003 charging system problems

75

Asked by amanda_nick Dec 15, 2010 at 03:09 PM about the 2003 Ford Explorer XLT Sport V6 4WD

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

I have an 03 explorer sport. It has been giving me charging problems for the last about 6 months. Battery light would come on and go off all the time. Replaced alternator and battery. Problem went away till now. Battery light started going on and off. Checked conncetions, wires, tested battery and alternator. Alternator said it was charging between 13 and 17 volts. Replaced alternator and truck ran fine for a day. Went out and while driving the rpm gague went crazy, battery light blinked twice and check engine light came on. Battery light and check engine light went out and ABS light came on and stayed on. Pulled into my driveway and rpm gague went to 0 and ran for a few seconds then truck died. Tried to start the truck and it will crank over but wont start. I get the click click click noise when i try to start the truck. Battery was brand new July....any ideas of what might be wrong with it?

4 Answers

alt is over charging,17 vol is to much,should be no higher than 14 vol,probley shorted out the battery,replace both,and get a lower amp alt.

1 people found this helpful.
75

i went and got the alternator tested and was told it worked fine. it didnt over charge at all for the guy. he suggested that it was a lil plastic harness clip. bought a new 1 of them and truck ran fine for another day. now the battery light doesnt come on but i can still hear the fan kick out and the battery gague drop and then the fan kicks back in and the battery gague goes up to normal. we have kept checking the alternator and it has not charged again at anything over 13.8 volts. im happy battery light stopped coming on and truck hasnt died again but im stuck on what could be wrong....im being told all works good now.....

7 people found this helpful.

that all sounds normal,the fan is supposed to come on and off,,sounds like you got it fixed.

10

I just had a similar issue this week with my 2003 Ford Explorer. Monday morning, while driving to work, the abs light came on and the battery light started flickering on/off before the battery died and the engine stalled. I had a garage look at it thinking that it was likely not just the battery. Their prognosis was that it was a bad battery cell. The new battery seemed to be charging from Monday night until Thursday evening when, on the way home from work, the exact same thing happened. I put the new battery on a charger, and it was within normal voltage range. Any ideas on what can cause this? Is the alternator ECM controlled?

1 people found this helpful.

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