97 Expedition stalling, then theft light blinking

[PO'dexpd'nowner]

Err, hows your sex life?

I'm married so you know it's not good

Seriously, I thought you would be posting pics of the big bonfire by now.

It has been awfully tempting for sure although I really haven't done anything else to it.

If this guy has real old timer mechanic experience, give him a shot at it, or just GIVE IT to him.

You could print out all the stuff we've covered in this thread and all the stuff you've tried, but why ruin his day like that?

Well I just got home and thought I'd give it a shot. Turned key over, no theft light. Looked down and saw that thing that I pulled out of the ignition column still hanging. Although I did notice he had tied a resistor into it so it seems like he knows a bit about electrical stuff. He said he bypasses theft stuff all the time so I have to take his word for it. However battery was only showing 50% again so I'm charging it up again. Seems like I've read this before about the battery draining and anti-theft light blinking. May read up again....got tired of reading about it for a while.

And this is a "real old timer mechanic" type of guy. Country boy/redneck whatever you wanna call him. Little bit of a mullet, long goatee, the type you see with the chain attached to his wallet in the back. In short, the type I grew up with. But when put to the question: "Can you fix it?" I got "I don't know". Not real confident inspiring but at least he's honest about it b/c this issue has stumped many people locally as well as everything I've read on the web.

 

[Captain Morgan]

I wouldnt hold out for confidence inspiring in your case, rather a "shoot straight no B#@!t" answer.

If he can solve your problem with a resistor, a gum wrapper and a little duct tape, thank your lucky stars! Even MacGyver had a bit of a mullet.


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[Notmyidi]

Sure it was a resistor and not a diode? Just for curiousity

sent from my mind via telepathy

 

[PO'dexpd'nowner]

Sure it was a resistor and not a diode? Just for curiousity

sent from my mind via telepathy

not really but I think it's a resistor. I'll go take a pic when I go back out this evening after battery is charged. I gotta form up a 25x25 basketball court concrete pad right now.

 

[PO'dexpd'nowner]

here it is with cell phone pic. Resistor or diode?

 

[Notmyidi]

Resistor

sent from my mind via telepathy

 

[Notmyidi]

According to the color band 3700 ohms to

Which would mean 12.6 would drop to 6.3
sent from my mind via telepathy

 

[PO'dexpd'nowner]

According to the color band 3700 ohms to

Which would mean 12.6 would drop to 6.3
sent from my mind via telepathy

meaning what exactly? not big enough?

 

[Captain Morgan]

Probably means that the guy knows a trick because he's done it successfully before, and he wants to see if it's the solution to your problem.

Ever see Circle of Iron? The protege named Cord thought David Carradine
"The Blind Man" was a real dick, until he learned why he sank the boat, fixed a wall, and ***** slapped a tyrannical boy.

He had been through there before and already knew what was going on, as your mechanic likely does.

Keep the battery 100% charged, let the mechanic test his theories, stay out of the heat, carry on grasshopper.


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[Notmyidi]

That module probably needed to see a certain voltage, internally it probably has a similar resistor, so adding it insures it will see it, or rather a voltage range
And 12.6 is a fully charged battery or max output of your battery

I could theorize for days but I've never dealt with Ford's theft interlock
sent from my mind via telepathy

 

[PO'dexpd'nowner]

Well, I noticed something different today. As I was moving the charger around I accidentally hit a button onit and it showed "ZERO" under the alternator light. that would explain the battery draining but what about the stalling/theft light issue? Bad alternator cause that? IIRC, it was replaced last year but it may have been my other truck.

How to test alternator while truck not running?

 

[Notmyidi]

There isn't unless you remove it and take it to be tested



sent from my mind via telepathy

 

[Captain Morgan]

We spoke about the possibility of a short in a diode on the alternator and ensuring that every electrical connection was perfectly clean.


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[PO'dexpd'nowner]

the thing is I don't know what a diode is......at all.

Connections were clean and tight....made sure of that and doublechecked again today while looking for something, anything loose. The mechanic who made the house call is getting it Friday.

 

[Notmyidi]

It's a one way check valve for electricity your alt has several,



sent from my mind via telepathy

 

[Notmyidi]

Should have around 12.6 before start up drops during cranking and 14vs at idle
I believe 30% of max output of amps from the alt at idle and 90% at full load

sent from my mind via telepathy

 

[PO'dexpd'nowner]

Well, the mechanic has had it for 2 months and said there is nothing left for him to check. The local junkyard will give me $500 for it but scrap value is around $650-$700. But dang....it's hard to take a decent looking vehicke like that to be crushed...piant and body are great. The motor and trans run great...just can't get the computer code fixed. I can't spend anymore on fixing it now...not taking it to the dealership 30 miles away to get *****. Right now, the plan is to yank the wheels and tires off as well as the catalytic converter and sell them separately....may get $800-$850 out of it

Would I have any luck parting it out and making more in....say a 3-4 month period? Don't want to have it just sitting around here

 

[PO'dexpd'nowner]

Update: sold it last month for $1025 to a local guy who was going to try to fix it. Got a text from him today stating the local stealership fixed it. had 2 shorts in wires behind the intake. The same stealership that would do nothing but scan for codes for me. His friend works there so I'm sure he tried a bit harder than they did for me.

 

[Captain Morgan]

Wow, im happy and sad for you.

Happy you got money for it, sad you couldn't get to the bottom of it.

Yeah, a lot of time in life it's "who ya know".

Thx for the update, I figured with the cold setting in you would just set it on fire and warm your hand.



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[PO'dexpd'nowner]

Wow, im happy and sad for you.

Happy you got money for it, sad you couldn't get to the bottom of it.

Yeah, a lot of time in life it's "who ya know".

Thx for the update, I figured with the cold setting in you would just set it on fire and warm your hand.



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Well I remembered why I get aggravated so many times on forums. People have problems, fix them and never update on what the fix was so I felt obligated to post back.

As for cold comment...I love the cold. I'm out there every morning at 6:15 in the dark deer hunting and now rabbit season is starting. Bought me a 2001 Z71 for new work truck. If I hadn't bought it I'd offer to buy back the Exp'y

And I correct myself: I checked his text....his friend who works at the dealership fixed it....dunno if it was at the dealership itself.