Strange electrical problem

[jcwhidby]

1997 Ranger XLT 2.3L 4x2. Strange electrical problem occurred today. I was driving normally and turned on the headlights. Radio turned off, engine stumbled, ABS, Airbag, and other panel lights lit briefly, and the truck ran as normal after that. CEL was on (normal), no other lights or indications of problems. Drove 45 minutes down the road. Turned the truck off and it will not restart. There is power to the cigarette lighter with the switch off (normal) but when I turn the switch to start absolutely nothing happens. Battery voltage is normal at 12.6 volts. No power to OBD port with switch on. I could hear sort of a clicking noise under the instrument panel until I pulled fuse 27 which is labeled map light, dome light, glove box lamp, and visor lamp. Any ideas or suggestions on how to fix this? I'm stranded out of town, any suggestions will be much appreciated. Thanks.

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

What was your normal CEL?

 

[jcwhidby]

P0401, EGR flow insufficient, P0420 catalyst system efficiency below threshold, and P1443, evap control system fault. These have been in for years as best I remember.

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

So, as of now it still will not start with the fuse pulled??

@RonD @adsm08 @snoranger

I'm not a mechanic, I'm more of a tuner and tinkerer... trying to tag some much more qualified help. I also know zero about obd2

 

[jcwhidby]

That is correct, pulling the fuse stopped the clicking noise, whatever it was, but it still will not start.

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

So does the starter engage, and it will not fire, or it won't turn over at all?

 

[jcwhidby]

When you turn the key to start absolutely nothing happens. No starter engagement, no noise, absolutely nothing.

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

Oh, starter relay more than likely.

Is it possible to switch it out with another one??

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

Actually.

Do you have a volt meter or test light with you? Or one thats within a walking distance?

 

[jcwhidby]

Another confusing symptom is the normal accessories that are on when the switch is in run such as radio, AC blower, etc. will not come on at all.

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

OK. So thats.... weird. And is starting to sound like your ignition cylinder is either dead or disconnected.

Wiring diagrams for your truck:

 

[Snoranger]

So, as of now it still will not start with the fuse pulled??

@RonD @adsm08 @snoranger

I'm not a mechanic, I'm more of a tuner and tinkerer... trying to tag some much more qualified help. I also know zero about obd2

That’s ok... your doing good still. You don’t need back up yet.




Sounds like a main power or ground wire is broken or badly corroded.
I’d check the power and ground wires off the battery. Check both ends. Check the connections at the fuse boxes, etc.

 

[RonD]

Remove and clean BOTH battery cables

Then when both battery cables are still OFF, follow and clean the Positive battery cable where it attaches to the starter relay with all the other wires, that one post has ALL the 12volt power for the vehicle
Clean all the wire ends

If you can see where battery Negative cable is connected check that it is tight, if you can clean it then do so

Reconnect and you will now have 12volt power


The clicking relay under the dash was the battery saver relay and it was clicking because it only had maybe 6volts, so couldn't stay closed
This happens because the 12volts from battery is not getting to the rest of the vehicle
So bad connection, could be bad cable, but cleaning connections is FREE

There is NO 12VOLTs unless there is 0VOLTS, the Ground/Negative on the battery needs to pass exactly the same volts as the Positive or there is no "circuit" so low or no volts if ground connection is bad as well as positive connection

Because the radio went off and engine stumbled when you turned on the head lights that points to a bad connection on the 12v distribution point(starter relay/solenoid post), or a bad Negative battery connection
The alternator powers all the electrics when engine is running so Battery 12v is not used at all, so a stumble would point to a bad connection so alternator and battery were BOTH cut off at that moment

 

[jcwhidby]

Thanks for all of the replies everyone. With all of the strange symptoms I disconnected the ground cable for the night. I did notice that the connection to ground had significant corrosion. I will clean it up well tomorrow and see if that solves the problem.

 

[Uncle Gump]

Clean All of them...

Dirty cables will give you all kinds of trouble.