Electrical Gremlins...HELP

[10thAnnvCobra]

Ok, for the past few months my battery light has come on occasionally. A few times when driving with lights and wipers (rain) the turn signals have flashed slowly and the wipers were very slow. Finally, I was driving last Friday night and the battery light came on again (it was flickering and not staying on). Soon the dash lights went out and a few miles later the car died and click click wouldn't start.

With 78,000 miles I still have my original battery and alternator so I got the car home and replaced them both using Motorcraft parts from a local Ford dealer. After putting some miles on it the same flickering battery light is back! WTF? :dw:

Any ideas? I was all pleased that I had fixed it... I guess not. :shrug:

The first thought I had was a loose ground somewhere (maybe) or a bad alternator or battery (not likely)?

Please help me figure this out. Thanks :beer:

EDIT: Problem is fixed... see post # 13 below.

 

[dkscobra2003]

Problem sounds familiar

My alternator was the culprit for me around that same mileage (Solenoid ground connection might be loose). I ended up changing it for another stock alternator and it has been running great since. I even have a smaller pulley on it for my setup. 105,956 miles as of today.

 

[10thAnnvCobra]

Thanks for the reply. Was your battery light flickering or was it just always on?

I hope mine is still running strong when I break 100,000. :thumbsup:

 

[dkscobra2003]

Flickering....never on steady...but I have a volt meter gauge..so I could see it draining my battery....little by little. On hard pulls on the highway it would flicker on...too...so I changed it all and it has been good ever since.

 

[FISHTAIL]

Sounds like you might have gotten a bad alternator. It happens more often than you'd think. However, before you take it back, make sure you have a good belt and tension across the pulley. If your tensioner is bad, or the belt is too loose it could be contributing to your problem.

 

[10thAnnvCobra]

I'd rather not have to change out the alternator again (of course the second time would be easier). Is it really likely that the alternator could be bad? It came from Ford, NIB, but it did have a remanufactured sticker on it. I would think it would have been properly tested...?

The belt is good and tight (a new Gates was put on recently).

Thanks for the reply.

 

[FISHTAIL]

It certainly is not out of the realm of possibility. Chances are that the windings are fine, but that the regulator is bad. Unfortunately, it's all one part these days...and alternators tend to fail like light bulbs..working one day, and not the next. If you want to verify it's working, have it load tested. Shops can do this without you needing to remove it, and if you catch them in a good mood you might be able to get them to check it for free. If not, they'll probably charge you .5 for it. I'm not sure what an 03 alt should be putting out, but I'd guess it's somewhere around 130amp.

Anyway, get it load tested and make sure it's working. If it passes, we'll go from there. And don't get to upset if it is bad...it happens. When I was still working in the shop I swear every 10th alternator we got had some kind of problem.

 

[10thAnnvCobra]

Thanks for the ideas. I think I will get it load tested as you suggested. I didn't realize it could be done with it in the car. I think it should be 120 amps, though I may be wrong.

If it is bad I will have to change it again and hope I don't get an arguement from the dealer when I return it... maybe I will have the dealer do the testing?

Thanks:-D

If the alt. tests ok then what?

 

[FISHTAIL]

They shouldn't give you any problems if it's bad. The guys at the parts counter know that happens every once in a while. If the alternator checks out ok, then it's time to start checking connections. I had a partial internal break in a wire onetime that took me forever to find. It would cause problems intermittently depending on what kind of vibrations it was being subjected too...heh.

Anyway, I doubt that's your problem, my money is on the voltage regulator being faulty in your new alternator. One of the advantages (or disadvantage depending on how you look at it) is that load testing the alt in the car will tell you what kind of amperage the thing is putting out while in the car (as opposed to a bench). The disadvantage is this doesn't necessarily let you know if the alternator is the problem....if you have a loose belt, a short in the battery, etc, the load test can fail, even though the alternator itself is fine.

Whomever checks it should be able to eliminate the battery as a source of the load test failure quickly though, simply by swapping it out for another one in the shop. And a bad battery is also possible, but my experience has shown this to be less likely.

Before you start worrying about what other kinds of crazy things this could be, get the alternator checked out. They are a known problem on these cars, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if an issue cropped up in one of the rebuilt units.

 

[Cookieman00x]

This should help you...

http://www.svtperformance.com/forums/how-278/472535-how-test-charging-system-ford-manual.html

 

[gcassidy]

Back in 2004 I gat a bad (NIB) MAF sensor from Ford, second one is still running strong.
That one took a month to diagnose.. :nonono:

Good luck.

 

[10thAnnvCobra]

Hmmm... unfortunately the finger points to a bad alternator. Today I will have it tested and see.

Thanks again for the replies.

 

[10thAnnvCobra]

Problem is fixed.

Went to the dealer where I bought the alternator and battery to have them test the charging system. It turns out that the 12 volt feed to the alternator was shorting somewhere between the dash and the alternator (it runs from the fuse box to the battery light in the dash to the alternator). Ford uses 3 butt splice connectors with heat shrink tubing in this line (I don't like butt splice connectors). One of them had become loose and had created an intermittent connection. This was located in the harness just under the battery tray. There is a sticker on the harness that says "Made In Mexico"... thanks to NAFTA. :bash: Cut open the harness and repair the bad connection and presto, all is good. epper::dancenana:epper::dancenana:

Now I have a new alternator and battery that probably weren't needed just yet. With 78,000 miles, being that I was still running the original ones, they would have been needed soon.

Thanks again for the replies and ideas... "get it tested" :thumbsup:

 

[FISHTAIL]

lol. Funny...my problem was similar to yours, only my connection problem was mid-wire...no connector. Glad you found it....

 

[dkscobra2003]

Glad to help in the troubleshooting process... Similar to my problem, too.