(auto) electrical on West side -- help

[thunderchicken]

drove it yesterday. Fine for a while(5-10 min) then battery light came on ... went off ... and continued. Dash worked about 20 minutes; then stopped. I am done. Dropped it at the shop early (easier than middle of the week late at night). Will definitely post what is found. (there are a couple of other, older issues non-electrical that need to be looked at).

Battery light coming on and then shutting off is a sign of an alternator issue. The battery light won't come on unless the PCM sees less than 6 or 8 volts or sometimes if there is an open circuit between the alternator and pcm.

 

[churchmouse]

CM - rainy chicken? Lol

I see you caught that...

 

[thunderchicken]

I see you caught that...

O yeah. Seen it right off

 

[dprimm]

Battery light coming on and then shutting off is a sign of an alternator issue. The battery light won't come on unless the PCM sees less than 6 or 8 volts or sometimes if there is an open circuit between the alternator and pcm.

Yea, I have been wondering about that. Simply a wire getting a short can do all sorts of funky stuff. Really appreciate the info. Gives me an idea of what I should expect. This is y out of my league.

 

[dprimm]

Gasoline Alley got it done early. Scheduled for Wed but I had dropped it off early (sun). They had it done Monday. Alternator was dead. Fixed all the other things (including setting the time on the radio -- don't think I ever did that). Car will go back next Friday to give them a shot at finding the short that is playing havoc with my power locks. Very satisfied.

 

[thunderchicken]

Gasoline Alley got it done early. Scheduled for Wed but I had dropped it off early (sun). They had it done Monday. Alternator was dead. Fixed all the other things (including setting the time on the radio -- don't think I ever did that). Car will go back next Friday to give them a shot at finding the short that is playing havoc with my power locks. Very satisfied.

Right on. At least they didn't have to get into tracing a bunch of wires to find an open circuit. That can get expensive in a hurry

 

[halfmileharry]

Gasoline Alley got it done early. Scheduled for Wed but I had dropped it off early (sun). They had it done Monday. Alternator was dead. Fixed all the other things (including setting the time on the radio -- don't think I ever did that). Car will go back next Friday to give them a shot at finding the short that is playing havoc with my power locks. Very satisfied.

Glad it wasn't anything serious. The alternators dying are common on those models.
Gasoline Alley seems like a shop I'd use.

 

[dprimm]

T fix the locks for good they may have to trace lines. But dang I hate manually messing w them esp w a car seat in the back

 

[halfmileharry]

T fix the locks for good they may have to trace lines. But dang I hate manually messing w them esp w a car seat in the back

The MASTER lock switch on driver's door is most likely the culprit.
My mom has a 2005 Taurus that only has 49K on it. I've put 2 switches on it already.
I had to put the neutral safety switch on it as well. It played havoc with the locks when moving to reverse or drive directly from park.
There's a switch on the door latches that goes bad due to dirty contacts when the doors shut. It gives you the "door ajar" warning and dings.
I'm Not a Ford fan due to all this Mickey Mouse engineering they love to do.

 

[thunderchicken]

The MASTER lock switch on driver's door is most likely the culprit.
My mom has a 2005 Taurus that only has 49K on it. I've put 2 switches on it already.
I had to put the neutral safety switch on it as well. It played havoc with the locks when moving to reverse or drive directly from park.
There's a switch on the door latches that goes bad due to dirty contacts when the doors shut. It gives you the "door ajar" warning and dings.
I'm Not a Ford fan due to all this Mickey Mouse engineering they love to do.

The door ajar problem on that Taurus is very common. There are 2 problems. 1- the latch contacts get dirty and stick, and 2- in cold weather they actually freeze. Sometimes this happens bad enough the door won't latch.
Now here is the simple fix that I would say has worked about 99% of the time. Spray some PB blaster liberally into the door latch and through the key hole on the lock. I have had to do this to many Taurus's over the years

 

[halfmileharry]

The door ajar problem on that Taurus is very common. There are 2 problems. 1- the latch contacts get dirty and stick, and 2- in cold weather they actually freeze. Sometimes this happens bad enough the door won't latch.
Now here is the simple fix that I would say has worked about 99% of the time. Spray some PB blaster liberally into the door latch and through the key hole on the lock. I have had to do this to many Taurus's over the years

Yep, I love me some PB Blaster. Of all the lubricants I've used I prefer the aroma of PB over WD or Liquid Wrench for the interior of cars. It seems I've done the latch spraying every early winter/late fall. That seems to be the prime time for them to mess up. The rear doors are the worst since they get used the least.

 

[WebSnyper]

The door ajar problem on that Taurus is very common. There are 2 problems. 1- the latch contacts get dirty and stick, and 2- in cold weather they actually freeze. Sometimes this happens bad enough the door won't latch.
Now here is the simple fix that I would say has worked about 99% of the time. Spray some PB blaster liberally into the door latch and through the key hole on the lock. I have had to do this to many Taurus's over the years

My son's 2004 F150 does the same. I've hit it with some silicon spray a few times.