weird electrical problem in camry...please help!

[andyman61]

i was driving the other night when all of a sudden my headlights, dash, and stereo all go dead. about 3 or 4 seconds later, they all come back on. 15-20 seconds later, just the stereo goes out. so i drive back to the dorms, with no other problems. i go to take it over to the local mechanic today, and as i'm going over there, the stereo flickers off and on a couple times.

he couldn't find anything obviously wrong with it. checked the battery, alternator, fuses, and relays. nothing.

i'm at a loss. electrical is definately not my strong point on cars. the only thing i can figure is a bad connection somewhere, possibly the ground wire. anyone know exactly where the ground wire goes on the 5s-fe? i poked around under there for a little bit but couldn't find anything out.

thanks for any help!

[karazy]

Each system has their own ground, so that is probably not the problem. If none of the fuses are blowing, it is more likely an open cct than a short. The one thing that is common with these systems is the ignition switch. This would be a good place to start looking for loose wires and signs of arcing.

[andyman61]

what does cct stand for? and where specifically should i start looking for loose wires? thanks!

[Mike Gerber]

cct means circuit.

I think karazy is correct with the igniton switch. You can try to test this by starting the car and jiggling the key a bit in the switch. See if you can duplicate the problem.

Mike