2014 Ford Explorer electrical shutdown

[jmcgregor30]

Hey everyone, new to the forum.

My wife drives a 2014 Ford Explorer XLT 3.5L and just had an electrical issue in the rain for the 2nd time. The first time was about a month ago and it just popped the battery light and after a few minutes it went away.

This time it popped the battery light, lost abs, power steering, radio and then shutoff on her. I arrived about 20 minutes later and it started right up, I switched vehicles with her and drove it back to my work in the rain with no issues.

I'm assuming that water is getting into the connector at the alternator, but i also noticed that there aren't any splash shields underneath the engine compartment (we bought it used).

I searched the forums to try to find this exact problem and also looked online to see if the 2014's had splash shields but couldn't find anything.

I'm going to check the harness and alternator this evening but do the 2014's really not have a splash shield and have any of you ran into a similar problem you were able to find a fix for?

Thanks for any help you can provide!

 

[javaleo]

If you Explorer is AWD then you should have one of these under the engine bay

Lower Shield - Ford (DB5Z-9910494-A)​

 

[Odrapnew]

How many miles on vehicle and how old is the serpentine belt?

At around 60k miles, when I'd drive when it was raining (or behind vehicles with lots of spray), my belt would slip a bit and I could see lights dim and the wipers would slow down (no dash lights). Every so often, I would get a belt squeal as well, but not all the time.

I replaced the belt and the issue went away.

 

[jmcgregor30]

@javaleo , this one is not AWD.

@Odrapnew , 106k miles. She did mention that her belt is slipping when it's wet. I'll change that belt out while i'm in there too.

Thanks guys!

 

[peterk9]

If you Explorer is AWD then you should have one of these under the engine bay

Lower Shield - Ford (DB5Z-9910494-A)​

That is not a splash shield. It is used to direct air to help cool the PTU and transmission. It is found on vehicles with the tow package regardless of whether hey are FWD or AWD. Here is a picture of it on one of my previous Explorers. It sits behind the cutout in the front bumper valance.

Lower grille cutout?

I think I see a trend here but after reading the entire thread I still can't confirm... It seems that If you have no turbo and no towing pkg... no cutout. If you have towing but no turbo you have the cutout but no ductwork. If you have turbo,(with or without towing) you have the cutout with...

www.explorerforum.com

Lower grille cutout?

This is what it looks like directly.

www.explorerforum.com

Peter