Reply With QuoteMy 1st guess would be the internal voltage regulator in the alternator........MP
Have an 1998 ford exp. 5.4 Eddie bauer with 110,000 miles on it.i put an Optima red top battery in about 2 years ago, everything else is original. Awhile back during a cold morning, i was driving to work and the lights go dim. I notice that the alt guage is dropping, then goes to zero. As i am trying to figure out what is going on, i heard a click and the guage jumps up and the lights come on like a Xmas tree. Yesterday as i click the remote start, everything as usual go to the truck and lights are dim. Driving down the road everything is either dim or guages dont work, pull off at a friends house. Tried restarting truck and and clicking noise, no lights. Go inside and come back out open door and lights are on. That afternoon i put a jump box on truck starts up, no problem at all last night started 4 or 5 times no problem. Took it to a mechanic friend ,he checked it and told me everything looked OK. I cleaned battery cables and checked for loose wires like he said to do. This morning alt guage was low and lights were dim, I tried putting in neutral and giving gas no movement on alt. 3/4 way to work alt guage jumps up and lights get bright.Got off work started a little slow but alt. guage was normal. What could it be Ground, alt.?
Any help would be appreciated.....
My 1st guess would be the internal voltage regulator in the alternator........MP
That had crossed my mind....i was planning on just go and getting a new alt. but i wanted to see what the majority had to say about it...
Go buy a new alternator.
Ditto, time for a new alternator!..
Went and picked one up tonight, have to wait and see how it works out. Thanks for the advice... CT
If that doesnt work, just go buy an 07' F150 SuperCrew with the 5.4.
J/K. I had a 98 Expedition Eddie Bauer with the 5.4, it had almost 140k on it and I had virtually no problems, except brakes, etc... Great SUV's, I sort of miss it.
check your battery cables 1st...
Raise your hand if you have replaced a alternator that you didn't have to do to a bad connection.
I have had no major problems except the rear end diff had an issue, other than that nothing but tires,brakes, etc.. Love my SUV except for the frickin Gas mileage.. I would love to get a new F250 or so but thats not in the budget at the moment. I know what you mean yellowboat, thats the first thing i did. Cleaned the cables and checked for loose or corroded wires.
I work on Fords all day and that sounds like typical Alt symptoms,fairly common.
As suggested above,double check you battery connections.I'd be suprised if the alt wasn't the "root" cause,may have a battery issue as well.
Posting Permissions
