Need a little input from the pros | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

  • Register Today It's free!

Need a little input from the pros

ergibbs

Member
Joined
January 31, 2013
Messages
36
Reaction score
0
City, State
Costa Rica
Year, Model & Trim Level
1991 EB Explorer
I have a 91 Explorer that is giving me a little grief. Recently ran out to the store at night and the panel lights went out (just the panel) twice and came back on. 2 days later, went to start it up and the battery was completely dry (the battery was new in October of last year). Obviously thinking it was the alternator, put in a different battery, started it up and disconnected the battery - the beast kept running. (By the way, the alternator was supposedly reconditioned about 5 or 6 months ago) Charged the battery and installed it yesterday. She starts fine now but I'm sure there is still an issue somewhere. I started running tests with my multimeter using this site - Alternator Troubleshooting - as a guide but the results are inconclusive. There is no fluctuation in the meter when I turn on different systems. I didn't get a reading when running step 2 for the inline fuse, but if the fuse were bad, the vehicle would shut off if I disconnected the battery while running, wouldn't it? The charged battery is also leaking acid from the caps (never did before) which makes me wonder if the alternator is putting out too much of a charge. How can I verify? All help is greatly appreciated.
 



Join the Elite Explorers for $20 each year.
Elite Explorer members see no advertisements, no banner ads, no double underlined links,.
Add an avatar, upload photo attachments, and more!
.





have the car turned off for about an hour. Put the muti m,eter across the battery terminals. Should read about 12.5 volts.

Start teh car. If the Alternator and battery are happy the Meter should read 13.5 - 14V.

It's very possible your 'new' battery lost a cell. New batteries are not as dependable as they used to be. Shop owners will tell you. lately there are many more New battery failures.
 






Thanks for the input - will check it out. The battery may be bad, but that wouldn't explain the fact that the dash lights went out one night, would it? I just took the beast out for a spin and didn't notice any change in the voltmeter when revv-ing it and turning on different things (lights, AC, etc).
 






Thanks for the input - will check it out. The battery may be bad, but that wouldn't explain the fact that the dash lights went out one night, would it? I just took the beast out for a spin and didn't notice any change in the voltmeter when revv-ing it and turning on different things (lights, AC, etc).

The Voltmeter in the dash is a joke, you need a Multi meter at the battery
 






Checked the battery today and several of the cells seemed to be much lower than they were yesterday. I ran the car for about 15 minutes yesterday and can't find any indication that there is a problem with the alternator using my multimeter. I get a charge when probing the battery with the car running which makes me think that the alternator is working fine. If the fuse inside the alternator were bad, I wouldn't get anything, would I?
 






Back
Top