Dead Car, was cranking. Now nothing but a red blinking light.

Asked by mrmorp36 Dec 01, 2008 at 06:00 PM about the 2004 Ford Explorer XLT V6 4WD

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

Vehicle has 80,000 Miles.  Purchased with 70,000 about a year ago.  Reversed out of parking spot, died when shifting to park.  Only cranked and cranked.  Had towed to garage a block away from house.  They can't even get it to crank or any lights to come on.  Just a really fast red blinking light.  Said they needed key FOB to disarm alarm even though the key in the door plus using the key pad on outside of car also dis-arms the alarm.  They have quit for the day and relook at tomorrow.  I purchased an extended warranty ($2,000) which better cover this.  Any suggestions?

3 Answers

i had a weird problem similar to yours where it would start but not idle, i was up a ski hill in minus 18deg celcius. after my warming the vehicle for 2 hours by holding my foot on the accelerator it still died when i removed my foot. i fixeed the problem by switching the 4wd on, and that was it no more problem, i was completly amazed, and no problem since. could have been the cold temp affecting 1 of the sensors, maybe i will never know.

515

well i know you can purchase a diagnostic computer for your vehicle kinda like a vehicle programmer guys use on their f-150's and mustangs except it will tell you whats wrong with the vehicle, and it may give you error codes 2, unfortuantly thats something you should install before you have the problem, not knowing whats wrong with your car, i wouldnt put the 200-300 dollars into if its something critical. but if i was to say something was wrong with the vehicle it would have to be electrical, or something in the fuel system, i heard of cars just shutting off, from issues with the fuel system thx for the lovely new computer systems on these vehicles now a days.

535

I had the same issue with my 03 expedition, if it has a factory remote started installed remove it and reprogram pcm, the remote starter is making the antitheft turn on and if you've tried 3 or 4 times to start it the pcm has gone into lock up because it thinks it's being stolen, have all the keys and all the fobs and codes for doors available at time of repair, as far as extended warranty i'd call the warranty company and ask first you may be out several hundred dollars cause it's all straight time to repair. good luck.

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