That week where every car had the same weird electrical gremlin

Last month, I had three different cars roll in, a 2015 Civic, a 2018 Escape, and a 2012 Silverado, all with the same exact symptom: the radio and dome lights would cut out randomly but the car would run fine. Took me a full day on the first one before I finally traced it to a corroded ground strap behind the dash on all of them. It was one of those weird patterns that makes you start looking for a common thread right away. Has anyone else seen a specific, odd failure pop up on multiple makes in a short time?

2 comments

2 Comments

campbell.evan16h agoTop Commenter

Weird how it's always the ground, right? Makes you wonder if there was a bad batch of straps from a supplier that got used across different brands. Maybe a certain year of anti-corrosion coating just failed early. It's the kind of pattern that feels too specific to be pure chance.

kim_nelson15h ago

Swapped to nylon straps and never looked back.