Anodyne
New Member
- Joined
- August 23, 2014
- Messages
- 1
- Reaction score
- 0
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 2003 Ford Explorer V6flex
(2003 Ford Explorer V6 flex fuel)
Ok so I've been trying to diagnose an intermittent no-start no-crank problem, testing the ohms between various points in the circuit to isolate the problem area, when I figured (yesterday) that I better go ahead and clean the battery terminals with baking soda water + wire brush just to be sure (although they looked pretty much okay).
Stupid, unattentive me left the battery junction box cover open, and I can see dried flecks of baking soda on the fuses etc (not an awful amount, but it's there).
So anyways, today I tried hooking the battery cables back. I hook the positive, then the negative. As soon as the negative touches the terminal I hear a relay click. I can't tell which one it is, but I've pulled almost all of them and still hear it.
I put one end of the multimeter on the end of the negative cable (where it would attach to the battery terminal), and the other end to the end of the negative cable (where it attaches to the fuse box), and I get a very high ohm reading (thousands). The direct connection from positive cable at battery to positive cable at fuse box is fine, no resistance.
Does that suggest that the problem is in the cable itself somewhere (or a loose ground or something?), or did I short something trying to clean the battery?
I'm looking at the wiring diagrams now and it's dizzying. Any advice would be much appreciated, thanks.
Ok so I've been trying to diagnose an intermittent no-start no-crank problem, testing the ohms between various points in the circuit to isolate the problem area, when I figured (yesterday) that I better go ahead and clean the battery terminals with baking soda water + wire brush just to be sure (although they looked pretty much okay).
Stupid, unattentive me left the battery junction box cover open, and I can see dried flecks of baking soda on the fuses etc (not an awful amount, but it's there).
So anyways, today I tried hooking the battery cables back. I hook the positive, then the negative. As soon as the negative touches the terminal I hear a relay click. I can't tell which one it is, but I've pulled almost all of them and still hear it.
I put one end of the multimeter on the end of the negative cable (where it would attach to the battery terminal), and the other end to the end of the negative cable (where it attaches to the fuse box), and I get a very high ohm reading (thousands). The direct connection from positive cable at battery to positive cable at fuse box is fine, no resistance.
Does that suggest that the problem is in the cable itself somewhere (or a loose ground or something?), or did I short something trying to clean the battery?
I'm looking at the wiring diagrams now and it's dizzying. Any advice would be much appreciated, thanks.
