Strange problem - battery issue?

[BoDarville]

My wife went to start the Expedition this morning and it seemed like the battery was completely dead.No indication that lights were left on or anything. Battery is only a year old. So I got home and went to jump it. When I hooked up the cables, it honked and lights and everything came on as though it had never been dead. I immediately unhooked the cables, and it started right up like nothing was wrong.

So the battery wasn’t dead at all - any idea what was wrong? Thanks in advance.

 

[bobmbx]

When you started it, did you use your key, or hers?

 

[Don Hall]

Cable clamps may need to be cleaned and retightened.
Remove both cables, clean cable ends of any corrosion, replace cables.......tighten snuggly.

 

[BoDarville]

When you started it, did you use your key, or hers?

I used mine. But mine didn’t work until my jumper cables touched the battery.

 

[BoDarville]

It has gotten more interesting - today the center screen decided not to work. I assume it's related somehow?

My first thought was that it had gone into some kind of anti-theft or battery protection mode and disconnected the electrical system, but I couldn't find anything in the manual that would indicate that's a "feature" in our trucks.

 

[99WhiteC5Coupe]

My wife went to start the Expedition this morning and it seemed like the battery was completely dead.No indication that lights were left on or anything. Battery is only a year old. So I got home and went to jump it. When I hooked up the cables, it honked and lights and everything came on as though it had never been dead. I immediately unhooked the cables, and it started right up like nothing was wrong.

So the battery wasn’t dead at all - any idea what was wrong? Thanks in advance.

It has gotten more interesting - today the center screen decided not to work. I assume it's related somehow?

My first thought was that it had gone into some kind of anti-theft or battery protection mode and disconnected the electrical system, but I couldn't find anything in the manual that would indicate that's a "feature" in our trucks.

I’d bet you have a defective battery.

 

[BoDarville]

The battery is only a year old. Ended up disconnecting it for 20 minutes, and everything works again. Probably need to start thinking about a new APIM though.

The positive cable was a little loose, so that may have started everything.

 

[Don Hall]

[QUOTE="BoDarville, The positive cable was a little loose, so that may have started everything.[/QUOTE]

Loose cables can cause many problems.