 |
 | Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us |
 | Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network |
Car Forum / Ford / Ford Trucks / August 200594 Ranger 2.3L electrical issue
I have a 94 Ranger 2.3 (splash if that makes ANY difference whatsoever) it doesn't seem to charge the battery anymore. A few weeks ago the volt meter started getting lower and lower, especially with the AC fan on high. The lights dim and flicker, worse at idle. I replaced the alternator, the old one was still good (bearings were dying so it needed swapped anyway) and the new one has good voltage (14.3 average) at the alternator. The battery is good. The voltage is low (10.5v at the battery), don't know why... it's been running like a piece of $hit lately too... basically all of a sudden. Driving at night, lights on, ac blowing and stereo on will nearly drain the battery in an hour. It's getting some charge, just not enough. If the voltage is 10.5 at the battery, the battery is *not* good. You may have a shorted cell. Check your battery cables and connections for excessive resistance/corrosion. You should get about 14 volts at the battery with the engine running, 12 or so with it off. > I have a 94 Ranger 2.3 (splash if that makes ANY difference whatsoever) it > doesn't seem to charge the battery anymore. A few weeks ago the volt meter [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > at night, lights on, ac blowing and stereo on will nearly drain the battery > in an hour. It's getting some charge, just not enough. > If the voltage is 10.5 at the battery, the battery is *not* good. You > may have a shorted cell. Check your battery cables and connections for > excessive resistance/corrosion. You should get about 14 volts at the > battery with the engine running, 12 or so with it off. I get that even without the battery being connected (at the leads). The battery is new, and even though there are DOA's this one is good. It's been tested and can run the ac, lights and truck for about an hour without any real trouble. 2 hours and it's slow to start. A 10V battery WOULD run your lights for a couple hours. A new battery should have 12.6 VDC, six cells of 2.1 V. It sounds like your new battery is not good accourding to your own checks and observations. And when your voltage is low the truck will run badly as it depends on normal voltage to fire the injectors and so on. You seem to be in denial about this truck. First the alternator was not bad, but the voltage kept dropping and the bearings were shot. Now the battery is not bad, but it only shows 10 volts when it should be 12.6V. GEt a good battery and you will probably be OK. > A 10V battery WOULD run your lights for a couple hours. A new battery > should have 12.6 VDC, six cells of 2.1 V. It sounds like your new [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > battery is not bad, but it only shows 10 volts when it should be 12.6V. > GEt a good battery and you will probably be OK. I appreciate where you're coming from, I do. Denial, no, it's a piece of sh.t with a helluva lot of miles on it. I'm saying that even without the battery, the output at the battery terminals is low. Even with another battery from my parent's ford exploder it has low voltage. Testing the points on the alternator itself there is sufficient voltage, just over 14 at idle. Basically what I'm asking, is there any fusible links or other weird crap that would force the voltage from the alternator to take an alternate circuit causing a voltage drop before it reaches the battery? He may have something shorting the electrical system. Maybe something like a door switch wearing through the insulation (not a complete short, just a weak point). Check around the starter to see if anything has gotten up into that area. On an older truck, I had a fuse link blown which kept the battery from charging. The amp meter never showed a charge. If you disconnect the battery completely, will it start normally after the same two hours? Clark > He may have something shorting the electrical system. Maybe something > like a door switch wearing through the insulation (not a complete short, [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > > Clark Thanks for your replies, they're all good. This one has what I believe I'm looking for... It only drains the battery while it's running. it will slightly charge with no extras on, like wipers, lights, a/c and fans, stereo... with those on it just pulls everything down. driving at night in the rain while it's 98°F with the a/c and radio going isn't a smart thing to do in the past month. I don't see any fusibles in the open, so if there are any, they're buried in the harness right? On another note, I charged the battery up and drove it, still runs like crap, so that's probably another issue altogether. When you crank the truck up, does the voltage showing at the battery go up to 14 or so or stay at the 10 volts you stated earlier? As far as there being some type of fuse, I heard once those things were in the alternator, but I don't have any manuals to check. The truck I was referring to was a 1956! You might want to take it somewhere to get the electrical system checked. As was mentioned earlier, the book I do have, mentions corrosion on battery cables can keep it from charging. Make sure the cable is giving you a good ground. Otherwise, maybe move some wires around, look under the dash. One of the hardest things to find is a broken wire inside the insulation. It may be completely severed, or have only a partial connection. Moving it might help, but you have to be watching something to see if it changes. It would seem logical a situation like this would need a major cable, like maybe a battery cable. Have you added any equipment lately? Maybe some type of voltage regulator could be messed up. I am just guessing about this stuff, someone with the right equipment could probably tell you quickly. Clark >> He may have something shorting the electrical system. Maybe something >> like a door switch wearing through the insulation (not a complete short, [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > On another note, I charged the battery up and drove it, still runs like > crap, so that's probably another issue altogether. > When you crank the truck up, does the voltage showing at the battery go up > to 14 or so or stay at the 10 volts you stated earlier? the more i use the starter the farther it drops... it's getting electricity, I just think it's taking an alternate route. You misunderstand what I am asking. Take a voltage reading with the truck shut down. Then take one with the engine running. The alternator should be charging the battery so the voltage should show higher than the 12 volts. If it is showing 14 or something close, the battery is probably being charged. Take all readings from the terminal posts, and not the cable. Have you changed out your voltage regulator? Clark > On Fri 12 Aug 2005 08:08:56a, Clark assaulted the computer and came up > with [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > electricity, > I just think it's taking an alternate route. > You misunderstand what I am asking. Take a voltage reading with the > truck shut down. Then take one with the engine running. The alternator [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] >>> go up >>> to 14 or so or stay at the 10 volts you stated earlier? at the moment, while off, it's 12.98v -- haven't used a/c, stereo or lights, just been tooling around town. It's developing more and more issues, maybe it's at "that point in its life" where everything's gonna go wrong. 230,000 miles. I've only done tune ups, timing belt, and other basic tune-up stuff to it... and bought it an alternator. Dave, if you do have something that is shorting to ground while running, that would be passing a lot of current. You might be able to spot something by feel. The shorted area should be very hot. Also, try removing fuses for circuits not needed to run the engine and see if you find one that brings the voltage back up. Don't let this simple, yet aggravating, problem make you give up on that beauty. > Dave, if you do have something that is shorting to ground while > running, that would be passing a lot of current. You might be able to [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > Don't let this simple, yet aggravating, problem make you give up on > that beauty. I am pretty sure I found it... the starter solenoid was corroded as all @# $k! I cleaned it off and get proper voltage at the battery now. When you crank the truck up, does the voltage showing at the battery go up to 14 or so or stay at the 10 volts you stated earlier? As far as there being some type of fuse, I heard once those things were in the alternator, but I don't have any manuals to check. The truck I was referring to was a 1956! You might want to take it somewhere to get the electrical system checked. As was mentioned earlier, the book I do have, mentions corrosion on battery cables can keep it from charging. Make sure the cable is giving you a good ground. Otherwise, maybe move some wires around, look under the dash. One of the hardest things to find is a broken wire inside the insulation. It may be completely severed, or have only a partial connection. Moving it might help, but you have to be watching something to see if it changes. It would seem logical a situation like this would need a major cable, like maybe a battery cable. Have you added any equipment lately? Maybe some type of voltage regulator could be messed up. I am just guessing about this stuff, someone with the right equipment could probably tell you quickly. Clark >> He may have something shorting the electrical system. Maybe something >> like a door switch wearing through the insulation (not a complete short, [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > On another note, I charged the battery up and drove it, still runs like > crap, so that's probably another issue altogether. |
Reply to this Message |
 Sign In
 Join
 My Latest Posts My Monitored Threads My Blog My Photo Gallery My Profile My Homepage Start New Thread Enable EMail Alerts Rate this Thread
|
©2008 Advenet LLC Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.