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Acts like a dead battery, ?

I have an older 1987 Ford Ranger , V-6, auto. With about 200K miles. I have 'kept up' the truck, and it serves well. In the last month, I have driven only on the weekends. Sat of this week I jump in and tried to start. NO nothing. It did not even make a clicking sound that sometimes ocure when a battery is low/almost dead. I connected up my battery charger and made contact with the posts. It was then that I heard a fast clicking sound. It came from the fender wall over by the solenoid. on the left side . I don't reconize the part, and I am not sure that 'it" has anything to do with the problem. But it is about the size of a bic cig lighter and black. Would anyone have a clue as to what it is, could it be some of my problem, I may wind up calling my mechanic, I would like tell him , other than ,,,'it wiill not start,or make noise. ???? Thanks in advance. cl.

Reply to
lorentsonci
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Maybe your battery is completely dead now. Why not splurge and replace that 6 year old battery yourself and save a tow and mechanic's charges?

Reply to
Al Bundy

Turn on the 'dome' light. Try starting your Ranger. If the dome light goes off while trying to start, the battery is kaput. If it only dims, then it is a starter relay or solenoid.

Reply to
Mellowed

I'm not sure if the older Rangers are affected by this problem or not, but if this was anything like the trouble my 1991 Ranger gave me with the same overnight battery draining symptoms, find both the EEC and fuel pump relays and replace both of them. Even when you take them off, if they look OK, throw them out and get new ones. They're like $20 Canadian to replace. On my Ranger, they were underneath the distribution block on the right hand side of the engine bay. One had a green connector, the other had a black connector. The relays are exactly the same, and should be replaced every year, they are known to stick and do this.

I fooled with everything I could think of in the engine bay related to the battery and anything that might drain it overnight until I figured out what was going on. It took me two years to figure this out because it would only happen during cold seasons, during the summer while it was warm, the battery would only drain low enough that it would still start the truck. So if I were you, this would be the first thing I would try. Also, this problem is related to a lot of Ford vehicles around 1989-1994, if you do a search on the internet, you should find some information on it.

Good luck Sharky

Reply to
Sharky

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