whats goin on?

[stroke_smoke]

alright, i got a problem. last night i was ready to go home, so i went to start my truck. it cranked but wouldnt start and made a lolud clickin' noise under the dash. called my cousin,( he works @ a ford dealer) he said my batteries were to weak to power every thing needed to start it, idm,pcm ,etc. so we jumped it no problem started. so im goin home home and i notice that the cab is kinda dark. well i look down and i have no dash lites or marker lites. i replaced the fuse under the hood but keeps blown' em'. and today goin to the dealer all my dash gauges stop workin' speedo, tach, fuel , oil press, everything. i pull in the dealer and they start workin again . what the is goin on?

 

[Hoss 350]

alright, i got a problem. last night i was ready to go home, so i went to start my truck. it cranked but wouldnt start and made a lolud clickin' noise under the dash. called my cousin,( he works @ a ford dealer) he said my batteries were to weak to power every thing needed to start it, idm,pcm ,etc. so we jumped it no problem started. so im goin home home and i notice that the cab is kinda dark. well i look down and i have no dash lites or marker lites. i replaced the fuse under the hood but keeps blown' em'. and today goin to the dealer all my dash gauges stop workin' speedo, tach, fuel , oil press, everything. i pull in the dealer and they start workin again . what the is goin on?

Low voltage from your batteries can cause all SORTS of strange things to happen, including crank but no start, clicking soleniods, certain parts of the system not working, etc.

For your batteries to draw down, there had to be some sort of draw on them to get them there. Just jumping it and going about your merry way is sort of like blowing your nose and then saying you no longer have a cold.

Which fuse is it blowing? Number, function would be good. In the mean time, focus on the fact that there is a reason that your batteries drew down. Possible reasons:

1.) Bad alternator, creating a situation where the batteries eventually are all that is left to keep the e-systems in the truck running. When they draw down, systems start dropping out. (Systems like marker lights, etc.) I don't think that there is a continuum of what goes first, then second, actually programmed into the truck, but systems start dropping.

2.) Short or incorrectly-wired circuit within the system drawing down the batteries faster than the alt can recharge them. This is the one (unfortunately) that I am leaning towards, since it is blowing fuses. The bright side 9if there is a bright side) is that you can pretty easily diagnose which circuit is up by which fuse is blowing. Let us know which fuse it is, and i'll bet someone goes "Hey! That happened to me, and this is what it was!"

3.) Bad batteries not accepting or holding a charge.

Items 1 and 3 seem less likely than #2, because neither of them would pop fuses, in my experience. However, stranger things can and do happen, so what the heck do i know? Let us know which fuses, and then we will try to help. Good luck, and hope you're soon!

 

[whatabudro]

not a ford product but...

Whata250, my dad, had crazy things happening in a suburban, speedo not working, or jumping all over when it did, and others I can't remember. The problem was the voltage regulator.

 

[stroke_smoke]

not a ford product but...

Whata250, my dad, had crazy things happening in a suburban, speedo not working, or jumping all over when it did, and others I can't remember. The problem was the voltage regulator.

fuse location is #8 under the hood. trailor tow electronic brake illumination, park lamps,trailor tow park lamp relay coil. replaced the batteries today starts just fine now. well see bout in the mornin. also i havent added any thing to this circuit. i have a seperate fuse block for after market things, runin directly from the battery for almost a year and a half. so no added load to factory fuse block.

 

[stroke_smoke]

just b.s.'n w/ my cousin, what do you guys think about the head light switch bein' bad? maybe?

 

[Tbar]

Batteries............batteries.............batteries.


Tbar

 

[jlayne]

how long have your batteries been in there? i just replaced the originals in my truck last year (its a y2k as well) so if yours are the originals i vote for batteries as well

but if you replace them and its still acting up i wouldn't be too bent cause they wasn't going to last too much longer anyways (if they are originals).. then i would turn my attention to the alternator

now if it is doing this and your batteries have been recently replaced i would go for the alternator first

 

[stroke_smoke]

get this, every thing is back to normal. new batteries in. we narowed the light prob. to under the dash. heres whats still wrong. no marker lights or dash lights. both wires goin to all 4 corner lights are grounded. the lights w/ the 194 bulbs in the front, both wires are grounded. so we figure thats why the fuse keeps blowin'. theres two connectors on the head light switch with one black wire on one connetor and two brown wires on the other. black go's to ground, brown goes to light's. we checked continuity between them and somehow some where there all shorted together. assuming under the dash, after several hours of taking the front of the truck apart lookin for cut or burnt wires. also nothin wrong short wise out back. hope this is detailed enough or tips someone off.

 

[jlayne]

GEM module??? it powers some/all that junk doesn't it?

 

[stroke_smoke]

GEM module??? it powers some/all that junk doesn't it?

we thought about that but couldnt find it. and we ran out of time cause i leave for work for four days at a time so it'll be thurs. before we start on it. does any one know where the g.e.m. is?