Electical system dies

[primus1d]

I have a 95 ranger and for some reason, my vehicle loses all power when I try to turn on anything that draws much amperage. The dome light will come on but when I turn on the headlights or try to start it, the whole truck goes black. Eventually the dome light comes back but it dies again the moment I try to do anything. The one time I had it start to do anything, the starter solenoid just clicked on me. I suspect that may be bad but can there be anything else causing my headaches? No fuses are blown.

 

[COPPERHEAD85]

Start with the simple stuff....
Check Battery
Check Alt.
Check positive and negative cables

 

[martin]

The favourite place for a bad connection is the ground on the motor.

 

[COPPERHEAD85]

Good point!^

 

[4x4junkie]

I've often found symptoms like those being caused by a bad/corroded terminal on the battery.
Try pulling the cables off the battery and wire brush them clean and see if that helps.

If that don't help, then it's time to get out a voltmeter and start checking things.

 

[Crane]

Yea, try cleaning off the battery terminals of rust, I had a 93 explorer that did the same thing, filed off the terminal and cable and it worked just fine after that

also check for corrosion in the battery cables