92 Ford Explorer won't start - battery problem?

It's dead, Jim. Uh, Tyler. I meant Tyler! :-)

Six years for a battery is pretty good. Break down and buy a new one, and your problems will probably disappear. Well, the starting problems, anyway!

The battery is almost seven years old (warranty

For cripes sake... Go to Costco and pry $35.00 out of your wallet !!!

If I EVER had a battery last 7 yrs, I'd build a shrine around it and worship it !!

I did, and they did, thanks. I didn't need to break down in order to buy anything, but thanks for implying that I'm some kind of cheap bastard. Nice of you to be thinking of others that way. All I wanted to do was make sure that it WAS the battery by asking other peoples' opinions - I've never owned a vehicle before.

Tyler

And up yours too, jerk off. If you actually read my post, and thought about what it said for maybe ten seconds, you'd realize I was set to go out and get one. I just wanted others' opinions first to make sure I had the right diagnosis as (as I said) I had just bought the thing and was unsure as to what the problem might be. In fact, I've never owned a vehicle before this week. So kindly blow your attitude out your ass, keep your nasty insinuations about my character out of my posts, and drop dead while you're at it. Knob.

Tyler

rayfox wrote:

Ain't nothing quite like biting the hand that feeds you, Ty. Seems like you may be a tad thin-skinned for UseNet...

In truth, not one soul here owed you any kind of an answer - straight-forward, sarcastic, snide or what-ever...... If I were you, I'd have been happy for any answer I got...

-- Jim Warman snipped-for-privacy@telusplanet.net

If I were you, I'd get used to the idea of paying for advice / service.

And judging from your personality, you'll probably wind up paying top dollar !

I'd bet the guy who sold you the shitbox is probably laughing his ass off !

Bite the hand that feeds me? What hand that fed me, amigo? If all the hand does is offer a slap, damn right I will snap at it. I'm not particularly thin skinned, but neither do I tolerate pointless rudeness or abuse, in any situation. Simply because usenet is rife with abuse and flame is no excuse to either tolerate it...or indulge childishly in it for it's own sake.

Usenet started primarily as a forum for researchers and students to exchange information and ask questions, and so has a long tradition of being a place to discuss various topics and ask & answer questions. But you're right, no one here *owes* me answer. And I didn't get one from anyone here, either. Telling me that it's dead is something that I already knew. What *I* was asking was, why is it dead? just old? a bad alternator? a short circuit? are explorers prone to that? I was hoping to benefit from the experience of others. Such as this helpful respone I got from golfboy on the Ford enthusiast forum:

"OK a good thing about explorers is they have a volt gauge do you know what that looks like?? It is to the left of the speedo, the last guage on top should be above the temp guage, when you turn the key to on not starting the vehical the gauge should be in the normal region, then when you start it, it should jump up to over half way but still in the normal area, now if it does that then the alternator is fine and you just need a battery, also you will not be able to drive around with a dead battery and a bad alternator, the car will jump and the min you take it off the jumper cables it would die, but to me it sounds like its you battery an ez do it your self fix, just remember red is positive which goes on the pos side of the battery and black is neg goes on the neg side of the battery"

Simply because it is a public place does not entitle me to an answer, tis true. I depend on the good will of others, just like those who depend on my goodwill in answering tech support type questions in other newsgroups. But it being a public place does not entitle YOU to abuse or be rude to me, nor give you any right to complain if I defend myself against such.

Grow up, amigo. Politeness and courtesy are hallmarks of a cultured and mature person. And unwillingness to quietly suffer abuse is the hallmark of a free person.

Tyler

Jim Warman wrote:

Mmm. Somehow, I am not going to put much faith in a flamer's opinion of my personality and future personal dealings with others. Especially when said flamer has as a sample size of 1. And *particularly* awho doesn't even post his contact information.

The guy who sold me the suv thru the edm.forsale group is coming to my going away party next week. His selling me the thing made my whole relocation possible. He gave me an excellent deal on a well maintained vehicle, and paid for everything the mechanical inspection showed needed fixing with no complaint (which was just some bearing greasing). And thus I am going to show my gratitude for his magnaminousness and general niceness in selling me such a fine suv by having him over for my going away wine & cheese. So. He is a sweet old guy, so kindly don't malign HIM either, you obnoxious prat. Keep your nasty thoughts in your head and out of public places; the world is quite ugly enough without people like you making it even worse for no reason.

Tyler

rayfox wrote:

Mmm. Somehow, I am not going to put much faith in a flamer's opinion of my personality and future personal dealings with others. Especially when said flamer has as a sample size of 1. And *particularly* awho doesn't even post his contact information.

The guy who sold me the suv thru the edm.forsale group is coming to my going away party next week. His selling me the thing made my whole relocation possible. He gave me an excellent deal on a well maintained vehicle, and paid for everything the mechanical inspection showed needed fixing with no complaint (which was just some bearing greasing). And thus I am going to show my gratitude for his magnaminousness and general niceness in selling me such a fine suv by having him over for my going away wine & cheese. So. He is a sweet old guy, so kindly don't malign HIM either, you obnoxious prat. Keep your nasty thoughts in your head and out of public places; the world is quite ugly enough without people like you making it even worse for no reason.

Tyler

rayfox wrote:

Mmm. Somehow, I am not going to put much faith in a flamer's opinion of my personality and future personal dealings with others. Especially when said flamer has as a sample size of 1. And *particularly* awho doesn't even post his contact information.

The guy who sold me the suv thru the edm.forsale group is coming to my going away party next week. His selling me the thing made my whole relocation possible. He gave me an excellent deal on a well maintained vehicle, and paid for everything the mechanical inspection showed needed fixing with no complaint (which was just some bearing greasing). And thus I am going to show my gratitude for his magnaminousness and general niceness in selling me such a fine suv by having him over for my going away wine & cheese. So. He is a sweet old guy, so kindly don't malign HIM either, you obnoxious prat. Keep your nasty thoughts in your head and out of public places; the world is quite ugly enough without people like you making it even worse for no reason.

Tyler

rayfox wrote:

Mmm. Somehow, I am not going to put much faith in a flamer's opinion of my personality and future personal dealings with others. Especially when said flamer has as a sample size of 1. And *particularly* awho doesn't even post his contact information.

The guy who sold me the suv thru the edm.forsale group is coming to my going away party next week. His selling me the thing made my whole relocation possible. He gave me an excellent deal on a well maintained vehicle, and paid for everything the mechanical inspection showed needed fixing with no complaint (which was just some bearing greasing). And thus I am going to show my gratitude for his magnaminousness and general niceness in selling me such a fine suv by having him over for my going away wine & cheese. So. He is a sweet old guy, so kindly don't malign HIM either, you obnoxious prat. Keep your nasty thoughts in your head and out of public places; the world is quite ugly enough without people like you making it even worse for no reason.

Tyler

rayfox wrote:

LOL!

are you as good at working on you car as you are at posting a simple usenet message !!

ha HA HA hee HAAA

What a buffoon

BTW, if you go back and re-read YOU are the one who started the childish name calling.

I merely pointed out that a 7 yr old battery should be replaced ! Maybe I didn't sugar coat it enough for you, but that's all it was.

YOU on the other hand, launched a full-bore flame against me, and ANOTHER poster!

so don't try to sermon me on what makes the world "ugly "

Since you mentioned that it's the first vehicle you owned, you are most likely a 16 yr old snotty know-it-all that is used to your mommy wiping your nose, and fighting your battles for you, so I'll give you the benefit of the doubt.

Oh, and you're damn right there is no contact information ! if I want to be contacted by anyone in a newsgroup, I'll post it THEN!

This is the last message I'll post in this thread though. Nobody needs another flame-war.

B E C A U S E I T I S S E V E N Y E A R S O L D !!!!!

Tyler

rayfox wrote:

... Tyler, it appears that you live in Edmonton. Here in Alberta, most folks are lucky to get 3 or 4 years out of a battery. Our extremes in weather and some of our more unkempt roads combine to promise our batteries an early demise. There are several reasons why a battery will fail prematurely - since you are in the apparent habit of 'biting the hand that feeds you', i.e. attacking those that offer help, I'll leave it at that.

Perhaps, if Edmonton were to lose a few more folks with your temperment, it could become a more pleasant place to visit....

-- Jim Warman snipped-for-privacy@telusplanet.net

I do live in Edmonton, Jim. Thanks for the mini-info on why the batteries die early, althought that still isn't really what I was asking about originally. I asked if the problem was indeed the battery, as it seemed to be, or if it could be some other problem and the battery was just a byproduct or coincidence. I know the question wasn't asked obtusely, as the people at the Ford Forum were all polite and helpful in advising exactly the question I asked (see my previous quote of golfboy's response).

Oddly enough, I feel the same way about you as you do about me - if Alberta was to lose a few more of it's obnoxious and rude people, it would be a much pleasanter place to live. That's probably true of everywhere, tho. I have to say that the majority of people I've met in Edm are pretty pleasant, though.

But I do not respond to rudeness with politeness, and never will. I won't encourage that sort of thing, won't tolerate it in my relations with others, and feel socially obliged to discourage it in others when I can.

Tyler

Jim Warman wrote:

Hey there. I have a 92 Ford Explorer that I am having a problem with starting all of a sudden. I bought it last week, and there were no problems the first few days. I bought one of those battery solar panels to keep the battery charged, and plugged it in via the cigarette lighter. The instructions say that it won't drain the battery, but I don't think I believe them anymore - as of yesterday the battery is simply fried, it seems. The battery is almost seven years old (warranty ran out after 6yrs).

When I tried to start the car, all I got was a couple of clicks, and the internal light is very dim. The door chime also sort of starting slowing down and slurring. I boosted it from another car, and it started up. I drove it around for about an hour after that, and it seemed fine. Stopped it & started it several times. But after coming back to it a few hours after parking, it was dead, it would only click. Several attempts to get it to start resulted in not even a clicking. So I boosted again! This time the battery had drained so far the clock on the stereo had reset!

I assume all this means I need a new battery, but I wanted to check with others and make sure it might not be some other problem.

Thanks for your feedback!

Tyler (cmaitson AT telus DOT net)

A comment like this is sure to endear Tyler to readers of this newsgroup!

Thanks mate - I appreciate the apology. It wasn't that offensive, really, but I'm pretty quick to get riled up - especially on usenet.

Tyler

Bill Funk wrote: