the starter may reveal nothing. Based on the reported sound effects when this happened, if it were MINE, I would replace thaty starter, beyond a doubt/. imp

 

[spvert]

ALL warning lights came on, no steering, no brakes...

She got engine unsolicited stopped. Have no idea why.

 

[-tom-]

Thanks everyone for your help.

Just an update: I just got it back from the dealer and they told me they couldn't find anything wrong after testing the charging system and computer. I'm hoping it was a computer cliche that went away with a restart.

 

[spvert]

As an idea: I have a issue with cruise control on my 2005XLT which shutdown engine when speed is lower than 30 MPH. It's an error in PCM microcode. May be it was your computer issue?