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Old 01-12-2013, 08:54 PM
fletcher969 fletcher969 is offline
Ford Ranger Owner
 
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 64
Default Re: Engine won't start on its own, ext. lights flash, brake shuts down engine

Quote:
Originally Posted by stateranger View Post
Get a vaccum pump with a guage to test the booster.Check the wires and connections. If you hit your high beams does it die. What is the battery voltage when your truck is off.

I've been searching too since I want know to incase I get the same issue.
Unfortunately I'm away from home, and without access to my usual tools and equipment, and there are none at this (remote) location, so I'd either have to rent or purchase what I need to test things out, and gather voltages, etc., and to do that I'd have to drive a car without tags or insurance. I'm running blind.

In any event, my lights were on bright when I initially turned them on last night, and the truck kept running, but I was hooked up to jumper cables at the time, so I may very well have had enough juice from that setup to keep everything running regardless.

I did some research online, however, and I read several instances where others had experienced the brake pedal being depressed causing the engine to die, and it always boiled down to an electrical short, or a vacuum/booster problem. My brakes seemed fine last night with respect to pressure, and today before I started my truck up again the brakes pumped up fine, so I thought I'd change directions, and concentrate on a short given I was having obvious electrical issues. I initially looked for electrical breaches, bad wires, and/or disconnected grounds, but I didn't find any. Thought about it some, decided to wiggle some wires in and around my brake pedal since both my ignition switch and the pedal are near one another, and I'm not sure if my actions specifically affected the change, but when I jumped it this time, it flashed the lights like before, but I was able to depress the brake without the engine dying. After I hit the brake, the flashing lights went out, and it seemed to work normally thereafter. I did notice my voltage gauge indicator was significantly closer to the L than it normally is while it was running, but I'm not sure where exactly that gauge reads its voltage. If it's measuring alternator output, then I may have an issue with it, but if it's measuring voltage between the battery and the gauge, then I may have a ground issue. I let the truck idle without jumper cables for about an hour, but it didn't start when I shut it off, and tried to restart it. I'm definitely NOT an electrical guy, but I'm guessing either my battery was THAT low that an hour at idle wasn't long enough to charge it enough to start, my battery lost it's working amps, or my alternator output is low or non-existent. For now I'm going to trickle charge my battery overnight to see how it responds tomorrow.

But...at this juncture, wiggling wires underneath the dash near the brake pedal seems to have alleviated the "wierd" part of my problem....for now.
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1998 Ranger Sport, 2WD, 3.0L.

Last edited by fletcher969; 01-12-2013 at 08:56 PM.
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