scubasteve98312
New Member
- Joined
- November 15, 2021
- Messages
- 2
- Reaction score
- 0
- City, State
- Salem
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 2013, Ford Explorer XLT
I have a 2013 Explorer XLT, stock - no modifications that I know of. Bought 2 years ago from a local Ford dealer, not sure of the history of it beyond that. Within the last few months I have, on 2 occasions, both times when it was raining, had the vehicle lose power and do a complete shutdown. Both times it was almost hurricane conditions on the highway.
-Lights On
-Windshield Wipers on HIGH
-Radio ON
-Nothing else on except all background lighting and standard systems that are always on.
The last incident was 3 days ago. I was able to get a jump start, but it took a solid 10 minutes of external charging to get the vehicle to start again. Once started, I received a brief "orange Wrench" light, but the light disappeared in 20 seconds after start. Thankfully it stopped raining while I was on the side of the road, and it did not fail again on my way to the auto hop to test the electrical systems.
From the loss of electrical power, i assumed the battery was being drained very rapidly by my headlights and wipers, and/or the alternator wasn't charging properly. A bad alternator seems most likely to me, but I have had the battery and alternator checked, and according to Autozone and Napa (took it to multple places - except the dealer as i didn't want the idea of quick money corrupting the outcome). Everywhere i have taken it gives me a printout of a good battery (12.4 to 13 volts) under load and a "good" charging system. I have had this truck checked multiple times under different conditions, running everything I can, with everything electrical on, and the only time I have had any failure is under driving conditions under heavy rain. I am totally baffled. I am not a Ford mechanic, but a decent mechanic in general. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Lastly, I have connected my OBD computer and the vehicle is not throwing any codes, nor does it have any codes stored, so nothing I can tell is wrong. After the jump start a few days ago, the truck starts perfectly normally, and drives quite well. The common denominator is all my issues is my wipers.....could my wiper motors be shorting out in the rain, or draining the battery so severely that it causes a system shutdown? How would I even test for this?
-Lights On
-Windshield Wipers on HIGH
-Radio ON
-Nothing else on except all background lighting and standard systems that are always on.
The last incident was 3 days ago. I was able to get a jump start, but it took a solid 10 minutes of external charging to get the vehicle to start again. Once started, I received a brief "orange Wrench" light, but the light disappeared in 20 seconds after start. Thankfully it stopped raining while I was on the side of the road, and it did not fail again on my way to the auto hop to test the electrical systems.
From the loss of electrical power, i assumed the battery was being drained very rapidly by my headlights and wipers, and/or the alternator wasn't charging properly. A bad alternator seems most likely to me, but I have had the battery and alternator checked, and according to Autozone and Napa (took it to multple places - except the dealer as i didn't want the idea of quick money corrupting the outcome). Everywhere i have taken it gives me a printout of a good battery (12.4 to 13 volts) under load and a "good" charging system. I have had this truck checked multiple times under different conditions, running everything I can, with everything electrical on, and the only time I have had any failure is under driving conditions under heavy rain. I am totally baffled. I am not a Ford mechanic, but a decent mechanic in general. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Lastly, I have connected my OBD computer and the vehicle is not throwing any codes, nor does it have any codes stored, so nothing I can tell is wrong. After the jump start a few days ago, the truck starts perfectly normally, and drives quite well. The common denominator is all my issues is my wipers.....could my wiper motors be shorting out in the rain, or draining the battery so severely that it causes a system shutdown? How would I even test for this?
