Random No-start turns into Regular No-start

TCHELLEMS

MEMBER
1998 FORD EXPLORER
4.0L
V6
RWD
AUTOMATIC
263,000 MILES

I'm having a no-start problem that is got progressively worst.
- There is corrosion building up on my negative terminal at a faster than normal rate and the corrosion is often blue (gummy) instead of white (powdery).
- At 1st The car would turn over, but only if I left it sitting off for a while between uses. Now the car will only turn over if I jump it off. Once jumped off, I can drive it no problem.
- The car does attempt to crank on its own, but doesn't turn over. The starter seems to be trying to its job.
-The battery tested as "Good" at Advanced autoparts. However it is a 650 CCA battery, but tested at 522 CCA. It is also about 3 years old. (I've heard that it can test good, but still not put out enough amps to the starter to turn over engine.)
- The avg temperature right now is 45 to 57 degrees F
- I had ruled out the alternator until I found out a car can run for a while directly off the battery, but my battery gauge maintains normal levels while driving.

I'm at a loss and trying to avoid throwing parts at this thing that it doesn't really need.

3 Replies

WRENCHTECH

MECHANIC
20,757 POSTS

If the car starts with a jump, that proves you have a bad battery ore connection problem. If you have already removed the battery terminals and cleaned them, I would replace the battery. Those conductance testers do make mistakes sometimes.

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Sunday, December 6th, 2015 AT 12:02 PM

TCHELLEMS

MEMBER
2 POSTS

First, thank you kindly for your reply.

I jumped the car off, drove up to walmart. The car acted as if it was going to stall out shortly after the jump, but gave me no problems after I drove it for a few minutes. I bought a brand new battery. Cleaned the terminal connectors and installed the battery.

It cranked up with slight hesitation. Rather than test my luck there, I drove back home. Once I was home, I was able to crank the car up 6 times back to back. Each time I let it run for a bit as I know the starter sucks a lot of juice. The 7th time it once again tried to turn over but failed. The gauge for the battery stayed within normal levels the whole time. This leads me to believe the battery is likely not the issue.

The only thing I can think of at this point is to take the alternator and starter/solenoid into NAPA to be tested and go from there. I know there are other components that can cause starting issues, but would it be safe to say the alternator, starter/solenoid, and battery are usually the culprits?

Thanks,
Tory Hellems

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Sunday, December 6th, 2015 AT 1:04 PM

WRENCHTECH

MECHANIC
20,757 POSTS

Don't waste your time. They can't test starter draw off the car and that's about the only thing possible here assuming you have eliminated all the cables themselves.I would have the starter draw tested and voltage drop in the cables before buying anything.

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Sunday, December 6th, 2015 AT 1:13 PM