I had a similar experience with my car this past Friday. I was leaving work and I went to start my car. Car was cold and was sitting outside all day. Engine started and was idling fine but my car electronics went crazy. The dome light was turning on and off, the instrument cluster was flashing every possible warning, tach was bouncing between 0 RPMs and 1000 RPMs and there was a rapid clicking on the left side of the console by my left knee. Shut off the car and restarted it and it did the same thing. On the fourth try the electronics settled down and I was left with a check engine light. At least I was able to drive the car home.

My car is a 2010 Ralliart with 28,000 miles and totally stock. Called the dealership and set up an appointment to bring it in the next morning. They tested my battery and alternator and they were all fine. They ended up reflashing my ETACS computer based on a TSB for headlights turning on and off on their own causing a low voltage condition?

Keeping my fingers crossed that this doesn't happen again. It was like my car was possessed!

 

What was your outcome with this? I got the following codes today on 09 RA when it started doing exactly as you described, only the car didn't stall. I just restarted the car and everything was fine besides a few stored codes that wouldnt clear

U0001 can bus failure
P1231 asc plausibility
U0141 etacs can timeout
U0121 ACD/ABS can timeout

I was touching the wiring inside the relay box earlier today and i had my battery cover off so I think I may have loosened the wires in one of the harnesses when I was fidgeting with the wiring.

 

OP, your electrical issue sounds exactly like this vid:

 

..

 

I had this exact same issue happen with my 2010 Evo X. I was just driving and first came the low tire pressure sensor warning, then brake system service soon and then the rest of the systems began to cascade one after another failing, until the tach and speedometer were bouncing around and I could hear relays clicking and so I pulled over and shut the car off. During the entire time the car continued to drive fine which was odd.

I pulled over and restarted the car and it started just fine, but it did have some residual codes which were body codes and drivetrain codes similar to the ones previously posted. I had the codes checked out by Cobb they said they were not sure what might have caused it but that I should be fine and that it was a very odd freak break in electrical communication. I deleted the codes on my AP and the issues has not reoccurred after another 700 miles.

One thing I will note that was different than normal when this incident happened was that I had my foglights on and I don't normally have them on.

 

When the internal voltage regulator in the alternator goes out it can cause intermittent spikes in the voltage. These spikes will make all sorts of lights come on, radio and gauges shut off, bulbs burn out, etc. I would check the voltage with a scanner; should be around 11-12 while running.

Edit* voltage should be 13+. 11-12 may show at idle but when driving it should be higher.

 

Before and after my incident, the voltage had read around the 14V range which is normal.

I don't think this issue is related to the alternator or battery, because the battery light never came on prior and it has never had any alternator issues before or after the incident.

I will agree that I think it has to do with either a spike or drop that cause the car to freak out, however, the car didn't freak out all it once. It took almost a minute of cascading system 'failures'.

 

Hey guys, this exact same thing happened to me this past Weds. I was able to get the car home, but that was it. After it was off and I tried to start it again it would not turn over. Just the warning and clicking like the video above. I had it towed to the dealership that night for them to work on it the following day. They diagnosed that it was the battery, so I had them replace it. Woke up this morning to go out and car started doing the EXACT same thing, even after the brand new battery. I checked the connections and they were tight and secure. I called the dealer and they are closed until Monday. :-S
I needed my car so I could not wait. The only way to get it to run again was to fully disconnect the battery for a few minutes and reconnect it. Then it started right up and no warnings. So now it starts up again without issue, but I am more than sure it is going to happen again. I will be calling the dealership on Monday to see what they can do.
Subscribed to this thread to see if anyone finds any solutions. Please keep the info flowing!!

 

Latest update...... Took the car into the dealership on Monday morning. Spoke to them yesterday and they have narrowed it down to the ETACS unit. They said that they had tried to reset it and reprogram it and the unit was not responding at all. They have ordered a new one, but will not get it in the shop until Thursday. I should be getting my car back Thurs afternoon. I think this will be it. Fingers crossed!

Would love to hear if anyone else has any updates.

Thanks,
Mike

 

Be aware of the condensation in your relay failure TSB.

 

So..... ETACS unit replaced. Car seems to be running fine. Will give it a few more days to see how everything goes. Fingers still crossed!

 

My ETACS has just failed and I ran into similar problems. Is this failure common? I can't find much information on it.