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1987 Ranger troubles

Hey everybody I just came into possesion of a 1987 Ford Ranger XLT, but it's got a few issues I was hoping someone could help me out with.

When I got this truck, all I was told was it had been sitting a couple of years, and it ran when it was parked, but that one cylinder was fouling up, and the thottle cable had stuck open and was most likely broken. The battery had been taken out and stored inside, so I charged it up and put it in, hoping for something. What I got was nothing. Well, almost nothing. With the fully charged battery, I have the horn, dome light, and open door pinger. If I turn the key to start, the dome light slowly faded, and the horn stops working. When I let the key retun to run, the dome light returns. I get nothing at all from the starter, no clicks, groans, nothing.

I'm just an amatuer mechanic, but it sounds to me like either something really easy, or really really bad. The other thing is, the truck has a very high degree of rust covering everytning. The stuck throttle cable I suspect had to do with the fact that the throttle was rust covered. Could it be a ground or something like that? Thanks Tonyrama

Reply to
tonyrama
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The battery

The horn, lights etc take a small amount of current compared to the starter. They are not a good indicator of the battery's condiditon. If it does the same thing when you try to jump start it, your problem may lie in the starting system or wiring. I could easily believe that your battery is hooped though.

A battery will slowly discharge on its own over time and two years is way too long to be on the bench. When the battery is in an uncharged state or if the fluid level is low enough to expose the plates they are vulnerable to sulfation. The sulfation prevents the battery from being charged.

Try a jump start and see what happens.

Stephen

Reply to
Stephen

snip

No.

Reply to
Bill Vajk

Ummm....Yes it could..... Bob

Reply to
Bob

On Mon, 19 Apr 2004 20:52:37 -0500, Bill Vajk rearranged some electrons to form:

Sure it could. A corroded ground could easily cause the problem he describes. Most likely though the battery is no good if it's been sitting for 2 years.

Reply to
David M

We're reading it differently. I read he's asking if the throttle cable could be a bad ground. The answer to that is no. Could he have a general grounding problem, the answer is yes.

Reply to
Bill Vajk

I'm with Stephen. After two years the battery is probably shot. If you don't want to jump it just measure its voltage with a volt meter. You can get one at any parts store for a just a few bucks. It should read 12 volts at rest. If it doesn't, go get a battery and that old truck will probably fire right up. Let us know. jor

Reply to
jor

Thanks everybody. I'll try to jump it first. I was a little wary about frying my car, but I guess I'll give it a shot. I'll report back on what happens Tonyrama

Reply to
tonyrama

Sorry, that came out wrong, I was thinking faster than I was typing. I was not implying a connection between the electrical issues and the thottle cable.

There is this one wire that looks like a grounding wire that comes from the driver's side fender, in front of the radiator, and over towards the battery, but terminates in a ring connector, and I don't see a place to connect it to. The other end connects to a grounding point, where a connector wire goes from there into the firewall near the steering column. It's a fairly small guage wire that looks like it should be grounded, but I have no idea what it goes to Tonyrama

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Reply to
tonyrama

I put in a battery out of my mother's van that I replaced because it was a little weak. This battery was probably not any good either, but I got a grinding noise from the front right side somewhere. Almost like the starter had slipped a gear, but it sounded like it was coming from the battery. Could it be a bad solenoid? Tonyrama

Reply to
tonyrama

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