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Car Forum / Ford / Ford Explorer / September 2007Wierd electrical on 2000
Good newsgroup. I read here often, especially since we have 2 Explorers, and found answers in the archives plenty of times. But finally found something I need to discuss. If anybody can help, I'd certainly appreciate it. A couple of weeks ago, the wife's reliable 2000 XLS with 78K miles had a problem. The dashboard volt guage was reading low and the battery light was on. I took the alternator to the parts store and they checked it on their alternator machine: bad. All they had in stock was a rebuilt one, but it looked identical to the one I removed, so I bought and installed it. Success. While I had the time, I next replaced the Rear ABS sensor because the ABS dashboard light had been on for a while but the braking was excellent, so I suspected the sensor. Again, success. A couple of days later, the battery goes dead. I took it the parts store and they said it appeared to have a bad cell. OK, the battery was a couple of years old, and considering the alternator trouble, I wasn't shocked. I installed a new battery and new terminal- connectors. Here's the strange part. I start the car and the dash volt guage pins to high, the battery light and ABS light both come on again. I drive to the parts store to have them check the new battery out (or find anything else electrical wrong.) I didn't know they closed early on Sunday. As I'm locked out, I go to leave and start the car. Everything is normal! No idiot lights are on and the volt guage on the dash is normal again. I took the car to the parts store the next day and the battery tested fine. The alternator was charging 14.02 at 2000 rpm. No problems. I told them about the strange behavior right after I put the new battery in, and they said that "the onboard computer was just resetting. Not to worry. Looks good now." We drive the car every day for a week and everything is fine. However, this morning she drives about an hour away to visit her grandmother, and right when she gets off the freeway, the battery light and ABS light come on and the volt meter on the dash pins high. Any ideas? Thanks. -------------------------------------------------- DocE "The future ain't what it used to be." -Yogi Berra -------------------------------------------------- Well, it looks like nobody took a shot at my question but I guess it was a tough one. I will add the solution here for those seeking info in the archives in the future. It appears that the parts house sold me an alternator containing a bad voltage regulator, hence the sporadic pegging of the dashboard volt guage, and dashboard warning lights coming on. I exchanged the rebuilt alternator for another rebuilt one, and so far, so good. -------------------------------------------------- DocE "The future ain't what it used to be." -Yogi Berra -------------------------------------------------- >Well, it looks like nobody took a shot at my question but I guess it >was a tough one. I will add the solution here for those seeking info [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > "The future ain't what it used to be." -Yogi Berra >-------------------------------------------------- Even though your original post appears to have been written on sep 4 it just showed up on my ISPs server today along with your own reply to it. I'm glad you posted the solution, we often never know what happened. > >Well, it looks like nobody took a shot at my question but I guess it > >was a tough one. I will add the solution here for those seeking info [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > it just showed up on my ISPs server today along with your own reply > to it. Aha, that explains it. I think posting from Google isn't an exact science anymore. I liked it when they first went to the Beta because it was fast, but I probably should go back to a real news-server. > I'm glad you posted the solution, we often never know what > happened. Thanks. The newsgroup archives are full of helpful and interesting info. I generally check here first before even searching the web whenever I have an Explorer question. -------------------------------------------------- DocE "The future ain't what it used to be." -Yogi Berra -------------------------------------------------- > GUEST wrote > Good newsgroup. I read here often, especially since we have [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > A couple of weeks ago, the wife's reliable 2000 XLS with 78K mile ha > a problem. The dashboard volt guage was reading low and the batter > light was on. I took the alternator to the parts store and the > checked it on their alternator machine: bad. All they had in stoc wa > a rebuilt one, but it looked identical to the one I removed, so > bought and installed it. Success > > While I had the time, I next replaced the Rear ABS sensor becaus th > ABS dashboard light had been on for a while but the braking wa > excellent, so I suspected the sensor. Again, success > > A couple of days later, the battery goes dead. I took it the part > store and they said it appeared to have a bad cell. OK, the batter > was a couple of years old, and considering the alternator trouble > wasn't shocked. I installed a new battery and new terminal > connectors > > Here's the strange part. I start the car and the dash volt guag pin > to high, the battery light and ABS light both come on again. driv > to the parts store to have them check the new battery out (or fin > anything else electrical wrong.) I didn't know they closed early o > Sunday. As I'm locked out, I go to leave and start the car Everythin > is normal! No idiot lights are on and the volt guage on the dash i > normal again > > I took the car to the parts store the next day and the batter teste > fine. The alternator was charging 14.02 at 2000 rpm. No problems. > told them about the strange behavior right after I put the ne batter > in, and they said that "the onboard computer was jus resetting. No > to worry. Looks good now. > > We drive the car every day for a week and everything is fine However > this morning she drives about an hour away to visit he grandmother > and right when she gets off the freeway, the battery light and AB > light come on and the volt meter on the dash pins high [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > "The future ain't what it used to be." -Yogi Berr > ------------------------------------------------- Hello I'm glad that you solved the issue yourself It might be a good idea to buy an inexpensive voltmeter, a multimeter For a $20 tool you can use it to do most checks yourself at home etc You mentioned "...and new terminal connectors....", does this mean that you cut off the origina battery terminals? If so then that was a mistake. I don't refer t stereo bolt together terminals, those are different and no necessarily bad. Many people have great success with those fo primary battery terminal ends Any of the bolt on battery terminals are temporary repair devices they will have increased corrosion in them as time passes. Sometime they will fail in a few months, sometimes it takes years, but the fail. The connection through those will eventually fail, and th engine will not start. The best answer to faulty battery termina ends is to replace the entire cable. Regards On Sep 10, 8:49 am, 98Mountain...@comcast-dot-net.no-spam.invalid > Hello, > I'm glad that you solved the issue yourself. > > It might be a good idea to buy an inexpensive voltmeter, a multimeter. > For a $20 tool you can use it to do most checks yourself at home etc. Thanks. I didn't mention using it for brevity, but I have one. I used it and I was pretty certain the alternator was bad the first time, so I went with the store's alternator machine to confirm this, and with the rebuilt, but defective second alternator, when it acted up the first time, I was by myself, so it was easier to hit the parts store (very close to home) where the guy could put his meter on it while I reved the engine enough to test the alternator. After that, it would only act up when it was away from home! But I am fairly certain that the defective alternator with the bad voltage regulator killed the old battery. The old battery showed only 9 volts when I took it out to replace it. It was normal when I checked it the first time, when the old alternator went down. > You mentioned "...and new terminal- > connectors....", does this mean that you cut off the original [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > engine will not start. The best answer to faulty battery terminal > ends is to replace the entire cable. Regards, Yes, I used the "stereo bolt together terminals." I didn't see corrosion. I only replaced the rinky-dink stock terminals because they didn't seem to tighten very well, and I wanted a good connection. I did this on a couple of previous Fords I owned too with good results. But I certainly appreciate the advice on replacing the whole cables. I'll probably set some time aside over the winter to do some preventive maintenance and at that time, I'll look into replacing the cables. Thanks very much for your input. -------------------------------------------------- DocE "The future ain't what it used to be." -Yogi Berra -------------------------------------------------- > GUEST wrote > Good newsgroup. I read here often, especially since we have [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > A couple of weeks ago, the wife's reliable 2000 XLS with 78K mile ha > a problem. The dashboard volt guage was reading low and the batter > light was on. I took the alternator to the parts store and the > checked it on their alternator machine: bad. All they had in stoc wa > a rebuilt one, but it looked identical to the one I removed, so > bought and installed it. Success > > While I had the time, I next replaced the Rear ABS sensor becaus th > ABS dashboard light had been on for a while but the braking wa > excellent, so I suspected the sensor. Again, success > > A couple of days later, the battery goes dead. I took it the part > store and they said it appeared to have a bad cell. OK, the batter > was a couple of years old, and considering the alternator trouble > wasn't shocked. I installed a new battery and new terminal > connectors > > Here's the strange part. I start the car and the dash volt guag pin > to high, the battery light and ABS light both come on again. driv > to the parts store to have them check the new battery out (or fin > anything else electrical wrong.) I didn't know they closed early o > Sunday. As I'm locked out, I go to leave and start the car Everythin > is normal! No idiot lights are on and the volt guage on the dash i > normal again > > I took the car to the parts store the next day and the batter teste > fine. The alternator was charging 14.02 at 2000 rpm. No problems. > told them about the strange behavior right after I put the ne batter > in, and they said that "the onboard computer was jus resetting. No > to worry. Looks good now. > > We drive the car every day for a week and everything is fine However > this morning she drives about an hour away to visit he grandmother > and right when she gets off the freeway, the battery light and AB > light come on and the volt meter on the dash pins high [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > "The future ain't what it used to be." -Yogi Berr > ------------------------------------------------- Ver good, I'm glad to be here and sharing thoughts. Regards > Good newsgroup. I read here often, especially since we have 2 > Explorers, and found answers in the archives plenty of times. But [quoted text clipped - 44 lines] > "The future ain't what it used to be." -Yogi Berra > -------------------------------------------------- Just a word on rebuilt alternators and starters. The cheaper ones are notoriously bad. I think the way they "rebuild" them is ship them overseas where they sandblast them and ship them back. I'd gone through 2 bad alternators in a row before I wised up and bought a quality name brand one which worke fine (and still does 8 years later). R&R 3 alternators and 3 round trips to the parts store- That's a lot of wasted time and labor, I recommend getting a quality name brand one a little more $$ but well worth it. Even if the cheap rebuilt one works when you install it, how long it will work is a real unknown. > Just a word on rebuilt alternators and starters. The cheaper ones are > notoriously bad. I think the way they "rebuild" them is ship them [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > little more $$ but well worth it. Even if the cheap rebuilt one works > when you install it, how long it will work is a real unknown. Great advice. I wanted to go for the extra $30 bucks and get a new alternator but they had none in stock, so I went for speed and took the rebuilt one. It was evidentally an identicle alternator, squeaky clean and a bit pitted like it had been sandblasted, and a sticker on it said, "rebuilt in Mexico." Obviously, the voltage regulator in it was no good, and my plan to save time backfired, as I had to figure out what the hell was going on, install an alternator twice, and I also lost a probably still serviceable battery in the process. Go with the quality new one, folks. -------------------------------------------------- DocE "The future ain't what it used to be." -Yogi Berra -------------------------------------------------- |
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