Threw in a new Duralast Gold battery...

[BrianDye]

Been driving my 95 since my line rusted through on the 92, and the 95 always had a weak sounding starter, I thought sometimes maybe it was just the battery, but it never was low, or lost charge, always kept the Voltimeter steady in the cluster, but decided since my 92 is parked, and has an almost brand new Duralast Gold battery in it, I might as well swap em' for the time.

Now when I start it, it sounds like a brand new starter, literally takes 1/2 the cranking time cus it cranks so much faster, and the thing I dont get it that my trans is so much smoother (wasnt rough before, but not as smooth as normal) when I shift from P, to reverse or drive, you cant even feel when it engages, same as shifting from reverse to drive, its so smooth, shifts smoother AND my O/D light isnt flashing anymore!

Didnt think a bad battery could do that much damage haha.
Its still got the warranty on it, its a Motorcraft battery, would I be able to exchange it under warranty still? (Whereat?) And would it be a problem that I dont have the reciept? (It was in the truck when I bought it) It says the date purchased, and date that the warrantys gone.

(Says free replacement 3 years, then theres another like 7 year one its not "free replacement" though) and it was bought in like june of 07' I think it said.

 

[robertoa1a]

You may have had a bad cell(s) within the battery. Each cell has about 1.5 volts. There is 8 of them. If you have bad cells then you never get enough volts.

That's a lot different than not being able to draw enough amps. You know how electronic stuff acts when it doesn't get its volts.

 

[BrianDye]

You know how electronic stuff acts when it doesn't get its volts.

Haha, never thought of it that way, but that is true

 

[BrooklynBay]

You cleared the code when you disconnected the battery. The flashing overdrive light might come back if the fault still exists. It has nothing to do with the battery. The PCM stores codes until the power is lost or a scanner clears them from the memory.

 

[BrianDye]

Even with just the <2 minutes it was unhooked?
Ive unhooked the battery for 30+ mins before to see if it would clear my codes, and they would come RIGHT back...

Ive driven it a good 60+ miles since I put the battery in, no flashing lights yet lol

 

[robertoa1a]

Got a volt meter? I'm curious about what the voltage really is on the old one.

This simple thread might be more helpful than I would have originally thought. All those people with multiple codes and hard starting. Hmmm?

 

[BrianDye]

I dont have a voltimiter, but im gonna try and get out in the next few days, I need one so I can do that TPS mod too.

But it wasnt really "hard" to start, but the starter cranked slow, leading me to think I had a starter that was going to go out soon, and slower crank=more crank time....So I put the new battery in, and its like turn the key for less than 1 second and its started, whereas it used to take a couple seconds

 

[BrooklynBay]

A code will come back after you reconnect the battery if the fault still exists. Some faults are stored in the memory until you drive enough cycles to clear on their own (providing that these are no longer an issue). Is the second battery rated at a higher CCA than the first battery? If so, then that would explain the faster cranking speed of the second battery. The old battery might be very old or could have a dead cell causing a slow cranking speed.

 

[BrianDye]

Im not sure about the amps, but I do know that the other battery was lacking alot of power, its been drained about 3 times since ive had the explorer, so thats spelling out death right there lol. (When it sat for those couple months)

 

[marragtop]

When the OD light flashes, the trans goes into 'limp' mode which results in hard shfting. Replacing the battery has reset the code thus smooth shifting. Hopefully, the blinking OD light won't come back.

 

[robertoa1a]

You cleared the code when you disconnected the battery. The flashing overdrive light might come back if the fault still exists. It has nothing to do with the battery. The PCM stores codes until the power is lost or a scanner clears them from the memory.

That seems like a perfectly normal diagnosis, and with due respect to all your experience, I would still like to how this plays out for Bryan.

I understand that the alternator should take over after start up unless there is more to the picture.