Onging Intermittent no Start And Now Battery Not Charging

[LifePilgrim]

I have a 2005 Ford Explorer 4.0/V6 with over 170xxx miles. From the time we bought the car a few months ago the turn signal would freeze rather than flash. Also, the car would intermittently not start. On those no start occasions nothing would happen happen at all, i.e. the engine would not turn. The lights/radio would still work fine, though with the key in the ON position. A local garage diagnosed the problem as a bad starter, however, after having them replace the starter the intermittent no start persisted. While driving down the road, or even sitting parked with the key in the ON position a faint clicking could sometimes be heard from the steering column (or that part of the dash).

A few days ago the red battery icon on the dash flashed on/off a couple times. Then last night the red battery icon on the dash flashed continuously/remained on for a while then flashed continuously again. The Message Center told me to CHECK CHARGING SYSTEM. We had to get it towed because the battery voltage meter continued to drop/ lights dimmed until we were forced to stop at a gas station and call AAA lest we be stranded roadside. After parking at the gas station I left the engine running for a while and the battery recovered quite a bit though not completely. After I finally shut the engine off, it would not restart. Except this time a distinctive electronic chime would sound when I tried to start it. Note that on any other intermittent no start of the past, this chime did NOT sound.

I could really use help figuring out what is going on, since funds are far too limited to play the guessing game with local garages. If anyone thinks they have a diagnosis based on these symptoms, please help!

 

[LifePilgrim]

*Bump* Please help...

 

[cross6]

Take your battery to an auto parts store and have it tested. Your mechanic sounds like he was playing guessing games. I hope he used a motorcraft starter. If he got it from autozone it will not last long.

When the battery voltage reaches a certain threshold the computer/cluster will freak out and you'll hear all sorts of relays clicking and weird distorted door chimes or intermittent chime. But the radio usually works fine.

It may be more complicated than that but you should start by ruling out the battery by having it load tested at autozone or somewhere for free.

 

[LifePilgrim]

Thanks for the advice. Tonight my brother-in-law hooked up the the battery to his van with jumper cables. It is interesting to note that (1) the car started right away, (2) there were none of those clicking sounds I described above, (3) there was no chime, but (4) the red batter icon kept flashing the whole time along with the message to check the charging system. After disconnecting the cables the car turned itself off after a couple of minutes.

I'll post more after taking the battery in for a test.

 

[BigRondo]

I would recommend getting the alternator tested as well. Seems that the battery keeps dying because the alternator isn't charging it. The battery may be junk, but even a new battery is worthless if the alternator doesn't keep it charged.

Good luck getting it sorted.

Please keep us posted as feedback helps others reading this post looking for a fix to the same or similar issue!

 

[cross6]

I would recommend getting the alternator tested as well. Seems that the battery keeps dying because the alternator isn't charging it. The battery may be junk, but even a new battery is worthless if the alternator doesn't keep it charged.

Good luck getting it sorted.

Please keep us posted as feedback helps others reading this post looking for a fix to the same or similar issue!

Yep good advice. Only thing I'll add is if the alternator is shot order a motorcraft re-man from rockauto or somewhere. House brand alternators are (mostly) junk.

I usually buy some oil and filters and stuff to support the store for doing all the free testing.

 

[stickboy]

For the intermittent no-start (if it still persists) try switching to neutral and try starting. It could be a bad neutral safety switch. To me, it doesn't sound like it's related to the charging issue.

 

[Dave8338]

I'm going with a faulty alternator.