Electrical Problem??

TheArchaic1

TheArchaic1

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Ok, so I get into my car and start it up to go to work this morning and my gauges are bouncing all over the place. I put a new battery in back in January, and its a non-motorcraft battery with 985 crank amps and 1183 cold crank amps. The PAT light on the dash is lit solid on the dash when I turn on the car, and the voltmeter on my radar dectector even factoring in the voltage drop on it still reads 14.2 to 14.3 volts. Any suggestions?
 
TheArchaic1 said:
Ok, so I get into my car and start it up to go to work this morning and my gauges are bouncing all over the place. I put a new battery in back in January, and its a non-motorcraft battery with 985 crank amps and 1183 cold crank amps. The PAT light on the dash is lit solid on the dash when I turn on the car, and the voltmeter on my radar dectector even factoring in the voltage drop on it still reads 14.2 to 14.3 volts. Any suggestions?
Click to expand...

Okay, it can't possibly be 14.2 volts while the engine is off. What is the engine off voltage really?
Next, what does it drop to while starting the engine?
I assume that you warn everyone who rides with you that the interior may suddenly explode due to the possibility of hydrogen gas build up because of the non-spec battery that isn't connected to the vent tube.

The gauge dance is a sure sign of the battery being weak or discharged.

Trying a different key is not going to help with that.
 
14.4 is awesome when your car is off. That honestly means you have a very good battery.
 
With the gages bouncing all over the place still indicates a week battery need to test under load.
 
joegr said:
Okay, it can't possibly be 14.2 volts while the engine is off. What is the engine off voltage really?
Next, what does it drop to while starting the engine?
I assume that you warn everyone who rides with you that the interior may suddenly explode due to the possibility of hydrogen gas build up because of the non-spec battery that isn't connected to the vent tube.

The gauge dance is a sure sign of the battery being weak or discharged.

Trying a different key is not going to help with that.
Click to expand...

Just trying to get a little help here, but the 14.2 to 14.4 volts is with the engine running.
the enigine off voltage is around 12.8 volts and it drops to around 12.1 to 12.4 volts when cranking the engine.

And not to sound like a smart @ss, but there are other batteries on the market that you can buy that are oem replacements. My battery is a factory replacement bought from my local Napa and it is connected properly to the vent hose in the trunk.
I live in a state where the temps can drop down at night well into the end of April.

A brand new battery that registers at 13+ volts on a tester out of the car should not be causing this to happen right?
Just looking for some insight as to something else that may be causing this to happen, and wondering if anyone else is having or had a problem like this.
 
TheArchaic1 said:
Just trying to get a little help here, but the 14.2 to 14.4 volts is with the engine running.
the enigine off voltage is around 12.8 volts and it drops to around 12.1 to 12.4 volts when cranking the engine.

And not to sound like a smart @ss, but there are other batteries on the market that you can buy that are oem replacements. My battery is a factory replacement bought from my local Napa and it is connected properly to the vent hose in the trunk.
I live in a state where the temps can drop down at night well into the end of April.

A brand new battery that registers at 13+ volts on a tester out of the car should not be causing this to happen right?
Just looking for some insight as to something else that may be causing this to happen, and wondering if anyone else is having or had a problem like this.
Click to expand...

Yes, I do know that there are a few other batteries that fit correctly. It just seems that most on this board who go non-oem do so to be cheap and don't understand the importance of the vent tube.

Okay, now that that's all cleared up...

I would expect the battery voltage to drop more while cranking, but as long as it stays above nine volts, you should be okay. I suspect that your radar detector does some averaging and is too slow to catch how low the battery really dips. You may need to get a real meter. Now, assuming that it isn't the battery, then it must be a bad connection at one of the main electrical junctions. I'd check those next.
A good, Ford specific, scan tool would allow you to see which electronic modules are seeing an under-voltage condition. That would help to close in on the loose junction (if that is what's going on).
 
Autoenginuity with the ford specific software?
 
Thanks guys, I will check into getting one since it probably wouldn't be a bad thing to have laying around. I have some gauges that I need to put in that I had in my last car and one of them happens to be a voltmeter. That and the other gauges will be going in pretty soon I guess. I also have an air/fuel ratio and oil pressure gauge to put in as well. Does anybody know where the sender is for the oil pressure and if I add a mechanical gauge will it cause any problems with the onboard computer and message center? Thanks again for the help guys.
 
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