electrical problems

[jrcrum]

Hey guys any help here would be greatly appreciated. I have a 97 123k on the clock. Last week I had it up an hour away from home and she died on me and all the electrical except the four way flashers worked and the car would not restart. 5 mintues later I'm on the phone with AAA and of course it decides to start and it seems ok so I drive it home since I was sending it Ford to have an antifreeze leak checked anyways. It seems fine until a few days ago I was at the hospital and I go out to get in and it starts fine but I noticed my clock had reset, my climate control was off, and the cd was back to track 1..... Needless to say I drive off and its fine for a couple of day until tonight i'm back at the hospital. I unlock the doors with the keyless and hop in as normal, turn the key and I have no electrical, so i popped the hood and wiggled the battery connector and it seemed fine so I hit the lock button on the keyless and the doors lock and unlock and it started back up. I was just wondering if anyone had any ideas as im supposed to go to Minnesota from west Nebraska on friday to get one of our other vehicles that we left up there because of a medical situation. Im dreading having to do this with not knowing whats wrong. Ford pulled no codes on the thing Wednesday, you can't spend $70 better than that. Also I'm gonna test the battery tomorrow but it's not even a year old........... In advance thanks for any input.

 

[SHOZ123]

Probably the alternator. If the battery is an OEM one they are junk.

 

[crixtopher]

Probably the alternator. If the battery is an OEM one they are junk.

well mine just died, its the original battery. 6 yrs and almost 90k, I thought that was pretty damn good. my only experience with a Motorcraft battery though

 

[SHOZ123]

Never got more than three years out of them for me.

 

[jrcrum]

My original battery was just replaced last feb. not to bad getting over a 105k on it!!!!! Well I'll get out the trusty multi-meter this afternoon and see if I can test the alternator. Also In advance how big of a job is the alternator..... is it something that one can tackle or is it a job that has to go to the shop......just wondering because my last car 95 gtp. you had to pull the passenger side tie-rod off......great design mounting that next to the exhuast manifold......many nights of drinking and designing over at gm. Thanks for the input so far.

 

[stephen newberg]

Still my OEM one, and I am at about 147K. Tests fine every fall so far.

 

[SHOZ123]

The alternator is a royal PITA. Go to the V8 SHO web site for R&R procedures. Dealer or about anyone else will charge ~$500 to do the job. The alternator itself is about ~$150.

 

[SHOZ123]

And as far as the battery goes... why wait until it dies? When it goes it will go in a heartbeat. Test all you want. When you drive down the road and all the sudden all the warning lights start flashing followed by coasting to a stop what did you gain for a $50 battery that you can change easily at your convenience???

 

[jrcrum]

I got out the old trusty dmm checked the battery and charging it was at about 12 while off and when on about 14.8 with all electrical on. I guess the battery is under warranty so that might be worth a shot. For now i Just disconnected it, cleaned the contacts and covered with some stuff to prevent corrosion. they were in a lil bit of bad shape but I would have thought good enough. but still a lil corrosion. I haven't had any problems since. I guess if it breaks down on me i might have to park it for a while since i just sunk about 500 into it with a radiator and some other stuff. I'll have to drive the power ram which makes drivin in the snow fun and makes going to the gas pump not fun. as im currently a poor 19 y/o college drop out waiting to start work at the RR. thanks for all your help SHOZ123.

 

[MilTownSHO]

Still the original in the 98, only has 44k on it though. Tested low last time it was tested, but I had been cleaning it with the radio on for a few hours so who knows?!

I do know my 97 starts way faster though when its cold.