NDL
Member
- Joined
- Dec 11, 2019
- Messages
- 15
- Reaction score
- 3
- Location
- Greenville, SC
- Vehicle Year
- 2001
- Make / Model
- Ford Ranger XL
- Transmission
- Manual
Hello Y'all:
I have a 2001 Ranger with the 2.5L engine. I have two separate issues with the truck, and one may be causing the other:
The Ranger is driven every couple of days. When the temperatures are above 40 degrees, the battery stays charged - at least at an amount that's sufficient to start the vehicle.
Once the nightly temperatures dip into the 30's, if the vehicle is not started and run every day or so, the battery will have an insufficient charge to start the engine. It only happens when evening temperatures dip into the 30's.
The truck has behaved this way for the past two plus years. Again...this is only an issue when the temps drop, and the truck sits. If the temps are above 40 degrees, and/or if the truck is driven daily, I don't have an issue. I do not have this issue in the summer, spring, or fall, but now that we're in the winter season, I am having the issue again (similiar to, but worse than, last winter).
We recently moved to a new City, into an apartment complex that doesn't allow vehicle repairs, plus I don't know much about electrical. I have a hunch that the battery is no good; the voltmeter registers okay, and HVAC fan on high; high beams...all work flawlessly. The battery is a couple to three years old.
The other issue, which may be tied to the above issue: the key in chime started going off, as of recent. It will only go off for the first 20 seconds, after starting the vehicle. It will not go off at any other time. I taped the connection, and it still went off, so I traced the wire to the harness, and disconnected the wire and ignition switch dohickey. The chime still goes off when the vehicle is started, so I am now wondering if something is shorting the whole thing out. I don't know which fuse operates the key in chime.
Do y'all have any thoughts or ideas? I am in the process of getting a multimeter, and have youtubed video's on parasitic loss testing. For various reasons, it'll be a good couple of weeks until I have a place to work on the truck, and seriously check it out. In the meantime, do y'all have any ideas?
TIY
I have a 2001 Ranger with the 2.5L engine. I have two separate issues with the truck, and one may be causing the other:
The Ranger is driven every couple of days. When the temperatures are above 40 degrees, the battery stays charged - at least at an amount that's sufficient to start the vehicle.
Once the nightly temperatures dip into the 30's, if the vehicle is not started and run every day or so, the battery will have an insufficient charge to start the engine. It only happens when evening temperatures dip into the 30's.
The truck has behaved this way for the past two plus years. Again...this is only an issue when the temps drop, and the truck sits. If the temps are above 40 degrees, and/or if the truck is driven daily, I don't have an issue. I do not have this issue in the summer, spring, or fall, but now that we're in the winter season, I am having the issue again (similiar to, but worse than, last winter).
We recently moved to a new City, into an apartment complex that doesn't allow vehicle repairs, plus I don't know much about electrical. I have a hunch that the battery is no good; the voltmeter registers okay, and HVAC fan on high; high beams...all work flawlessly. The battery is a couple to three years old.
The other issue, which may be tied to the above issue: the key in chime started going off, as of recent. It will only go off for the first 20 seconds, after starting the vehicle. It will not go off at any other time. I taped the connection, and it still went off, so I traced the wire to the harness, and disconnected the wire and ignition switch dohickey. The chime still goes off when the vehicle is started, so I am now wondering if something is shorting the whole thing out. I don't know which fuse operates the key in chime.
Do y'all have any thoughts or ideas? I am in the process of getting a multimeter, and have youtubed video's on parasitic loss testing. For various reasons, it'll be a good couple of weeks until I have a place to work on the truck, and seriously check it out. In the meantime, do y'all have any ideas?
TIY