Q: Car lost power & acceleration on the interstate
While driving on the highway, suddenly there was a message in the cluster saying that I was driving at low rev high speed - and I was at 70 mph! Then the car immediately lost power, no acceleration, and I had to pull over to the side of the highway. After that, there was a buildup of heat and steam was coming out. It was like the car was dying. It was very frightening. I was late to work, of course, and I left the car to sit a while. Later we got the car to the dealer and they said that the car didn't record anything. Fortunately I had taken a picture of the cluster about the problem. They still told me that even with the picture, that the car was fine. Please tell me what to do, where to go, how to get my car fixed. Thanks.
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Hello there, an intermittent car dying issue like you have described is an unusual case. A variety of faults can cause the car to die in this manner such as the fuel pump, battery, wiring, battery cable, or the ignition switch.
When steam is seen it is usually due to the coolant getting on a hot engine component. From the sounds of things the vehicle runs normally after the fault now. These type of issues can be notoriously difficult to diagnose unless the fault is witnessed by the technician at the exact moment it happens.
Given that the car died though there is obviously a fault that occurred, finding it will take time and probably driving it more than once. I suggest having a qualified technician, such as one from YourMechanic, diagnose your loss of power to pinpoint the issue. An accurate repair can then be made once the problem is evident.
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