Challenging diagnosis& fix,w/pic,Ford V-10 battery light
Hey All,
Thought I would share this one. It may help someone else out who has similar challenging diagnosis of a battery light on their Excurson or Super Duty. As these rigs get older the gremlins start to show themselves. I hate throwing money and parts at a problem. Iill try to give a somewhat organized break down below:
Subject vehicle:
V-10 2001 X with 110K miles
Trouble:
Intermittent flickering battery dash light illumination. Only occurs when engine cold. Trending towards more frequent occurrance. Battery is holding charge and no issues in cranking engine.
Diagnosis approach:
1.Tested both battery and alternator. Battery found to have cranking amp loss but battery is 7 years old. Replaced as preventative measure.
Alternator checked out fine.
2. Proceeded to check battery and charging system connections. Several corroded (beach driving) and one slightly loose. Cleaned and tightened all.
Vehicle still symptomatic and battery light coming on and staying on for first few miles of operation then going out. IE problem is getting worse despite my efforts. Back to square one.
3. I then began to closely examine charging system wires themselves.
Followed large yellow wire that runs from back of alternator to stater relay. The starter relay is on fender right behind battery itself. Just before it reaches the starter relay the wire has a heat shrink wrap on it. At the junction the alt wire is connected to three other wires. Two continue to the starter relay and a small brown wire goes to the trucks wiring harness. I noticed a small burn hole in the heat shrink at the point the small brown wire enters the wrap. I then cut open the wrap and this is what I found.
It had alot of corrosion and the brown wore was burned and severed.
Fix:
Cut wires back to good copper, soldered wires together and wrapped connection.
Dash light is now off and truck appears fixed.
Well hopes this helps someone. I was lucky and got it figured out in a couple days once I dug into it.
Thought I would share this one. It may help someone else out who has similar challenging diagnosis of a battery light on their Excurson or Super Duty. As these rigs get older the gremlins start to show themselves. I hate throwing money and parts at a problem. Iill try to give a somewhat organized break down below:
Subject vehicle:
V-10 2001 X with 110K miles
Trouble:
Intermittent flickering battery dash light illumination. Only occurs when engine cold. Trending towards more frequent occurrance. Battery is holding charge and no issues in cranking engine.
Diagnosis approach:
1.Tested both battery and alternator. Battery found to have cranking amp loss but battery is 7 years old. Replaced as preventative measure.
Alternator checked out fine.
2. Proceeded to check battery and charging system connections. Several corroded (beach driving) and one slightly loose. Cleaned and tightened all.
Vehicle still symptomatic and battery light coming on and staying on for first few miles of operation then going out. IE problem is getting worse despite my efforts. Back to square one.
3. I then began to closely examine charging system wires themselves.
Followed large yellow wire that runs from back of alternator to stater relay. The starter relay is on fender right behind battery itself. Just before it reaches the starter relay the wire has a heat shrink wrap on it. At the junction the alt wire is connected to three other wires. Two continue to the starter relay and a small brown wire goes to the trucks wiring harness. I noticed a small burn hole in the heat shrink at the point the small brown wire enters the wrap. I then cut open the wrap and this is what I found.
It had alot of corrosion and the brown wore was burned and severed.
Fix:
Cut wires back to good copper, soldered wires together and wrapped connection.
Dash light is now off and truck appears fixed.
Well hopes this helps someone. I was lucky and got it figured out in a couple days once I dug into it.
