I was driving my 2006 Elantra last night in a parking lot, when I suddenly lost steering and acceleration, and the check engine, check oil, and battery lights all came on. Braking was unaffected. Turned the key and the car restarted and the lights went off, and had no problem driving home. Any guesses as to what it could be? I'm not a "car guy" but all of the fluid levels looked fine (which is about the only thing I know how to check). The only incident involving the car that day was that the low gas light was on in the morning, so I added 3 gallons, then topped it off later in the day (where gas was cheaper). The loss of power occurred several hours later, with a full gas tank.

 

The engine probably just stalled and stopped running. When it does that, all the lights go on and the steering gets hard because the engine isn't running. I wouldn't worry about it unless it does it again.

 

Is there any particular reason why it might happen? It's my wife's car and I'd rather not have to worry about her getting into an accident.

 

The engine could stall for any number of reasons. Hard to say without being there are seeing what was going on at the exact moment it died.

 

Quick question: When you say "all the lights go on," do you actually mean all of them? Only the check engine, oil, and battery lights came on (in addition to the normal ones, like gear and speed). The other lights (airbag, seatbelt, etc.) weren't lit.

 

All the engine warning lights.

The check engine light came on because the engine died.
The oil (pressure) light came on because the engine died causing the oil pump to stop and the oil pressure went to zero.
The battery (actually the generator) light came on because the engine died causing the alternator to stop spinning and therefore stop generating electricity.

 

Ah, I see. Thank you very much!

 

I shoudl have been more specific in my original post but I just mean all the lights you mentioned in your post. I forgot to add that when the engine died it also stopped running the power steering pump which cause the steering to get hard. So everything that happened was totally normal except for the engine stalling. What caused that, unfortunately, I don't know.