Battery ? Connections ? Other ?

[davem]

I'm trying to diagnose an issue that my daughter is having 300 miles away at college with our 2001 Explorer 4.0 XLT with 183K miles. I'll do my best to describe the situation as best I can. Looking for some suggestions on what to look at next.

On Friday, she started the Explorer and stopped to run an errand. When she tried to start it after stopping for the errand, there was nothing, in fact, the dome light did not even come on. She got a jump start and drove to her dorm. (She had never reported any starting issues previously.) Later Friday night, I told her to drive it a few miles to recharge the battery a bit (she probably only went about 10 miles - not as much as I'd like). It was not driven on Saturday. On Sunday, she checked the battery connections (tightened the '-' a bit), and started it, but there was a little 'clicking' before it actually started.

The (Exide) battery is 22 months old. The store where it was purchased agreed to replace the battery on Sunday (full replacement warranty for 40 months). Once installed, it kinda turned over a little slow (according to her). I had her drive it 30 miles, thinking it might have discharged a bit while sitting on the store shelf.

We're gonna let it sit for a couple days and see how it starts on Tuesday.

I'm thinking it might be worthwhile checking the connections at the starter. But looking for ideas on other things to check. Alternator and/or voltage regulator could have affected the old battery, but would not have explained the initial start with the new battery.

Thanks.

 

[toypaseo]

The first incident sounds like one I have had, and just recently had again. Turn the key, click, and everything is dead. My ex-Ford mechanic ex-neighbor replaced my failing battery terminals with a pair of terminals pictured below. Just a spare pair he had in his toolbox. Worked great for years. Out of nowhere, the one-click-dead issue starts. I cleaned off all the corrosion, sanded the battery post, sanded the inside of the battery terminal, and hooked it back up. Still one-click-dead. Finally figured out that the unseen corrosion between the wires, and where the terminal clamps to the wire, was the problem. I cut off and stripped the two positive wires, cleaned up the internal area of the battery terminal where the wires go, tightened them in, and problem solved.

Within the last couple weeks, the problem showed up again. I just wiggled the positive wires, and starts fine. The two terminal bolts were kinda loose, so I tightened them up. I recently just changed those red and black terminals to solid brass terminals, hoping no corrosion will return.

 

[imp]

I'm trying to diagnose an issue that my daughter is having 300 miles away at college with our 2001 Explorer 4.0 XLT with 183K miles. I'll do my best to describe the situation as best I can. Looking for some suggestions on what to look at next.

On Friday, she started the Explorer and stopped to run an errand. When she tried to start it after stopping for the errand, there was nothing, in fact, the dome light did not even come on. She got a jump start and drove to her dorm. (She had never reported any starting issues previously.) Later Friday night, I told her to drive it a few miles to recharge the battery a bit (she probably only went about 10 miles - not as much as I'd like). It was not driven on Saturday. On Sunday, she checked the battery connections (tightened the '-' a bit), and started it, but there was a little 'clicking' before it actually started.

The (Exide) battery is 22 months old. The store where it was purchased agreed to replace the battery on Sunday (full replacement warranty for 40 months). Once installed, it kinda turned over a little slow (according to her). I had her drive it 30 miles, thinking it might have discharged a bit while sitting on the store shelf.

We're gonna let it sit for a couple days and see how it starts on Tuesday.

I'm thinking it might be worthwhile checking the connections at the starter. But looking for ideas on other things to check. Alternator and/or voltage regulator could have affected the old battery, but would not have explained the initial start with the new battery.



Thanks.

@davem

300 miles away complicates things. From your description, I would measure voltage at the battery terminals with the engine idling first, with headlights on. If acceptable, rule out alternator. Forget about the voltage regulator, they don't even exist in the real world anymore. Alternator check difficult, I know, given circumstances. 2nd. choice would be battery connections, terminals, at the battery. Disconnect them, clean the battery posts with sandpaper, the inside of the cable terminals with a round file. Grease the posts and inside the terminal holes with something like Vaseline. Tighten them good. Fair chance the problem will be gone. imp

PS: Connections at the starter are rarely a problem, but INTERNAL conditions of solenoid contacts are. One by one, the possibilities are eliminated, starting with most likely first, as well as most accessible.

EDIT: See the guy's post above mine; it came in as I was typing. He's on the same wavelength. Prevent corrosion at battery connections by greasing them up, AFTER cleaning the contact surfaces. Acid fumes always present there as well as heating developed during cranking the engine, cause high-resistance crap to build up at the connections, resulting in "click" instead of "Vroom"!

 

[koda2000]

My first thought would be loose/dirty/corroded battery terminals. The sheet metal OE clamps eventually rot away. I've had this happen to me on various vehicles multiple times over the years. Remove and examine the terminals clean or replace the terminal ends and also clean the studs on the battery. Reattach the clamps and make sure they're tight.

It's hard to diagnosis a problem from 300 miles away, but that's where I'd start. To me the biggest clue is the fact that the dome light didn't even light.

 

[Damienmore]

I had a problem like this on my Taurus, first the battery went bad and would completely die if the car wasn't started in less than 3 tries, then the starter went out and I had to get someone to beat on the starter with a wrench to get the car started, next the car died while I was driving down the road, autozone tested my alternator and told me my voltage regulator was bad, so I replaced that but it still didn't charge the battery, tried a new alternator, still no results. Turns out that a fuse blew and wouldn't let the battery get a full charge. most autoparts stores will check the battery and alternator for free, if they're good a fuse could be an issue preventing the battery from charging fully, or it could be dirty wires and terminals as mentioned above.

I might write a thread tomorrow as I actually replaced my terminals on my 00 Ex today

 

[davem]

Update:

After sitting for 48 hours, it started fine Tuesday.

After another 48 hours, it started fine Thursday............. and again on Friday.

So either the battery resolved the issue, or I'm simply waiting for the random/intermittent connection problem to re-surface. If/when it does, I'll try replacing the cable clamps.

 

[koda2000]

Coincidentally, a couple of days ago my daughter's 2000 5.0L Mountaineer wouldn't start. A click and then nothing (battery is less than a year old).

I got in and the dome light came on. I turned the key and the dome light went off and stayed off. I checked the battery terminals (one lead had a repair terminal on the cable). I removed the cables and cleaned the battery terminals and cable ends, then I reattached the terminals and decided to check to make sure the 2 bolts that hold the repair terminal to the wire were tight. They were quite loose. I tightened the bolts and the truck started normally and has been starting normally all week.

I am 99.9% sure you have a cable/terminal problem. I am 100% certain your problem has not miraculously healed itself.

 

[Mr. Alligator]

^^^^ yep. Best to fix it now, in your drive way, with your tools. The alternative is getting stuck in a random location, at a random time. If you fix this now, it is cheap and relatively easy.

 

[davem]

While my daughter was home over Thanksgiving, I checked the battery connections and noticed the negative clamp could not be tightened any further, yet the clamp was not very tight on the battery post (I could wiggle it loose by hand).

So I added a battery post shim, which allowed it to be tightened properly. I also cleaned the entire negative clamp itself, the part of the clamp that holds the wires, the wire ends themselves, and the battery post with a wire-brush/terminal cleaner, and coated it with dialectic (sp) grease.

Thanks for the suggestions.


(Please see another post for the latest issue !)