2003 GMC Yukon XL. Question: Car was dying. Water added to battery. Battery overflowed. Now, after I hit a bumps in the road: Door locks "cycle", "Ding" sounds for about 10 dings or just a single "ding"ABS light, brake light, and "service brake system" light all go on,A/C turns off but resumes again after 2-10 minutes Car loses power & "reduced engine power" message comes on.
When that happens, I temporarily am not able to get car to go over 40 or so. If I take my foot off gas pedal and then depress pedal again , the problem disappears. NOW when the message appears, the car dies shortly after and I lose my power steering. Car restarts, but stalls at next bump. A brand new battery was put in -didn't help.
Answer: Well, first of all, you should not add water to any battery. That was only possible on old vehicles. If replacing the battery and inspecting the cables for corrosion did not fix it, then you have a wiring problem somewhere. Most likely a ground problem. There are several grounds on the engine, location depends on which engine is in your truck. On the back of the passenger side cylinder head, on the fenders, on the drivers side engine block below the exhaust manifold, etc. you can try to duplicate the bump that causes these problems by having the truck running at idle, and move around all the wiring harnesses under the hood. Do one section at a time. When the truck acts up, then you know you are in the general area and can now try to narrow it down. Have the system scanned for trouble codes as well.