Battery Light Flashing & Low Battery Gauge

[xolilbaby]

So this roughly starting about 3 days ago when I was driving on the highway, all of a sudden my battery gauge is low and my battery light is flashing at me. I went and took it to Autozone and they checked it with a battery checker. He wasn't getting a connection and when he did, he said it's a connection problem at the terminals to go home clean it and it will be fine. I did that today... after starting it twice I finally had the right amount of battery level on the gauge and no flashing light. I went to get my check, and came back out and started it just to find out it was low again. I had to make it home, and I did. But I'm just lost as to way it's doing that. (the battery is only 2 years old and when the guy checked he say the thing say the alternator was fine)


Any clues?

 

[lynchy wa]

Sometimes 2 years can be the life of a battery if it is too small for the application. After you clean the terminals put grease around them to stop corrosion re-forming. Try charging your battery with a charger maybe? Make sure the clamps are connected solidly to the leads (no frayed or loose copper)

 

[xolilbaby]

Ohh that would suck, I don't have a battery charger... can I take it to Autozone and have them charge it?

 

[lynchy wa]

Im not sure on that one, but a cheap battery charger wouldnt set you back too much. If they sell batteries they should charge them but it'll take more than a few hours.

 

[xolilbaby]

And you think it just needs a good ole charge?

 

[lynchy wa]

Its the cheapest way to check. Even if you can borrow one, put your battery on charge overnight put it on a peice of wood not on concrete as it will take longer to charge on bare concrete/cement. If your battery goes flat again I s'pose you'll be up for a new one. If you do get a new one, like any important part of the car get the best you can afford and make sure it has the right cca number for your truck.

Check this out:http://www.batterystuff.com/tutorial_battery.html

 

[AMMO_HOOAH]

Just my 2 cents, but it could also be a corroded cable or loose one. It sounds like there's a lack of connection somewhere.

 

[Germ]

Autozone should take no more than 30 minutes to charge the battery...i should know...just did it 2 months ago lol.


check your cables as well there are times when my truck will literally lose ALL power out of nowhere after like 10 minutes of shutting it off...it's happened twice and both time the battery needed to be recharged off of a jump. very weird.

 

[ragajungle]

(Under the hood) PD BOX - fuse # 14 is a 30 amp mini-fuse for the Generator / Voltage Regulator= clean it=reseat it
according to the owners manual... thats for a 98. I also heard something about a fuse on the panel on the dash board not seating and causing this issue. Do a quick search on here... there is a sticky somewhere

 

[lynchy wa]

Well theres a few options I didnt think of. Hope this helps you.

 

[xolilbaby]

I'm taking the battery up to autozone today, so hopefully they can figure it out. If not the guy say he can give me a new battery because mine is still under warranty.

 

[ragajungle]

Did a little searching around for you and found some info:

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=145996&highlight=charging+issue&page=2 see post 27...


Also here is a Fuse location thread incase you don't have the owners manual:
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=180814&highlight=power+layout


-Good luck and make sure to check back in with what the resolution is

 

[xolilbaby]

thanks guys.

my dad just brought my new battery home, we noticed some of the wires were out so my dad twisted them together and put them back. I started it and the battery level gauge is in the middle. Seems to be fine now... so maybe it was needing a new battery.

 

[ragajungle]

Thanks for letting us know what got it fixed!

 

[xolilbaby]

No problem! Definitely can't be getting stuck with this storm.

 

[ragajungle]

We got nailed with the same storm about 1-2 hours ago, nasty nasty-opened the front storm door and the wind almost ripped it off the hinges and in 2 seconds of being open the entire front hall was filled with snow

 

[lynchy wa]

Sounds savage. I'm glad the battery problem is sorted.

 

[G-96XLT]

I had rusting and corrosion problems of the battery cables on both my explorers. I fixed both with a $4 battery clamp. This seems to be a widespread problem. What you do is cut off the old battery clamps and splice back the wire about 1 inch until you see clean wire, then screw on the replacement terminals. Both my exes have replacement terminals and they work fine, no sense replacing the whole cable.

 

[xolilbaby]

UGHHH!!!!

So I went out to start my exploder this afternoon to head to work. And the battery light was flashing at me and the gauge was low. I had no other way to get to work so I prayed it would make it... it did. (I only work 9 miles from my house) Now I'm scared to go out and have it not start because no one I work with has jumper cables.

As for the cutting the cables, if i cut the one it will be too short and won't reach. What the hell is draining a brand new battery?!?

 

[lynchy wa]

Maybe check the junk yard for cables that are in good nick and its definitely not the alternater?