Pothole jarring question

[Ruflyf]

The other day I was traveling down hwy 90 further down than I usually go. This part happened to have some new potholes (due to katrina) that I wasnt aware of yet, anyway I hit one of them doing about 40-45mph. It wasnt bad enough to damage the rim or tire, but was a little jarring, normally i would just say "^&@#*!" then make a mental note of the loacation so I dont re-visit the hole.

What happened when I hit this pothole suprised me. The first thing I noticed was I lost all electrical power (for a second or two). Then the engine stumbled and died. Now coasting at 35-40mph and I come to the realization I have power again I put the tranny in neutral and start the engine up again. The engine started and everything seemed normal again, so I put it back into D, then a small transmission gearing occured, kinda like the tranny realized it was in the wrong gear for the current speed and made the adjustment.

However this caused the tranny light to start flashing, so I immediatly pull over fearing loss of fluid or something. After stopping and looking under the car(all clear), I hesitate a minute or so, no really sure if I should turn the key off or not to try to clear the flashing tranny light. Finally I do, then turn it back on restart the car, and drive off, everything back to normal.

I am wondering if this sounds like a loose connector that may have temporarily disconnected during the pothole jarring, or are these trannys just really shock sensitive and the computer sensed the abnormal tranny behavior and shut everything down?

I thought maybe the battery terminals may have touched something during the jolt grounding out everything and shutting it down, but i really dont think that happened.....any ideas?

Btw it was a dry night, no water was involved.

[VehiX]

I'd make sure the battery terminals are connected tightly. It sounds like you just lost power for a second and it took the computer a minute to catch up to what was going on when it started back up. I think you'll be fine but check those terminals and possibly the fuses inside the engine bay.

Do you have a battery tie down connected at the moment?

Is it possible something kicked up when you hit the pothole that may have hit one of the sensors connected to the tranny?

[tomdietrying]

Yep, it's the battery terminals. Just recheck and retighten them
Peace.
Tom

[Kenny]

I had my tranny light start flashing after I turned off onto a rough gravel road after having drove for four hours on the Interstate. After resetting it (disconnect power for about 15 minutes) all was well again. This was 4500 miles ago and all is still well.

I attribute the flashing transmission light to something getting jarred and giving a false alarm.

[Ruflyf]

Do you have a battery tie down connected at the moment?

Is it possible something kicked up when you hit the pothole that may have hit one of the sensors connected to the tranny?


Yes, the tie down is tight, as for something being kicked up, not sure I didnt hear anything hitting the undercarriage. I am going to look at the wiring / terminal connections.