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Mega Fuse Question?

CONTOUR84

New CEG'er
Joined
Jan 21, 2008
Messages
21
Location
Philadelphia
So, my battery light comes on every now and then and sometimes stays on for a little while, but other times comes on for a second then goes off. Then there are other times where it will go on and off a few times in a row. And finally, there are times when I drive the car and it doesn't come on at all. Very strange to me and its been doing this for about month now?

I haven't been able to get a pattern on it at all or figure out what causes it. I have been doing alot of reading though of posts and peoples replies about the alternator, electrical system etc., and it has been very helpful and has given me ideas of what to check and where to check! Thanks everyone!

The only question I have now is, where is the location of the mega fuse in the 4 cyclinder 2L Zetec motor? I found the Duratec's location in the forum, but not the Zetec's location.
 
its bolted to the intake manifold on the firewall side. if you look down behind the throttle bosy you should see a black case with 2 ~4awg wires going to it. thats the mega fuse.
 
With the exception of a faulty connection on either side of the fuse; the mega-fuse can't cause flickering or on/off. A BLOWN fuse would cause a light on all the time.

Your FUSE is fine... your wiring on either side MAY be faulty, but I wouldn't suspect it. I would suspect your alternator itself moreso..
 
With the exception of a faulty connection on either side of the fuse; the mega-fuse can't cause flickering or on/off. A BLOWN fuse would cause a light on all the time.

Your FUSE is fine... your wiring on either side MAY be faulty, but I wouldn't suspect it. I would suspect your alternator itself moreso..

The only reason I don't think it is the alternator, because all the lights, the radio, etc. are fine, *knocks on wood*. They don't blink or dim at all. Moreover, whenever I've heard of or had a buddies' alternator go the lights, radio, etc. become problematic and then the car dies? It just seems like with the randomness of the battery light on and off it might be a bad/loose connection somewhere?

Also, thanks Striker2 for the info about the Megafuse!
 
i wouldnt suspect the alternater so quickly cause the cars primary source of power while the car is running is from the alternater....if i were you i would take a Multimeter to check the charge statis while revving and idleing. then i would load test the battery cause the battery can show 12volts but not many amps. i would give it a load test in my opinion. that can give you alot of qwerks in the electrical system.
Good luck,

Josh
 
Take it to AAP/Autozone and have it tested.

Does Autozone test alternators?

Also, I was talking to a friend of mine and he was saying that there might be a piece I can replace for somewhat cheap. It was a "Voltage Regulator" he was talking about it and said it can sometimes be located right outside of the alternator? Not sure how true that is or if that is in older cars or what? Figured I'd post it here.

And I will check the system again with a multimeter and see if that yields any different results.

Thanks!
 
yea but usaualy when a voltage regulater is goes bad it will either be too little voltage or too much. but it is on the alternater most of the time. give it a whirl and see what happpens...take it their and also have them load test it and see what happens.
 
The same exact thing was happenning to my car for about a month until the alternator died. Luckily there was just enough juice in the battery left to get me home. The charge got so low that the gauges stopped working, but the car still ran.

If you take it to Autozone they can test the battery and the alternator. Although you can test it yourself by checking the battery voltage while the car is on. You should see around 13.5 Volts while it is running.
 
The same exact thing was happenning to my car for about a month until the alternator died. Luckily there was just enough juice in the battery left to get me home. The charge got so low that the gauges stopped working, but the car still ran.

If you take it to Autozone they can test the battery and the alternator. Although you can test it yourself by checking the battery voltage while the car is on. You should see around 13.5 Volts while it is running.

What alternator did you replace the existing one with? A reman. from like Autozone or a full built one from Ford? And how is it working for ya now?

And I did test it myself and the charge was like 14.2-14.5. Cant remember off the top of my head.
 
Sorry it took so long for my response.

I replaced it with a reman. one from Autozone. It's been working fine for a few months now. My battery is still working even though I completely drained it when the alt. died.

14.5V that sounds high, but I could be wrong. I wonder if there could be issues with the voltage regulator.
 
Sorry it took so long for my response.

I replaced it with a reman. one from Autozone. It's been working fine for a few months now. My battery is still working even though I completely drained it when the alt. died.

14.5V that sounds high, but I could be wrong. I wonder if there could be issues with the voltage regulator.

Thats a good thing to hear about the reman. from Autozone. Also, how did you get the tensioner pulley to move? I did some research and me and my buddy attempted to release the tensioner, but we had no success. And is the voltage regulator inside or outside the alternator? If it is outside do you know where and how much the part costs?

Also, ProjectSHO89, if the volts are over that, I assume that would set off the battery light as well? And you think 14.5 volts is too high?

Thanks!
 
just lube the hell out of tensioner , all i did and keep working it back and forth .

Any specific tool you used to move it? Me and my friend used a 13mm wrench cause there is a nut in the center of the pulley and we tried to use that as a means of grip to get at it? Problem is, the frame runs right along there leaving like an inch or two of space between the nut and frame making it hard to get at.
 
It's much easier to get to the tensioner if you remove the engine mount. Not sure if you did this or not :)
i always get to the tensioner from the bottom. pull the wheel and the splash shield and its right there. you can either use a really long 13mm wrench or, what i do, put a 2 wrenches together to get some extra leverage.
 
i always get to the tensioner from the bottom. pull the wheel and the splash shield and its right there. you can either use a really long 13mm wrench or, what i do, put a 2 wrenches together to get some extra leverage.

Yeah that works as well. I guess whichever method the OP prefers :cool:
 
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