2000 Explorer intermittent total power failure

[Doug N]

Folks: DugIn here, from Missouri. My daughter drives our 2000 Explorer. She reports that the vehicle's electrical system "goes dead" intermittently, at highway speeds, and then returns to life moments later, without her doing anything either to initiate the "going dead" or "return to life". She also reports, when the vehicle doesn't return to life, that letting it sit "dead" on the side of the road for a period of time allows it to "return to life" once more. No codes are being recorded. I know that the description is kind of imprecise, but I've not personally driven the vehicle and had this happen, so I'm going on what she'd reporting. Any ideas about what might be the problem? Searching the web for "2000 ford explorer intermittent power loss" shows that others have had this problem, but the fixes information is a bit sketchy. This sounds electrical to me, but I'd welcome any suggestions. Thanks for reading! DugIn

 

[Rick]

I would start by checking battery terminals and cables to make sure everything is tight and corrosion free.

After that I would take a look at the power center under the hood. It houses fuses and relays. In bad climates the electrical connections can become corroded.

 

[Doug N]

Replaced the battery; cleaned the battery wires; removed, checked, polished, and re-seated all the fuses and relays inside and out. So, I'm thinking it is a less obvious problem. d

 

[toypaseo]

Check for corrosion between the actual cable itself and the terminal. I had a turn to start, click, and everything dead problem. Shaking the positive cable would power things back on.

 

[Turdle]

Did you check the positive cable connection at the starter? The positive cable makes connection there first, then runs back up to the main power distribution box.