Strange car experience

[RoseRed]

I was in the car with my dad about 20 years ago as we were driving home from somewhere. It was quite a long journey and we were almost home when something strange happened. Before I describe what happened, I'd like to just point out that my dad is an engineer and complete sceptic, but this freaked him out.

It was dark. The first thing I noticed was that the digital display on the clock was fading. Then dad noticed that the whole dashboard display was also fading. We then realised that the car headlights had gone out as well as the indicators. None of the lights were working.

Soon after that, dad said there was no response in the accelerator pedal. Not only had the electrics faded and dimmed to almost nothing, but the mechanical power was also failing. He was worried that if we had to stop at traffic lights, we might not get going again. Luckily, we managed to coast along very slowly until we were nearly home.

Once we turned onto a road near home, all the power suddenly came back on, as if it had never happened. All the lights came back on and the power returned to the accelerator pedal. We got home safely.

My dad had a good look at the car the next day but couldn't find anything wrong with it. He then took it to a garage and told them what had happened. They couldn't find anything wrong with it. My dad had the car for another ten years after that incident, and nothing like it ever happened again.

The car was old when dad got it and this happened well over 20 years ago. There were no computerised parts to the car. It was all electrics and mechanics. Dad said he found it very strange that both the electrics and the mechanics were affected at the same time. He said the only thing he thought it could possibly be was the alternator but he dismissed that idea (I don't know why - perhaps some car fiend on here can explain that to me?!).

We joke about it being aliens draining the energy from the car.

I know literally nothing about cars, so please forgive my ignorance. Although dad is an engineer, he is not a car mechanic, so it's possible that there is a completely rational explanation for this fading of power from the car. If anyone here knows a lot about old cars, then please feel free to explain to me how this might have happened so that we can both lay this one to rest!

Thanks!

 

[Paintman]

Hi Rose.
Great story. The thing that springs to mind is if your Dad's car had a child it would be my lawn tractor
My neighbor, Trainman, is a locomotive mechanic and I'm going to bounce this one off of him.

 

[RoseRed]

Wonderful, thanks Paintman! If it's any help, the car was a Rover. The model was very much like the SD1 - hope that helps!

 

[Paintman]

Trainman works odd shifts. So this may take a day or two to catch him, and report back.
I put paint on the wall when the stores and restaurants are closed. So we really respect each other's sleep during the day.

 

[Duke]

Hi Rose, that's an interesting story. I am curious, however, what you meant when you said the "mechanical power was also failing?"

 

[RoseRed]

Trainman works odd shifts. So this may take a day or two to catch him, and report back.
I put paint on the wall when the stores and restaurants are closed. So we really respect each other's sleep during the day.

Of course - that's no problem at all! This has waited 20 years so it can certainly wait a few more days!

 

[RoseRed]

Hi Rose, that's an interesting story. I am curious, however, what you meant when you said the "mechanical power was also failing?"

I have no idea what I meant by that, other than when dad put his foot down on the accelerator pedal, the car did not respond. As I said, I know nothing about how cars work so I am just going by what Dad said and what I experienced that night. I simply witnessed the fading of all the lights and my Dad couldn't accelerate. I am calling the lights "electrical" and the accelerator "mechanical". Therefore, both of those things seemed to be failing at the same time.

Hope that clarifies it!

 

[Duke]

I have no idea what I meant by that, other than when dad put his foot down on the accelerator pedal, the car did not respond. As I said, I know nothing about how cars work so I am just going by what Dad said and what I experienced that night. I simply witnessed the fading of all the lights and my Dad couldn't accelerate. I am calling the lights "electrical" and the accelerator "mechanical". Therefore, both of those things seemed to be failing at the same time.

Hope that clarifies it!

Ok. Everything you described can be a function of a bad/failing alternator, although I'm sure the mechanic would have checked it. Besides, it only happened once, so I can't think what would cause a one time occurrence of a failuring alternator.

I will tell you the electrical systems in British cars were known to be quirky, if not totally unreliable. Back in the day a company called Lucus made a lot of their electronics, and apparently also made home appliances. There was a running joke among American automotive enthusiasts the Brits drank their beer warm because Lucus made their refrigerators.

 

[RoseRed]

Hi Rose, that's an interesting story. I am curious, however, what you meant when you said the "mechanical power was also failing?"

Upon reflection, I used the wrong phraseology. You are correct: mechanics don't have intrinsic power (I assume that's roughly what you are querying?). I see your point, but it doesn't change what happened. I'd still love to hear your theories on it!

 

[RoseRed]

Ok. Everything you described can be a function of a bad/failing alternator, although I'm sure the mechanic would have checked it. Besides, it only happened once, so I can't think what would cause a one time occurrence of a failuring alternator.

I will tell you the electrical systems in British cars were known to be quirky, if not totally unreliable. Back in the day a company called Lucus made a lot of their electronics, and apparently also made home appliances. There was a running joke among American automotive enthusiasts the Brits drank their beer warm because Lucus made their refrigerators.

Haha! Love the beer joke! Ok, well, it sounds as if the alternator could have been responsible, although strange that it only occured the once... It may be that we'll never know (which is really frustrating! ).

I've never heard of that company, Lucus... I'll ask Dad if he has.

Anyway, thanks for those insights!