Electrical Failure

Well, here we go again....we are about 70 miles from home...watching grandson while daughter and son-in-law are in CA sunning themselves. Took grandson to school. On way, things start shutting down... lights go out (phew, light out), airbag light comes on...gauges go out (except Tach), radio goes off...ummm, sounds familiar.... Now things different, brake light comes on, Batt Light comes on. Different messages start appearing on message center......

I keep going...temp gauge IS working and stays in normal range. Get boy to school and I start back to the house. Drove a total of approx 15 miles.

Drive car into garage and shut it off..... attempt restart, It STARTS!!!. Get VOM and read battery voltage.... 15.7 volts running.... 13.7v off!! Wow.

Remove alternator, call local NAPA store. They say it's covered by exchange warranty...bring it in. They test it...yup bad regulator inside. New one will be here by 4PM. Price on invoice is $224.00 !! Ouch. Glad it's covered!

Oh yeah, added about a pint or 2 of water to battery... it was cooking! No cells were showing yet tho. It's an amazing car we have. Interesting to see how it trys its damnest to get you home!
 
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I got a New Lifetime alternator from NAPA at the start of 2007 to replace my original. First one failed in like 6 months, get the replacement 11/24/07 says $207 on the receipt but of course it is under the life time warranty.
The 2nd one is still going however right after I put this one in the radio has a whine when I first turn it on when the car is cold. It goes away in about 15 mins. I know my battery is on it last years as well, it is about 7 years old.

I was regretting not getting the OEM one rebuilt for less money. But when I talked with my mechanic recently he told me that the shop I was going to go to in town was now closed. He said they use to be very good but at the end the owner was using cheap imported parts for the rebuilds.
 
Well this now makes me somewhat doubt that "negative battery terminal failure"...

I bought a "new" alternator for the crown vic because the charging light was on...
It tested just fine...

I replaced it since it was 10 years old with 150k miles....

Now the charging light is back... comes on every time it is cold.

Car has 217k miles on it... I won't touch it unless it fails it hasn't yet.
 
mine has a special black key that fits into a wiring harness under the driver dash, its an anti-theft device, not sure if its stock or not, i taped mine all up and shoved it back under the dash because it would fall out of the harness all the time, it used to be screwed to the center console about where your knee is
 
mine has a special black key that fits into a wiring harness under the driver dash, its an anti-theft device, not sure if its stock or not, i taped mine all up and shoved it back under the dash because it would fall out of the harness all the time, it used to be screwed to the center console about where your knee is

Got ME corn-fused!! What is all the above about?
 
because that key would fall out of its harmess, and if i shut my car off i couldnt start it again until i found that stupid thing and plugged it back in, but im not sure if that anti-theft key is an after market add or was it factory, ill take a pic of it soon
 
Sounds like a pass-key problem that someone tried to fix by keeping a coded key right next to the RF module thing...

Would love to see pics!

:D -J
 
OK...here it is, 3 months and a new battery and alternator and EXACTLY the same thing happens....at dusk, reach down and turn on headlights and - wham- electrical failure, ALMOST. Engine keeps running, no lights, no radio. Dash lights mostly work. Pull over to shoulder and shut off and attempt to restart - nada! Lots closer to home tho.

Another car stopped and offers to give me a jump start. Nope...same thing. Key in on position, open drivers door, no chimes, turn key to start position, completely - no sounds at all.

Too dark and cold and had things to do. Left car there, going back this AM. Calling road service for a tow to my Lincoln dealer. What do you think? What's the connection to turning on aftermarket HIDS and electrical failure? Or??????
 
I wouldn't think it's the aftermarket HID's, I've got those on my 98 and never had that problem.

If the battery is good, and the key won't crank the engine, I'd suspect the ignition switch on the steering column that you replaced. I'd run a positive 12 volt jumper wire to the starter solenoid (small terminal) and see if it cranks. If it does, I'd replace the ignition switch on the new column, with the one that you took out.

That's just the way I would approach this, let me know if I'm way off base.:D
 
I wouldn't think it's the aftermarket HID's, I've got those on my 98 and never had that problem.

If the battery is good, and the key won't crank the engine, I'd suspect the ignition switch on the steering column that you replaced. I'd run a positive 12 volt jumper wire to the starter solenoid (small terminal) and see if it cranks. If it does, I'd replace the ignition switch on the new column, with the one that you took out.

That's just the way I would approach this, let me know if I'm way off base.:D

Isn't the Gen 2 ignition switch on the dash, not the column?
 
Isn't the Gen 2 ignition switch on the dash, not the column?

OOPS! You're right.:D

I would still suspect the switch if the battery is good and it cranks with the jumper wire.

The Gen 2's also have a starter relay, I'd check that too.
 
I GOTTA suspect something with the headlight circuit....both times it happened when the headlights came on....while it was in the AUTO position. Never happened when switching them on from the OFF to the ON position. We'll see, it's sitting at the dealers lot now. Will go in tomorrow morning.

Also prob in the GROUND circuit as I have SOME electrical things working. No accessories tho....like lights or radio. Door locks work from INSIDE switch, but not remotely....weird.
 
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Yes, it could be a ground too.

I just looked at the wiring diagram, and the SCIL module is involved in all of those circuits also.

Let us know what they find.
 
I'll be sure to do that! I'm a little more than curious myself! If it were warmer, I'd have done some investigating here at home, but below freezing without a garage isn't my cup of tea!
 
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