Eric in Wyoming
Active Member
Hi everybody,
We're currently camping, albeit sort of against our will. The Expedition was doing fine this whole trip until today when we stopped at a visitor center - tried to start it, dead battery. Got a jump from a kind RVer, which lasted all of about 2 miles counting how far we coasted after the engine went dead. Before that, all the gauges/blinkers/windows went dead, and something in the dash started beeping. Got a jump from Park Rangers, and this time I pulled the hot wire off the battery to check the alternator - engine stayed running, so I assumed the alternator was okay at that point.
Well, we made it another mile or so, far enough to where we could coast downhill into the campground, and this time I saw the voltmeter drop slowly from normal range. Once it bottomed out, the gauges/blinkers/window quit again and the engine eventually died again. Rangers had followed us to make sure we were okay, they jumped us off twice more with the same results. The camp host(God love him!) brought out a multimeter to check the battery when it was running, and the best reading he got was about 12.5V. I know a good charging system shows 13.5-14.5V or so. This time, I pulled the battery positive wire and the engine died.
I'm assuming now that I need an alternator. Before I drop a stack of cabbage on one, is there anything else I can check? I've shuffled relays around, checked fuses, everything looks to be good to go. Any ideas?
We're currently camping, albeit sort of against our will. The Expedition was doing fine this whole trip until today when we stopped at a visitor center - tried to start it, dead battery. Got a jump from a kind RVer, which lasted all of about 2 miles counting how far we coasted after the engine went dead. Before that, all the gauges/blinkers/windows went dead, and something in the dash started beeping. Got a jump from Park Rangers, and this time I pulled the hot wire off the battery to check the alternator - engine stayed running, so I assumed the alternator was okay at that point.
Well, we made it another mile or so, far enough to where we could coast downhill into the campground, and this time I saw the voltmeter drop slowly from normal range. Once it bottomed out, the gauges/blinkers/window quit again and the engine eventually died again. Rangers had followed us to make sure we were okay, they jumped us off twice more with the same results. The camp host(God love him!) brought out a multimeter to check the battery when it was running, and the best reading he got was about 12.5V. I know a good charging system shows 13.5-14.5V or so. This time, I pulled the battery positive wire and the engine died.
I'm assuming now that I need an alternator. Before I drop a stack of cabbage on one, is there anything else I can check? I've shuffled relays around, checked fuses, everything looks to be good to go. Any ideas?
Last edited: