outkastnk
New Member
- Joined
- December 16, 2010
- Messages
- 8
- Reaction score
- 0
- City, State
- Houston, TX
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- '97 XLT
Hey guys need a little help here!!!
I have a 96' Ford Explorer 6-cyl OHV (Not sure if thats XL or XLT, its got power seats?) that I've had for about 3 months. I'll get right to the issue.
When I bought the car the guy told me the alternator was new and sure enough when I looked at it, it looked new, no dirt, clean coils, so i took his word. I noticed a problem when I had left my lights on one day last week, had to get jumped, and noticed my car was not staying on. The next day I had my battery charged at an autozone, replaced my terminals on my battery because they were AWFUL, and put a new ground cable. While stripping the wires I noticed the positive cable looked good, no corrosion, fresh. Still noticed my battery light was on in my dash, and volt guage was low. **According to the alt/battery diagnostic test ran at autzone, before I changed the terminals, the alternator read "open diode" and the battery needed a charge. After, i changed the terminals, the alternator tested no good and the battery had less CCA then it was supposed to. The guy told me I could get by with the battery though. The next day though, it was all good!!! The volt guage was more neutral, and moving when I accelerated, and no battery light on. Yesterday I noticed when I fired it up the volt guage on the dash fluctuated from low to normal a few times, with the battery light coming on when it dipped low, then it seemed to work normal! It seemed as if the alternator briefly was turning on and off as the battery guage dipped back and forth. Then it stopped. As i accelerated the needle moved graciously up which means its charging the battery as it should right? As of today, the battery guage reads neutral when driving, and no battery light on. I do notice when I come to a stop though it gets a little low, but no battery light. Could this be because of the battery? Should the needle be moving at all when driving? Should it be completely neutral when stopped? Any ideas of what could be going on? I'm not real good with electicity...
I did some research on the forums and found some threads about a couple fuses that could be the issue. I checked the fuse in the PDB and in the dash for the alternator. Both looked fine, intact. Thanks for your help guys!!
I have a 96' Ford Explorer 6-cyl OHV (Not sure if thats XL or XLT, its got power seats?) that I've had for about 3 months. I'll get right to the issue.
When I bought the car the guy told me the alternator was new and sure enough when I looked at it, it looked new, no dirt, clean coils, so i took his word. I noticed a problem when I had left my lights on one day last week, had to get jumped, and noticed my car was not staying on. The next day I had my battery charged at an autozone, replaced my terminals on my battery because they were AWFUL, and put a new ground cable. While stripping the wires I noticed the positive cable looked good, no corrosion, fresh. Still noticed my battery light was on in my dash, and volt guage was low. **According to the alt/battery diagnostic test ran at autzone, before I changed the terminals, the alternator read "open diode" and the battery needed a charge. After, i changed the terminals, the alternator tested no good and the battery had less CCA then it was supposed to. The guy told me I could get by with the battery though. The next day though, it was all good!!! The volt guage was more neutral, and moving when I accelerated, and no battery light on. Yesterday I noticed when I fired it up the volt guage on the dash fluctuated from low to normal a few times, with the battery light coming on when it dipped low, then it seemed to work normal! It seemed as if the alternator briefly was turning on and off as the battery guage dipped back and forth. Then it stopped. As i accelerated the needle moved graciously up which means its charging the battery as it should right? As of today, the battery guage reads neutral when driving, and no battery light on. I do notice when I come to a stop though it gets a little low, but no battery light. Could this be because of the battery? Should the needle be moving at all when driving? Should it be completely neutral when stopped? Any ideas of what could be going on? I'm not real good with electicity...
I did some research on the forums and found some threads about a couple fuses that could be the issue. I checked the fuse in the PDB and in the dash for the alternator. Both looked fine, intact. Thanks for your help guys!!