Loss of all electrics

[rborist]

We have a 98 v6 auto, no modifications, 66,000 miles.
It has been serviced regularly & until recently we have not experienced any problems. However over the last month we have just started having a problem where the vehicle has gone completely dead. 1st time my wife was driving and as she pulled up to stop and park the vehicle died, there was ‘nothing’ there, no lights, no instrumentation, locking, ignition, nothing. We called for roadside assistance and the guy tested all the fuses with a metre of some kind and all were ok, he also checked a ‘solenoid?’ to test for power and that was ok and when trying the ignition again everything was back working. Went to the Ford dealer who couldn’t find any fault but suggested we replace the battery, which we did. Same thing has now happened again 3 times so I guess it wasn’t the battery, each time I have jiggled and poked this ‘solenoid’ (not a mechanic as you can tell) and the car has fired up again ok. Spoke again to Ford dealer who checked the model’s problem record with manufacturers and advised us that there is no problem like this listed.
Can anybody shed some light on this problem. Could it be this solenoid that is causing this problem, would it failing have this much effect on the car and if not are there any suggestions as to what else it might be. If you need any more information please ask away. Thanks in anticipation of your help.
I have a photo of the ‘Solenoid’ but find I can’t attach it for you to see what I am taking about. I’ll try and describe its position, if anybody wants to e-mail me I will return a copy as an attachment, unless you can suggest any other way of me getting this image on the board. As you are looking in the engine compartment from the front, this solenoid is on the right (near side) attached to the body / wing, two threaded terminals I guess one negative and one positive, the negative has a black rubber cover over it!

Peter

 

[Alec]

Have you checked the alternator?

 

[rborist]

I haven't checked the alternator, however in between the intermittent times it fails there doesn't appear to be a loss or drain in power so I assumed it wasn't this!

 

[rborist]

Sorry, I thought about your reply again, do you mean that the alternator might be faulty or that the connections might be?

 

[Alec]

both

Does the battery seem to be draining? This would happen with a bad alternator or connection, as the battery wouldn't be getting charged.

I don't have any other guesses now, let's see if anyone else has a clue. Saturday is sometimes a slow day though, hopefully someone else will help.

 

[rborist]

No the battery doesn't appear to be draining, the car starts without hesitation, ie not struggling, when you can tell a battery is going flat, or when this problem occurred there is simply nothing there. I don't mean that the battery appears flat and consequently the engine will not turn over but that there is just nothing working.
In addition to what I have previously said about the problem, when the car works again after this problem has occured the radio settings have been wiped and need to be reset! Also the last time this happened I had just set off from home and everything cut out, a good job that I wasn't doing 70 but now obvious why I need to sort this out in case either of us are.

Peter

 

[Sky1785]

Damn government testing

Maybe you were hit by and EMP?

 

[Alec]

Could it be a problem with the battery cables? Obviously it's a systematic loss of power, and the fault must lie somewhere that flows all the power for the truck. There are only a few places that are responsible for all the power. Hmmm, I wonder what solenoid you're talking about. I don't think it would be the starter solenoid, as I don't think that's connected to accesories such as the radio. :thinking:

 

[Jason_25]

Ok start her up, make sure not to get your hand caught in moving parts, and start wiggling! When the wire you wiggle turns the truck off you have a lead.....