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Odd Intermittent Problems

M

mzracer360

Veteran CEG'er
Joined
Apr 2, 2006
Messages
681
Location
Kansas
To start things off, I have a '95 GL with a Duratec.

A couple months ago my problems started while I was at school. I came out to my car and my Viper alarm had somehow been set off, and no matter how much I tried, I could not get it to turn off. After 10 minutes of waiting, and calling AAA for some help, It finally drained my battery and shut itself off. After having my battery checked out, we realized it was an old one and had Quality Care Ford replace it.

A couple weeks ago I went to start my car to go to work, but it didn't turn over. All it did was click a bunch, then the wipers turned on, and the overdrive light turned on. When I would turn the key to off, the alarm would sound for a second or two. It did this 3 times before finally starting. I took it to the Lincoln/Mercury dealer this time, and they could not duplicate the problem.

Now, last night while heading home from work, my car died in the middle of the street during rush hour traffic. It had no electricity at all, the hazard lights didn't even work. Our city's Capitol Police stopped by while I waited for AAA to come, so the traffic would have some warning that I was there lol. After waiting 25 minutes for AAA (as a Priority call since I was in the middle of the street?), I tried starting the car and everything was back to normal?
 
While there is a chance that you may have a wire shorted somewhere, I would first be very suspicious of the viper alarm. Try removing that first to see if the problem goes away.

If that doesn't work, you need to see if the battery is getting a slow drain. And figure out which circuit is draining it. Turn off all accessories, connect ammeter between each fuse and see which has current flow. IIRC, anything above 0.05 amp is a drain. Start by connecting between negative terminal of battery and cable.
 
I've setup an appointment with the company who installed the alarm back when we bought it in 95 :cool: . I'll also see if my dad has an ammeter!
 
If you have a voltmeter, see if the alternator is working: 13.5-14.8 volts at battery terminals while car is running.
 
Problems like that usually come from bad battery connections.

Check the connections at the distribution plate, at the starter, the body ground, the engine ground strap, and to the underside of the AUX fuse and relay box behind the battery.

Pull the fuel pump relay and crank the engine some, then check the plate and battery cables to see if they are heating up. Hot wires indicate increased resistance from corrosion.
 
Here's a quick video I took about 30 minutes ago of it's current situation. This is also what happened a couple weeks ago (as mentioned in the first post), except when I went to video tape it this time, the O/D light didn't turn on.

 
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As suspected earlier, your Viper alarm is probably causing the "short" or shutting off the engine for you.
 
Sounds almost exactly what happened to my sister's friend. Her car wouldn't start, so I jumped it, and as I left, it died again. Then I jumped it again and let it charge for awhile, and it worked fine. Then on the way back from something about 45 min later her car died again in the middle of the road with no lights. She had to call the cops so she didn't get hit, and have the car towed.

Turns out the battery cables connecting to the battery were so corroded that they were causing all sorts of electrical problems. Sounds like that is a very likely cause for your car. Are the terminals clean, and is everything shinny and not corroded? Also follow the main power cables around the engine and look for any damage to the cables.
 
The cables were getting a little corroded with the old battery. After the first problem occurred, I had it replaced and they also cleaned up the connections.
 
Found the problem (I hope). The battery cables were loose, but I couldn't tighten them. Im having them replaced right now at the stealership!
 
mzracer360 said:
Found the problem (I hope). The battery cables were loose, but I couldn't tighten them. Im having them replaced right now at the stealership!
Click to expand...
I was just gonna suggest checking this out.:laugh: ... I had close to the same problem in my Stique.. All it was was the battery connectors were loose. I tightened them and have had no problem since.
 
Funny, no matter how complicated the problem seems, half the time it is something incredibly simple. (We're hoping this is true in this case!!)
 
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