ABS light comes on, engine dies won't restart

[Uncle B]

We recently obtained an '01 Ranger about 1 month ago. Yesterday while driving the abs light came on and the engine died and wouldn't restart just click. The battery tested bad and was replaced. Today while driving the ABS light came on and it died and would only click. I jumped it off and got it home. I checked battery voltage and it was about 12.5 volts. After starting it was 13.4 volts. Any ideas what is going on??

Thanks in advance,

B.

 

[Turdle]

You have a bad alternator

 

[BrooklynBay]

What kind of condition are your battery cables in? You might have some corrosion, or a loose connection. Did you see if there are any codes stored? If the battery keeps going dead, there might not be any stored codes.

 

[Uncle B]

It shows that the battery is charging at a pretty good rate. Is there any way to test the alternator?

B.

 

[Uncle B]

The cables look petty good. I cleaned them before putting in the new battery.

B.

 

[Turdle]

I think there is a diode opened in the rectifier( internal to alternator)
IMO voltage should be over 14 with engine running

 

[BrooklynBay]

Clean the contacts on the other end of the cables (ground, and V+). Check for corrosion on fuses too.

 

[BrooklynBay]

The alternators with internal regulators tend to drop in output as they start to heat up. External regulators don't have this problem due to better heat sinking, and they are further away from the heat of the engine.

 

[Uncle B]

I rechecked the voltage it was about 13.8. I turned the lights on and the voltage dropped then it recovered. Then revved it up to 2000 rpms and the voltage went up to 13.9. I believe that you are right with the alternator being bad. It looks like it is going on the to do list for this weekend.

Thanks

B.

 

[BrooklynBay]

AutoZone has an alternator tester in their store. If you take it out, they could check it for you. Any alternator rebuilder could do it as well. An alternator rebuilder could repair your old one, and it would be cheaper than buying a whole new one in AutoZone.

 

[Ranger Al]

ABS sensor... There is a sensor on the rear axle, call speed sensor or ABS sensor. It is right on top of the pumkin. That some time get dirty and often can not sense the mark on the gear. I would either remove and clean it or to be on the safe side you could purchase another from your local auto part house. I got mine from Napa and they go for around $7 - 10...


good luck..

Ranger Al

 

[Uncle B]

Thought I would do a follow up on the problem. The truck had an aftermarket alarm. I disconnected the power to it and bypassed the the starter interupt with a 10 amp fuse. It has been about six months and not a problem.

B.