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No Start Emergency

GT3000

Member
Joined
April 12, 2012
Messages
22
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City, State
Phoenix
Year, Model & Trim Level
1995 Explorer XLT
Hi, I was dreading making a post here but figured I may as well as I do need a vehicle. My 1995 Ford Explorer will not start. It will not turn over and is completely dead. I will be working on it all night since I work 2nd shift. I'm still relatively new at working on my explorer so please have patience. I will be available after 12am PST. Thanks.
 



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check ur battery , terminals, connections.i have a 94 explorer and have always ran into problems but they seem to be easy to fix. i remember my starter went bad once and in order to get it started i had to tap the starter from under the vehicle with a wrench. it got me home atleast . r
 






I'll check it when I get home. I should be home within the hour. I'll check the connecters and battlery. What am I looking for exaclty? Corrosion on the terminals? Cuts or breakage in the connector?
 






Home now. Popping the hood and snapping a picture.
UPDATE: I hopped in the car and turned the key and I have power. Anyone got an explaination for this?

IMG_20120624_004202.jpg
 






Apologies on the super huge pictures.

IMG_20120624_004705.jpg


IMG_20120624_004539.jpg


IMG_20120624_005430.jpg


Looks like a relay is missing or is that supposed to be like that?
 






Have you cleaned your battery connections and checked to see if the cables are good. If it sat for a while you may have a surface charge on the battey. Have you tried to jump it?

Also make sure that the large and small wires to the starter are tight.
 






Haven't been able to jump it. I have tested the battery with a multimeter and it reads 11.47~48. Can you show me a picture of the wires leading to the start and the starter itself? I apologize but I'm still rather new to working on this vehicle.

Update: I pulled all the fuses, the ones in the engine bay look fine but the one my the driver's door are a bit suspicious looking. They all look blackened, hard to say if they're fried or not. Here's a picture of one.

IMG_20120625_095945.jpg
 






Well, hard to tell since the pliers are covering the fuse wire... :)

You can try replacing/exchanging them in case they look fine but are bad. What are the add-in's? I hate those types of connectors/wiring style, they seem to create electrical issues after time passes...
 






So the fuse wire in the center of the plastic is what I'm looking for not the tips? No idea, been there since I popped open the thing.
 






What's the story? Did you get it going? It's not surprising that you had no power and then did have power, that's common with a bad connection. 11.48 volts doesn't sound much lower than 12, but it makes a huge difference when trying to start a vehicle.

It sounds to me like you may have a bad connection at a battery terminal. And you definitely have a dead battery.

Here are some basic troubleshooting steps:

1. Get a charger on the battery, or get it charged at a parts store, or get jumper cables on it.

2a.Turn the key to on. Do the dash lights turn on? If yes, turn the key further and try to start it. What sound does it make? A click? Does the engine turn? No click? Did the dash lights go out?
2b. If the dash lights are not on, or they go out when you try to start it, or they flicker, it is probably a loose connection at a battery terminal.
2c. If you hear a click but no engine turning, and the dash lights don't go out, either your battery is too drained to turn the engine, or your starter is probably the cause.
2d. If the engine turns quickly (full battery) but vehicle doesn't start, you have a different problem.
2e. If you have a full battery and continue to have power (dash lights), but hear no click or engine turning when you attempt to start it, it is probably your starter solenoid.

3. Have a helper try to wiggle the battery terminals and wires while you are watching the dash lights and have the key in the "on" position. What happens? Do the dash lights flicker? If you don't have a helper, you can watch the hood light or the dome light while you wiggle the battery terminals.

If you can get any flickering, you have found your problem. Loosen and remove your battery terminals from the posts and clean with a wire brush, steel wool, sandpaper, whatever you have to scuff up the metal where it contacts the battery posts. Do the same with the battery posts (just don't touch both terminals with the steel wool). Re-attach the terminals and tighten them well enough to keep the terminal from twisting on the battery post. Try to start it again.

If this doesn't work, let us know the answers to those troubleshooting steps.
 






And yes, the thin wire inside the plastic fuse body is what needs to be continuous. It doesn't sound like a fuse (or relay) issue to me though.
 






East, thanks for the troubleshooting steps. I just got in from work and thought I'd give the starter a couple love taps and I'm unsure if that's what got it going but I turned it over and the damn thing came to life. If I let it sit for a bit will fail to turn over again until I strike the starter? I tried turning it on twice and it started up after the intital taps on the starter.

2a. The lights turned on after letting it sit overnight. (I was told it got a surface charge) It turned over but did not start. I didn't play with it enough have the power drain out of it. Did three turn overs and called it quits.
2b. I saw no lights go out, or flicker (It was mid-day so I will test it night to confirm this.)
2c. I had neither of these issues. It simply would not start.
2d. This was my problem until just 20 minutes ago.
2e. My engine turns.

3. I will confirm my findings this evening. Expect a post tomorrow morning (I work nights) It's brighter than Hell right now.
 






Cool, glad to hear something is happening. I guess we can eliminate the possibility of a bad starter solenoid. If you can, let it run and give the battery a good charge.

I had a similar problem with mine. Sometimes I would go out to the truck and have no power. Other times I would. Sometimes when attempting to start, I would turn the key to start and the power would cut out. It was the negative battery terminal making a bad connection, and despite playing with it, cleaning it, tightening it, it still gave me intermittent problems till I replaced the terminal.
 






If you have a full battery and you try to start it and it doesn't turn, then you tap the starter with a hammer or something and it does start, your starter probably needs replacing, but be sure to check the wire and connections for looseness and corrosion before replacing the starter.
 






Replace your battery clamps.
 






Hey guys. I'm going to shimmy under the truck on Wednesday (My weekend) and make sure all the wires are together and not corroded.

@FIND
How do I replace the clamps? Do think the problem originated there and not the starter?
 






How many miles are on it?

If it starts when you tap on the starter, usually that means the starter brushes are worn down, tapping on it lets them make contact a little better.

You can buy a whole new starter, but I think it's a better idea to just replace the brushes and keep the rest of the Motorcraft starter. You can always buy a new starter then replace the brushes at a later time since you don't need to trade in the old starter as a core when buying a new one.

You should definitely clean the battery terminals as well.
 






@ Anime

Gonna buy a battery brush (metal bristled one to clean the terminals) tomorrow and it has 125k miles on it.
 






I got my charger last night and I charged it up to 100%. It definite was dead (29% when I plugged it in) and it starts up beautifully. I'm going to replace the starter brushes as the starter seems to be fine. Everything seems to be in working order.
 



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Good Deal!
 






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