Such a stupid problem to have

[navid41691]

What's up with my car shutting off and all the electricity cutting out when I put my high beams to the permanent on position? Doesn't do it when I flash them (pull lever towards me)

Any ideas?
Bad ground? short somewhere? but where? Thanks

[Sputnik]

Sounds like a short to ground problem... Do you pop any fuses afterwards?

[navid41691]

If i'm driving, i just keep going in gear till it starts back up (usually 5-10 seconds after it shut off) and if it happens when i'm at a stop, i reset the battery and it's all good again.

So no, all fuses stay intact.

[jlevie]

Sounds like munged wiring to me. Improperly installed aftermarket electronics is a popular cause. If that applies I would start looking there first.

[gearheadE30]

Has your car ever had an aftermarket alarm? I've seen a few that are hooked up so the highs flash when the alarm goes off...aftermarket alarm installs rarely work correctly forever.

[navid41691]

Sounds like munged wiring to me. Improperly installed aftermarket electronics is a popular cause. If that applies I would start looking there first.

The only after market electronics installed are hid low beams and head unit. They were both installed almost a year ago which is why it's weird that this problem just started.

Has your car ever had an aftermarket alarm? I've seen a few that are hooked up so the highs flash when the alarm goes off...aftermarket alarm installs rarely work correctly forever.

never had one.

Also, the problem goes away by itself. hit my high beams in my driveway when i got home last night just to see if it did it again and sure enough it did shut down so i just left it and it was fine again when i started it this morning.

[jlevie]

Check all of the primary power & ground connections. I'm not at all sure that is the cause, but that is a possibility. After that you are going to have to use a meter or test light and the car's wiring diagrams to see what is happening.