I know this is an old post, but today when I went to start up my 2005 Explorer V-6 this morning, with temps at 11 degrees F, I received a single "Test" message on my message after the engine fired up. It took 3-4 seconds to start the engine. This is the first time I ever saw a "test" message on my screen. I noticed the engine seemed to turn over slower than usual, but the truck hadn't run in 24 hrs, sitting in low teen temps all day and night. My engine and starter are 1 year old and the battery is 4 years old and my battery cables all look good, clean and tight. Once the engine was running and the "test" message was on the message screen, I didn't know what would happen next. I expected the PCU to go through a test on it's own but it did nothing, so after waiting 2 minutes or so, I decided to try and clear the message screen myself and I hit the "reset button" and all it did was go to the next step in the test procedure. I kept tapping the rest button and it went thru numerous test and read out screens as described earlier in this posting, only to go back to the beginning of the test all over again. I did notice during the tapping thru the test screens, my Alternator was putting out 14.4-14.6 amps with the engine running. So I feel good about the Alternator. To finally clear the message screen of the test diagnostic, I shut the engine off for 30 seconds or so then re-started the engine and the Test screen was gone, back to normal mode with the odometer reading, compass and outside air temp showing. I then drove to the gym and re-stated it with no issues 2 1/2 hrs later. Once I got home, I hooked up my battery charger to the battery and battery charge meter showed battery power between the 3-4 mark, or 3/4 quarter charged. I am currently charging the battery set to a 12 amp quick charge and will let it charge up for a few hours and see where it is at. As noted in this posting, I figure I might need a new battery and the next few nights will be extremely cold, -10 below zero wind chills and I'll see if it happens again. if it does, I'll go to Advance Auto Parts and pick up a new 1,000 CCA battery. My current battery is an 850 CCA battery that came with the truck when I bought it 4 years ago. I'll post up any new findings in the next few days. If anyone can add anything to this, please let me know, thanks.
