Disruptive
Member
- Joined
- June 20, 2004
- Messages
- 10
- Reaction score
- 0
- City, State
- Phila., Pa
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 97' Explorer
Ok guys, I need your help! Way back, I was able to get great advice from you which helped us solve our problem. Hoping you all can do so again. Bare with me because this may be long. I just want to provide you with the most info as possible so that you can, hopefully, better help me.
So, we have a 1997 Ford Explorer. Never really had any major issues. Just your typical wear and tear repairs. Within the last 1.5 years we handed the truck down to our teenage son.
I'd say about two years ago he was driving one day and came home to park the truck only to find that he could turn the car off, but not get the key out. In order to keep it parked, he had to throw it in N and then put the E break on. Anyway, after looking around on this site I saw that someone had something similar wrong and it ended up being a screw (gold) that fell out from under the steering column. We quickly went out to the car only to find, yup, you guessed it, a gold screw on the floor. We took the truck to a garage and they put it back in which allowed us to once again put the car in D, N, P (without being slightly off to the side, like previously). All was well.
Fast forward to about a month ago and son tells us he needed a jump home from work one day. Said the truck wouldn't start. After the jump he was able to make the 40 min drive home. He left it sit all day and it started later that night. He drove it a bit then parked it again. The next morning it wouldn't start. Let it sit. Then later that night my husband tried it and it started just fine. Our son took it out again a few days later and all seemed well. Then, after running into a local store he came out only to find he couldn't start the truck again. He was able to get a friend of his to come out and check under the hood. He told him the starter solenoid needed replacing and possibly the battery (the battery was about 7 years old anyway). So, he had the solenoid replaced a few days later and everything worked fine. He even took the truck to autozone to test the battery and they said it was fine. So we assumed the solenoid was indeed the problem. All was well.
Now tonight, we get a call from him, he's stuck about 30 min away. Says the car just died. He says before this happened he had stopped in a drive thru and tried rolling down the auto windows. It wouldn't go down. He then noticed the red battery light was flicking off and on and the lights got dimmer. He was still able to drive it about 10 more mins but had to keep it going pretty fast. As he was going downhill, he pressed the accelerator but there was no acceleration. Just drifting. He figured there was a problem so he pulled off and shut the truck off. It wouldn't start back up. He was able to get someone on the block to give him a jump and was able to make it home and to our local autozone.
He called me at this point to say he bought a new battery. Figuring that was the issue and that we needed it anyway regardless since it had been so long since we bought one. He also asked the guy to check the alternator. The guy said it fluctuated between 14.2 down into the 13's (he can't remember the exact number). But the guy told him to keep an eye on it. From what I read it's normal to be between 13.8 and 14.8. Is that true?
Anyway, since it was closing time when he arrived, the autozone guy told him he could come back tomorrow and he would be able to take "a piece" out (I guess something that's in the way?) to better check the alternator to see if it was indeed bad or not. He said my son could do that, and/or take it to a garage because he said it could also be electrical, fuses OR even that that same old issue with the bolt under the steering column could be a contributing factor. Funny he said that because we have not been able to put the truck completely in D, R or N. Like the little needle is off to the side and not actually on the letters.
My son also tells me that he sometimes has to pull some tricky moves in order to start the dang thing. Such as, if it doesn't start he has to turn the key forward once, push and hold the brake, shift into reverse, and then shift into drive, and then slam it into park and while he's doing all that he still has the brake down. The way he says that he knows that's gonna work is if after putting it in park (well if it goes into park), the doors will lock. He then turns the key back as if shutting it off and then unlocks the door and then he starts it and it comes on with no problem.
If none of that works, he takes the key out of the ignition and then he locks and unlocks the truck using the receiver. He then puts the key back in and tries it and it usually starts. Crazy, huh? And keep in mind sometimes it just starts fine with no problem and no crazy combinations need to be done.
Anyway, what does it sound like may be the issue? As you can tell, none of us are mechanics and we really don't have a clue as to what we're doing or looking for and we don't want to walk blindly into a garage and be taken to the cleaners. I mean, the truck is so old that we really don't want to put too much money into it. So we are hoping it's nothing major that is wrong. Although the truck doesn't really have that many miles on it. Just about 145,000. But from what I hear and know about Ford Explorers, they last waaay longer than that without any real issues.
Anyway, I greatly thank you for taking the time to read all of this and hope that I provided sufficient info and that you are able to possibly help me figured this out. Thanks so much!!!!!!!
So, we have a 1997 Ford Explorer. Never really had any major issues. Just your typical wear and tear repairs. Within the last 1.5 years we handed the truck down to our teenage son.
I'd say about two years ago he was driving one day and came home to park the truck only to find that he could turn the car off, but not get the key out. In order to keep it parked, he had to throw it in N and then put the E break on. Anyway, after looking around on this site I saw that someone had something similar wrong and it ended up being a screw (gold) that fell out from under the steering column. We quickly went out to the car only to find, yup, you guessed it, a gold screw on the floor. We took the truck to a garage and they put it back in which allowed us to once again put the car in D, N, P (without being slightly off to the side, like previously). All was well.
Fast forward to about a month ago and son tells us he needed a jump home from work one day. Said the truck wouldn't start. After the jump he was able to make the 40 min drive home. He left it sit all day and it started later that night. He drove it a bit then parked it again. The next morning it wouldn't start. Let it sit. Then later that night my husband tried it and it started just fine. Our son took it out again a few days later and all seemed well. Then, after running into a local store he came out only to find he couldn't start the truck again. He was able to get a friend of his to come out and check under the hood. He told him the starter solenoid needed replacing and possibly the battery (the battery was about 7 years old anyway). So, he had the solenoid replaced a few days later and everything worked fine. He even took the truck to autozone to test the battery and they said it was fine. So we assumed the solenoid was indeed the problem. All was well.
Now tonight, we get a call from him, he's stuck about 30 min away. Says the car just died. He says before this happened he had stopped in a drive thru and tried rolling down the auto windows. It wouldn't go down. He then noticed the red battery light was flicking off and on and the lights got dimmer. He was still able to drive it about 10 more mins but had to keep it going pretty fast. As he was going downhill, he pressed the accelerator but there was no acceleration. Just drifting. He figured there was a problem so he pulled off and shut the truck off. It wouldn't start back up. He was able to get someone on the block to give him a jump and was able to make it home and to our local autozone.
He called me at this point to say he bought a new battery. Figuring that was the issue and that we needed it anyway regardless since it had been so long since we bought one. He also asked the guy to check the alternator. The guy said it fluctuated between 14.2 down into the 13's (he can't remember the exact number). But the guy told him to keep an eye on it. From what I read it's normal to be between 13.8 and 14.8. Is that true?
Anyway, since it was closing time when he arrived, the autozone guy told him he could come back tomorrow and he would be able to take "a piece" out (I guess something that's in the way?) to better check the alternator to see if it was indeed bad or not. He said my son could do that, and/or take it to a garage because he said it could also be electrical, fuses OR even that that same old issue with the bolt under the steering column could be a contributing factor. Funny he said that because we have not been able to put the truck completely in D, R or N. Like the little needle is off to the side and not actually on the letters.
My son also tells me that he sometimes has to pull some tricky moves in order to start the dang thing. Such as, if it doesn't start he has to turn the key forward once, push and hold the brake, shift into reverse, and then shift into drive, and then slam it into park and while he's doing all that he still has the brake down. The way he says that he knows that's gonna work is if after putting it in park (well if it goes into park), the doors will lock. He then turns the key back as if shutting it off and then unlocks the door and then he starts it and it comes on with no problem.
If none of that works, he takes the key out of the ignition and then he locks and unlocks the truck using the receiver. He then puts the key back in and tries it and it usually starts. Crazy, huh? And keep in mind sometimes it just starts fine with no problem and no crazy combinations need to be done.
Anyway, what does it sound like may be the issue? As you can tell, none of us are mechanics and we really don't have a clue as to what we're doing or looking for and we don't want to walk blindly into a garage and be taken to the cleaners. I mean, the truck is so old that we really don't want to put too much money into it. So we are hoping it's nothing major that is wrong. Although the truck doesn't really have that many miles on it. Just about 145,000. But from what I hear and know about Ford Explorers, they last waaay longer than that without any real issues.
Anyway, I greatly thank you for taking the time to read all of this and hope that I provided sufficient info and that you are able to possibly help me figured this out. Thanks so much!!!!!!!
