2000 Lincoln Town Car Electrical/alternator/battery issue

Tiny
KITTYSMOM
  • MEMBER
  • 2000 LINCOLN TOWN CAR
  • 1.4L
  • V8
  • 2WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 165,000 MILES
In the fall of this year, I kept I having a dead battery & replaced it with a new one on 11/14/14. Had no problem starting but there was noise coming from the alternator. On the night of 12/5/14, I tried to leave a store. Started the car & drove across the parking lot. The abs & traction light came on & the rest of the dash lights went out. I pulled over & couldn't leave without a jump. The car did the same things on the way home twice. Abs & traction lights came on then all power lost & car shuts off. This happened even as driving. Replaced the alternator twice & battery 3 times (the second batter had 2 dead cells) since. It's the only transportation that I have so I must drive it. Put another new battery in yesterday. Now the abs & traction lights come on & then the battery light comes on. When that happens the heater/ac display lights up brightly along with the headlights and other display lights. It's almost like a power sure. I cannot find any diagrams explaining the correct way the cables should be hooked up. Please help! ANY suggestions would be welcome!
Saturday, December 20th, 2014 AT 11:40 AM

1 Reply

Tiny
CARADIODOC
  • MECHANIC
  • 34,330 POSTS
What cables are you referring to?

The place to start is with a preliminary charging system test. You can do that yourself with an inexpensive digital voltmeter. With the engine off, measure the battery voltage. If it's good and fully-charged it will measure 12.6 volts. If you find closer to 12.2 volts, it's good but discharged. Recharge it at a slow rate for an hour before you do the next test.

With the engine running, battery voltage must be between 13.75 and 14.75 volts. If it is low or high, that will trigger the "Battery" light on the dash. If the voltage is always low, the first suspect is a blown blue, 15 amp fuse. You can verify that by measuring the voltage on the small yellow wire that plugs into the side / rear of the generator. Back-probe through the rubber seal where the wire goes into the connector. You should find full battery voltage on that wire all the time.
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Saturday, December 20th, 2014 AT 12:03 PM

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