mplspug
Member
- Joined
- June 18, 2003
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- 13
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- City, State
- Saint Paul
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- MN
Here's the info and I hope someone can help verify some things and offer some trouble shooting help. I did a search and there are so many similar situations, but I thought if I explained mine it would be easier to provide more specific help for me.
I have a 92 explorer. Last Wednesday we had some strong storms role through and I got caught in it. Had I stayed home afterwards, I would probably still be driving it. I went through some big puddles on accident or because I had no choice. The water was very high and up to the doors at least. It still ran and I didn't notice any interruptions or issues with my electrical system that night.
The next day I went to start it and it clicked and may have turned over once or twice, but then the charge on the (dash) volt? gauge went to nothing. I tried jumping it a couple of times that day and the next. It wouldn't take a charge (no spark). Well there would be a spark or two if it had been sitting and we connected it, but not much and it would stop sparking completely. Since I went through water I have been concerned that something got wet and is shorting it.
Today we took the battery in and it was dead. So I got a new one and hooked it up. She started once and dies fairly quickly but then it ran. I attributed the first stall to not being run for a couple of days because it ran a little rough. The second time it smoothed out.
I then turned it off and went to start it and a couple of clicks was all the we got. We worked with the connections mostly from there with no luck. However the negative cable looks fairly bad and should be replaced. The connections could be replaced too. There was a sulfur smell the last time we tried turning it.
So any ideas where I should start? My fear is a short in the starter (we checked out the connections and they are good) and the electrical loop is just bad somewhere and not completing, thus draining the battery. Of course, I am far from knowledgeable on cars, so that may have made you snicker. The alternator is new enough to that I can rule that out. By the way, when we had it running with the new battery the gauge was normal.
So bearing in mind that I drove it though flooded streets easily up to the bottom of the engine block, that it drove fine until I shut it off over night, the battery is new, the POS cable is new but showing corrosion at the connection where it was crimped, the NEG cable looks poor, there was the smell of sulfur and the starter is fairly new too with no apparent bad connections, where do I start?
I hope that I explained myself thoroughly that I will get some good advice and other who experience the same lack of good decision making after a storm will be helped by this thread.
I have a 92 explorer. Last Wednesday we had some strong storms role through and I got caught in it. Had I stayed home afterwards, I would probably still be driving it. I went through some big puddles on accident or because I had no choice. The water was very high and up to the doors at least. It still ran and I didn't notice any interruptions or issues with my electrical system that night.
The next day I went to start it and it clicked and may have turned over once or twice, but then the charge on the (dash) volt? gauge went to nothing. I tried jumping it a couple of times that day and the next. It wouldn't take a charge (no spark). Well there would be a spark or two if it had been sitting and we connected it, but not much and it would stop sparking completely. Since I went through water I have been concerned that something got wet and is shorting it.
Today we took the battery in and it was dead. So I got a new one and hooked it up. She started once and dies fairly quickly but then it ran. I attributed the first stall to not being run for a couple of days because it ran a little rough. The second time it smoothed out.
I then turned it off and went to start it and a couple of clicks was all the we got. We worked with the connections mostly from there with no luck. However the negative cable looks fairly bad and should be replaced. The connections could be replaced too. There was a sulfur smell the last time we tried turning it.
So any ideas where I should start? My fear is a short in the starter (we checked out the connections and they are good) and the electrical loop is just bad somewhere and not completing, thus draining the battery. Of course, I am far from knowledgeable on cars, so that may have made you snicker. The alternator is new enough to that I can rule that out. By the way, when we had it running with the new battery the gauge was normal.
So bearing in mind that I drove it though flooded streets easily up to the bottom of the engine block, that it drove fine until I shut it off over night, the battery is new, the POS cable is new but showing corrosion at the connection where it was crimped, the NEG cable looks poor, there was the smell of sulfur and the starter is fairly new too with no apparent bad connections, where do I start?
I hope that I explained myself thoroughly that I will get some good advice and other who experience the same lack of good decision making after a storm will be helped by this thread.