Turning ignition kills battery power!

[quad]

Hi.

I was driving my car last night and stopped at a store. When I came back and unlocked the car I found that when I put the key in the ignition and turned it all the lights in the car went out and the car wouldn't start! I then disconnected the battery onsite and reconnected it. Sure enough, all the lights came back on. I locked the car with the remote and unlocked it. Again the same thing happened when I tried to start the car. All power was lost. I repeated this process about 4 times. Then I noticed that when I lock the car with the remote all the doors lock except for the driver's side. I can manually lock it but the remote doesn't work. I called AAA and they sent a driver to tow it. He hooked up a charger to the battery and was able to start the car that way.

I'm not sure why the car started doing this. Could it be the security key pad on the driver door or the anti theft device that needs to be serviced?

Any help would be appreciated since I need this car for my daily transport.

I bought the car on Ebay and since then I've had to replace the brakes, put in new carpet, install a new battery and now this. It's a 2000 Ford Explorer Sport 4x4.

Thanks!

Quad

 

[kfkodiak]

I would check your batery first. It may still have enough power to run the lights and door locks, but get flattened by the starter when you crank it. Hopefully that's all it is. Good luck!

 

[Az_NavajoRob]

I think Kodiac is on the right path. Check your battery connections and grouds real good. I've seen it where the electrical path will be fine for low amperage draws but when you put a high demand through it, like turning the starter moter, the circuit will "collapse" and not even carry the first light load. I've even seen wires that were corroded internally and looked fine until you asked it to carry alot of current then they went "dead". Usually this happens right by the battery terminals.

 

[quad]

Thanks for the tips. You guys are right, the connections to the battery were not good enough. I had redone the cable tips but the cables did not make good contact. It also looks like the alternator is going because the battery had to be recharged. That might also explain why the driver door does not want to lock because there is not enough power in the battery to drive the motor.

 

[TPLYNCH]

The drivers door lock not locking automatically is probably more a function of a bad lock actuator. Very common problem.

 

[hitman17mk]

Az_NavajoRob <- is right that is the porblem i had a old car with a ****ty battery conenciton and hte radio work fine but once u asked the battery to put out alot of amps througha ****ty connection is zaps it and u have to make a new connection on the termial

 

[jojobull]

Same problem as post

I'm also having the same issue as described in this post. 01 Explorer will not start and I'm losing all electrical power when the key is turned. I have replaced the starter twice, and battery including terminal ends. I have read out the wires for continuity. With the last starter change, the truck started 4 times before this issue happened. The previous issue I had power but the starter wouldn't turn over the engine. This time I lose everything. All connections are tight and clean.

History:
Car wouldn't start. Replaced starter then battery. Everything worked great for 1 week. Read all wires, relay, battery and cleaned everything. Replaced starter after bench checking and reading failure. 2nd starter only worked one day. Anyone have an idea what might be causing or have seen this before? I've already thrown a few hundred into fixing this damn thing. Thanks, JoJo

 

[StormChase99XLT]

G2 Explorers had a passive disabling system as a security feature. See if the problem persists without using your remote locks. Lock the truck before you get out and use the driver's side key lock to get back in. If it starts just fine, your security is being fooled by something.

You stated the driver's side lock is slow/sticks? There is a sensor there for that, and it used to trip my 99 XLT up until I replaced it.

This was very common in all US makes of sedans & SUV's made from the mid-90s until the mid-2000's.

 

[nick6053]

Get the alternator checked, but I doubt its bad... if the connections were not good that would affect the charging system.
Good luck