well i never really thought it would happen but not only was the house hit by lighting my car was too. I knew the house was hit because the computers blew out, the TV'* and the phones. So I went to get in the car to get new parts and no start. It was weird because the DIC started flashing all kinds of service warnings. Service Theft System, Service Stability System, Service Vehicle Soon. But when I turned the key to START everything went dead.

It got towed to the dealership and is there now....any guess as to what is going to happen?

I thought the car was the safest place to be to avoid lightning :?:

yea so did i. this was parked right next to the light post that got hit though. And it'* the only thing that could have happened to it because everything was running fine when i parked it that night.

if a car gets hit by lightning, wouldn't there be a burn mark in the paint from where it was hit? If it was hit you're probably looking at a fried computer. that high of voltage can't be good for it. A car is a safe place to get away from lightning because the tires don't allow the car to be grounded.

This is one of the rare ways a car can get hit by lightning and there will be a mark some where on the car? Doesnt have to be paint but could be windshield wiper, wheels, glass trim etc.

I'm guessing the pcm is fried maybe the alternator and fuse box too?

Is there EMF associated with lightening when it passes through an object? It may have scrambled the electronics.

I thought about that too. I just couldnt' remember what it was called so I didn't mention it.

Yep, most likely EMF. I once had a lightning bolt hit a tree on the corner of the street while i was at a stop sign. Every hair on the back of my neck went straight up and it scared the hell out of me. Car was fine but a lot of static electricity when I got out a few miles later.

Well I actually got the car back today (4th of July weekend for car service seem pretty slow). The lightning had fried the PCM, they had to put a new one in. So $362 later and a blown radio display the car is back working. Everything else seems to be OK and my On-Star light is no longer flashing red, just wish the radio display worked, oh well i can use the HUD for that and i'm sure that it'* alot of $$ to replace.

On a side note, the Ford dealership that my cousin works at they had 3 cars brought in that were hit by lightning and had to total 2 of them. I've never heard of stuff like this happening before I thought cars were pretty well grounded.

362$? Ouch. Cant that be covered under Homeowners Ins.?