It worked until it didn't - 2000 Ford Exp EB No Crank

2000 Ford Expedition Eddie Bauer 5.4l - 186,000 miles

So, the Expy was running rough again, and I knew it was COPs and/or Plugs again, which were replaced about 30K ago, and the symptoms were the same (sputtering, rough mid-range), but worse than last time. Pulled the COPs and a couple were swimming in oil, so decided to finally address the problem (leaking valve covers). Gutted out what I could, disconnected a ton of shit, and wrestled my way to new gaskets, new plugs, and clean COPs. Once I got everything back together, I prayed to the valve train gods and crossed my fingers that it would be a disaster.

Turned the key, and it started right up. Began inspecting the valve covers for any leaks and have not found anything that looks like new oil. It ran smooth as butter, and spit a bit of smoke from the oil that leaked into the combustion chambers.

Then, it made one screeching noise, which sounded like a belt, but didn't affect the way it was running. About a 1 second screech and done. As the engine purred, I continued to walk around and inspect the gaskets, just waiting to see a flood of oil dump out, but everything looked tight and clean.

Then I noticed a drip from the transmission, which could easily have been there prior to all the work. I took it for a slow drive around the cul-de-sac to see if the transmission had any symptoms, but it was same as it ever was.

tldr....worked on the truck, it seemed to be running fine.

This is when I turned it off, now it won't start. No Crank, power drops and lights go out. Starter Solenoid on firewall is clicking, but no juice to starter.

Turns out I wired the alternator to the wrong terminal on the Starter Solenoid. Attached to the top bolt, not the bottom. Fixed that, but still nothing working. Battery is testing low, so tried to jump it with my RAM. Plenty of juice flowing to the EXPY, but no crank, and still the lights go.

Being a total newb with electronics, I checked the most important fuses related to the starter and ignition, but everything looks fine.

Okay, to my question. What would hooking the alternator up to the wrong terminal do? Did I run the starter continuously while it was running, and ruin something in the starter? Would this in any way be able to damage the transmission (long shot, but ??)

Secondly, should I just take the battery in and test it? Should I grab a new starter while I am at it?

Sorry for the novel, but that's what I did...It worked until it didn't and now I'm just lost.

Another note to add to the novel. Now when I put the key into the run position prior to starting, the starter makes a little purring noise for a second then stops.

Welcome to the site. Your best bet would be to learn how the starter circuit works instead of listing a bunch of "could be this or could be that".

Eric the Car Guy is a good place to start:


This is a good one on how to test the circuit without turning any wrenches. Plus this is what I hammer into the Intro Students I teach.

I have been doing my best with researching the circuits, but just finally thought I would put the story out here and see if anything sticks. Better to learn the concepts and understand what may be happening than to just monkey around until something works.

My main concern would be hooking the alternator up incorrectly when I was re-assembling and if that would have killed the battery or killed the starter. I will keep on researching and see if something inside my brain finally clicks and I get the whole electricity thing.

Thanks

While you are learning the theory of how this works you may want to invest in a decent dmm (digital multi meter). That way instead of saying the battery is low you could say a specific voltage.

Once you have a meter, tell us the battery voltage and what it drops to when trying to start.

So battery had tested at just 11.3v and drops to just 11.1 in start position. I am trying to test all the sections between to see where it dies and get some longer leads to run to the starter. I appreciate the video, it is one of the better examples of the starting circuit and the use of the multi-meter.

All this 12volt electricity just puts me off, as I feel like I'm going to shock myself, or short something out. I'll keep working on it and let you know what I find.

12 volts dc is smoke then fire, higher voltages will go from tingle to a job opening (yours) depending on how high the voltage is.

I had a student grab on to a string of 9v batteries that were in series to produce @288 volts. He found out at that voltage the human body is a conductor. Ended up with 2 little burn spots on his hands. We call him "Ol sparky" now.

You should charge the battery back up on a slow charge setting and bring it back up to 100% state of charge.

If you didnt have the alternator hooked up it was running on stored battery power. if you just switched those then you might have sent current to the alternator but i think it may not have done damage. Slow charge the battery. +1

Charged the battery to 12.4v, but it dropped back to 11.5v in just 30 minutes, so that doesn't seem right.

Drop testing gave me some readings, but I have no idea what to make of them. With the key in run, I am getting about 6v drop from the battery to the top post and 0.03v drop on the bottom post on the starter solenoid on the firewall. When the key is turned to start, both go to 0.03v drop.

The starter is showing full 11.5v at the starter, but the ground point loses 4-5v. If I use the bell housing to ground, it doesn't lose anything.

Again, I'm lost with what the readings mean, and if I am doing anything to move myself towards an answer. Any help is appreciated, just don't like this electronic stuff at all. Thanks

Daniel A Havens said:

So battery had tested at just 11.3v and drops to just 11.1 in start position. I am trying to test all the sections between to see where it dies and get some longer leads to run to the starter. I appreciate the video, it is one of the better examples of the starting circuit and the use of the multi-meter.

All this 12volt electricity just puts me off, as I feel like I'm going to shock myself, or short something out. I'll keep working on it and let you know what I find.

Click to expand...

11.something volts = Your battery has 1 dead cell

Lights will work, powe locks and probably radio will work, A/C might blow....but it won't crank a V8

Looks like a new battery is needed.


PS see if you cant start it with the Ram's battery (swapped in, not jumping). Even if the size ain't right for properly affixing it, it should have about the same amps specs and could put your mind at ease if it works. And you'll know what to buy that way