i had the same kinda problem and did alot of reasearch on it.
the positive battery terminal has a serious flaw, and that is it corrodes almost to nothing. the cable may look ok from the outside but the inside is destroyed. this cable runs all the way down to the starter and could have problems that u cant see.
if u have not replaced it yet, replace it. u have to get it from a dealership since it is a specialty cable.
Thanks, I plan to at least have the dealer figure out what's wrong if I can't narrow it down. I have a day off planned tomorrow anyway, but wasn't planning on this. ;-)
You don't "have to" get it from the dealer, but you will probably end up with a better cable. I got one that fit from Auto Zone but the terminal connector is bronze and it corrodes very easily. I put a bunch of anti-corrosion goop on it and leave the cover off of the positive terminal and that helps. I think the cable from the Zone was about $9 and Ford gets about $45.
On my '92 the cable was completely corroded to the point that there was only powder inside the insulation and amazingly the engine started up fine right up to the point where the cable was falling apart.
You may be able to narrow it down a little; peel back some of the insulation on the positive battery cable. *ANY* corrosion is an indication the cable is corroded, and needs to be replaced.
hi i think it is the cable. i replacemy own with the same problem. i replaced both of them. one cable is connectted near the front coil spring which is hard to get to . i did not put it back where ford put it. i nsted conneted it to a good ground on the engie block. i thas been that wat for 72000. miles. i have 189,000 on egine v-6.
Thanks to everyone who offered advice. I have been able to get the engine to start consistently now. I removed the cables from the terminals, cleaned them more thoroughly and made sure to push them onto the terminals firmly and that seemed to do the trick. I did notice a worn area on the positive cable where it passes under the air duct that connects to the top of the engine. I assume that this gets hot and that has caused the insulation to melt over time. I still plan to have these cables replaced but can now wait until the budget will allow for it.
Thanks again,
Michael
MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.