homebrewdr
New Member
1998 Ford Expedition XLT (4.6 L Triton)
The last few days, I've had some car trouble. I tried to be detailed below to see if anyone can give me their opinion on what the issue(s) could be. Long story short, replaced a bad alternator and a poor battery yesterday. It started last night. Doesn't start today. A jump doesn't work today. Starter burned out? I'm not sure. Details below. Thank you in advance!
Wednesday 5/31: Expedition didn't start. Jump started it, drove it 15 minutes, parked and turned if off. Started up again fine. About an hour later, drove it to the store where it sat about an hour, and it started up fine on the way home. About 2 hours later took it out again, it sat about an hour. This time it didn't start. Had it jumped and took it to autozone while it was running.
Autozone said the alternator was bad and running at 8 volts. We arranged to get the alternator switched out. They didn't say anything about the battery.
Friday 6/2: Alternator successfully switched out (minus trouble with the belt). At this time, it started without a jump. Drove it around for about 15 minutes and parked. Then we attempted to turn it back on, and it made the continuous clicky noise and didn't start. At this point, we examined all terminals, etc, and had it jump started again. The battery gauge now showed as low as it can go, but goes upwards when connected to the other battery. It was then we decided to switch out the battery. We successfully switched out the battery, and the car started without a problem. It also started up after we turned it off/back on.
At that time I noticed the positive terminal had 2 main wires coming from it. While the main wire was in tact, the 2nd wire had fallen out of its copper terminal lug. I needed a new lug to fit the braided wire into, so I got a new lug at autozone. Since it was dark outside, I thought I'd wait till the morning to replace this piece.
Saturday 6/3: I was able to switch out the lug and connect/clamp it properly. When starting the car, a single loud click. The dash lights go on and then back off. If I wait 15 seconds they come back on again. Taking the key out of the ignition, I hear a few slight clicks. I tapped the starter while starting and still nothing. The battery gauge shows its in good range.
When I go to jump the car, no success.
My thoughts are that it is either a connection issue of some sort (although the terminals are on as tight as they can be) or its really bad luck that the starter went out during the same time frame as the other repairs.
Would changing an alternator and a battery somehow burn out the starter?
Thank you for any expert help.
EDIT: There was a crucial plug simply not plugged in on the alternator... smh. Hopefully all is well now.
The last few days, I've had some car trouble. I tried to be detailed below to see if anyone can give me their opinion on what the issue(s) could be. Long story short, replaced a bad alternator and a poor battery yesterday. It started last night. Doesn't start today. A jump doesn't work today. Starter burned out? I'm not sure. Details below. Thank you in advance!
Wednesday 5/31: Expedition didn't start. Jump started it, drove it 15 minutes, parked and turned if off. Started up again fine. About an hour later, drove it to the store where it sat about an hour, and it started up fine on the way home. About 2 hours later took it out again, it sat about an hour. This time it didn't start. Had it jumped and took it to autozone while it was running.
Autozone said the alternator was bad and running at 8 volts. We arranged to get the alternator switched out. They didn't say anything about the battery.
Friday 6/2: Alternator successfully switched out (minus trouble with the belt). At this time, it started without a jump. Drove it around for about 15 minutes and parked. Then we attempted to turn it back on, and it made the continuous clicky noise and didn't start. At this point, we examined all terminals, etc, and had it jump started again. The battery gauge now showed as low as it can go, but goes upwards when connected to the other battery. It was then we decided to switch out the battery. We successfully switched out the battery, and the car started without a problem. It also started up after we turned it off/back on.
At that time I noticed the positive terminal had 2 main wires coming from it. While the main wire was in tact, the 2nd wire had fallen out of its copper terminal lug. I needed a new lug to fit the braided wire into, so I got a new lug at autozone. Since it was dark outside, I thought I'd wait till the morning to replace this piece.
Saturday 6/3: I was able to switch out the lug and connect/clamp it properly. When starting the car, a single loud click. The dash lights go on and then back off. If I wait 15 seconds they come back on again. Taking the key out of the ignition, I hear a few slight clicks. I tapped the starter while starting and still nothing. The battery gauge shows its in good range.
When I go to jump the car, no success.
My thoughts are that it is either a connection issue of some sort (although the terminals are on as tight as they can be) or its really bad luck that the starter went out during the same time frame as the other repairs.
Would changing an alternator and a battery somehow burn out the starter?
Thank you for any expert help.
EDIT: There was a crucial plug simply not plugged in on the alternator... smh. Hopefully all is well now.
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