2004 Ford Explorer STARTER?

MARK_KUL

MEMBER
2004 FORD EXPLORER
6 CYL
4WD
AUTOMATIC
50,000 MILES

About six weeks ago, I replaced my battery. The car would not start and the indicator on the battery indicated that is needed replaced.

Everything worked fine until yesterday. When I tried to start the car, the lights were dim and it only clicked. I jumped started the vehicle and drove it around to allow the battery to charge. When I got home, I shut the car off and waited for about a minute and restarted the car. I shut the car off and waited for about 15 minutes, then tried again, but this time the car did not start, only clicked.

All electrical components (windows, lights, stereo, etc.) Worked fine both when the car was off and running. When the car failed to start, the interior lights were dim. Also, when the car was running the battery indicator inside the dashboard was in the middle. When I shut the car off and was able to restart it, the meter was also in the middle. However, when I only got a click, the meter was pegged low.

1 Reply

CARADIODOC

MECHANIC
33,741 POSTS

Hi mark_kul. Welcome to the forum. Thanks for including the dandy observations. This sounds typical of a loose or corroded battery cable or connection. Ford likes to tap off from the starter relay to run to other circuits and for the return wire from the generator. It is real common for the soft copper nuts to work lose on the relay.

Another common problem is corroded copper cable strands inside the insulation near where the heavy starter cable connects to the starter. This can be found by holding a test light on that terminal and watching the brightness of the light while a helper cranks the engine. The difference though is that will only affect cranking the engine, not the other circuits such as dome lights.

For future reference, when batteries have an indicator eye in one cell, that is only to test its state of charge, it doesn't mean it needs to be replaced. If the eye is its normal color, usually green, that means the battery is charged enough to test.

If you don't find a lose connection, have a test light ready and I'll walk you through the steps to find it. You'll need a helper too to turn the ignition switch.

Caradiodoc