Starting & Electrical Issues

[MistahYebba]

Hello everyone,

Hope you all are doing great!

The ol' 2005 Ford Explorer XLT is having some issues currently.

The first attempt to turn on the truck results in one quick "whrr" and then it sounds like the starter immediately dies.
Right after, the second attempt to turn on the truck, I get "whrr whrr whrr whrr VROOM". Takes a tad longer than normal but it ALWAYS works.
I've been driving it for a week with this starting issue.
First time, starter fail. Try again, success.

When it does turn on, after that second attempt, it always starts into "TEST" mode, and sweeps the gauges, etc... I hold the reset button and gauges go back to normal and there we go, normal truck once again. And I go about my business.

Another thing I noticed is, if I turn the key "on" (not start), to get power to radio, A/C, etc. -- and if I turn A/C speed to "3" it says "AdvTrac On" and A/C speed "4" it says "AdvTrac Off".... So , if I keep turning A/C speed from 3 to 4 fast, it keeps saying "AdvTrac On" "AdvTrac Off" on the little screen. This sounds like an electrical glitch to me.


Any ideas to begin with?

 

[Number4]

Ever figure this out? First issue could be a ground issue. Take both cables off the battery, clean the posts and cable ends with a battery brush.
If that doesn’t do it, do a drop down test on the cable from the batter to the starter. Junction block to starter? You can use a 9volt battery. You should still have 9 volts at the other end. You may have a corroded cable.

 

[MistahYebba]

Ever figure this out? First issue could be a ground issue. Take both cables off the battery, clean the posts and cable ends with a battery brush.
If that doesn’t do it, do a drop down test on the cable from the batter to the starter. Junction block to starter? You can use a 9volt battery. You should still have 9 volts at the other end. You may have a corroded cable.

Hi thanks for replying! The issue ended up just being a bad battery. It was causing ODD stuff. New battery instantly fixed it all. Radio too.

 

[Number4]

Hi thanks for replying! The issue ended up just being a bad battery. It was causing ODD stuff. New battery instantly fixed it all. Radio too.

These cars are very sensitive to battery voltage.