EDIT: Issue resolved,
see post 25
Hi,
I just
joined the forums and would LOVE a little bit of help!
I just bought a 2001 XLT 4x4 Ext Cab 4.0L with 154k miles and 4 days later it died on me, just lost all electrical power as I coasted to the side of the road.
I had taken a load to Goodwill, everything was working fine until I left GW, then the speedometer and odometer stopped working. Tach was working fine, stopped after a couple miles, turned it off, started it back up 20mins later, drove 50' and the Tach then stopped working. Then, ~3miles later I started feeling the truck lose power... but I was on a hwy with no exits until I got home. Well, God must've been off duty that night because I ended up stuck on the worst part of the bridge
I've read through these forums pretty extensively before joining and making this post, reading:
http://www.fordrangerforum.com/elect...cooking-2.html
http://www.fordrangerforum.com/elect...working-2.html
http://www.fordrangerforum.com/elect...t-working.html
Work done:
- Old battery was dead (and the terminals were corroded as well) after coasting to a stop, charged overnight, cleaned the terminals with sandpaper, voltmeter showed 12.4v engine off and 11.8v running (less if revving)... clearly not getting a charge.
- Replaced blown fuse #26 - didn't fix the speedometer/odometer/gauge issue.
- Pulled alternator and the brushes were toast (and the copper spindle they connect to, dunno what that's called, was ground up pretty bad- guy at the counter said he'd never seen one so bad), bought replacement, installed, STILL no charge.
- Thought maybe the battery had a bad cell, raced to Costco, got there with 6mins to spare and got a replacement. Same as above, engine off, ~12.4v, running ~11.8v.
- *belt tension is tight, and the belt is in good shape
I know some people have tried replacing the wire between the alt and battery? Is that right? I didn't see anything in the Haynes about that... but I'm totally open for suggestions. Please!
Right before all of this happened, I was trying a dome light swap using a 98ish Explorer dome light. Blew the #26 fuse, but didn't think it would cause the alternator to kick the bucket?