Well it happened

[donkjc2]

I was out for a drive with the kids on Sunday, just to pass the time, when it happened. We stopped to take a quick picture next to the Planters peanut car that was traveling through town, and the car died. It never showed any sign of trouble in the past, so I was completely blindsided by this. I turned the key and nothing; I had to call the wife and get a jump. Started back up just fine and made it home without incident. Pulled the negative battery cable off, still ran fine. Checked the battery, it was fully charged. Checked all the wiring and found nothing. I hate that this had to happen; now I will always have that in the back of my mind every time I go somewhere. That sucks!:crybaby:

[JPT]

Did it start up afterwards?

[donkjc2]

Did it start up afterwards?

It started only after I jumped it with the wife's van. I have know idea what happened. It is running fine now though. It has always fired right up, for some reason it was just dead.

[Tim]

Sounds like a fusible link or something got jarred loose, or maybe a poor connection at the battery terminals/ground.

-Tim

[JPT]

I'm thinking fusible link. The main (middle) one.

[wybnrml]

I'm thinking fusible link. The main (middle) one.

X2 If you haven't replaced them yet it is a good thing to do, you can get the catridge ones at a McParts store. Heres a link to what they look like http://www.fordfestiva.com/forums/sh...=fusable+links

[donkjc2]

X2 If you haven't replaced them yet it is a good thing to do, you can get the catridge ones at a McParts store. Heres a link to what they look like http://www.fordfestiva.com/forums/sh...=fusable+links

Would that cause the car to act as I described? It hasn't done it since sunday morning; I guess I will look into that.

[wybnrml]

Would that cause the car to act as I described? It hasn't done it since sunday morning; I guess I will look into that.

Yeah it can cause those problems, the charging system runs through the Fusible link.

[scitzz]

My friends Bronco was doing the same thing, turned out the negative cable was bad. Check all your connections. Also, it seems that a ground has to be less bad(for want of a better phrase) than a bad connection on the positive side......

If it happens again, you can do what we did with his to check the ground, run a jumper cable from the negative terminal to the engine, see if she starts....

Baby car did the same thing a few years ago, only it was a corroded connection at the battery....

[FestYboy]

Pulled the negative battery cable off, still ran fine.

Don't do that. it causes the Alt to go full field, and can easily ruin your alternator and other electronics. you must have a battery (or something that acts as such electricaly) to test an alternator. NEVER pull the negative terminal to test an alt.

[JohnGunn]

What I don't understand is why just giving it a jump fixed the problem so completely. Unless there was a poor connection at the battery terminals which was improved by connecting the external battery to them. A bad connection anywhere else would not have been affected by giving it a jump.

Do this, for sure. Remove both battery connectors, shine the terminals and connectors with sandpaper, and clean them with brake kleen. Tighten the connectors until they feel secure, but not too tight. You might need to bend the connectors to make them tighten up easily, if they have been over tightened in the past. Then hope it never happens again.

Should it happen again. Turn on your head lights and see if they are working and bright enough. Also, if it fails again and if the battery is old, you might want to have it checked under load at your local parts store.

John Gunn
Coronado, CA

[darrenryall]

Bad + connection x2

Can't count the number of times on multiple vehicles this has happened to me. Positive connection doesn't make proper contact, but the car runs on alternator now that it's going.

If the car stalls however, no connection means no turning the car over and "dead battery" symptoms.

Easiest fix, replace the battery connectors on the ends of the - and + wires going to your battery and get them tightened down.

Good emergency fix, carry a roll of copper wire (uninsulated) that you can wrap the connector with after you wrap it around the terminals. I've gotten home a few times that way myself. You can usually pick up the rolls at Wal-Mart. (less than $10)

[scitzz]

Don't do that. it causes the Alt to go full field, and can easily ruin your alternator and other electronics. you must have a battery (or something that acts as such electricaly) to test an alternator. NEVER pull the negative terminal to test an alt.

Agreed. this is only a last resort, dead on the side of the road, middle of the night, have to know NOW kind of test. Best to use a multimeter, or other type of gauge....

[scitzz]

What I don't understand is why just giving it a jump fixed the problem so completely. Unless there was a poor connection at the battery terminals which was improved by connecting the external battery to them. A bad connection anywhere else would not have been affected by giving it a jump.

Do this, for sure. Remove both battery connectors, shine the terminals and connectors with sandpaper, and clean them with brake kleen. Tighten the connectors until they feel secure, but not too tight. You might need to bend the connectors to make them tighten up easily, if they have been over tightened in the past. Then hope it never happens again.

Should it happen again. Turn on your head lights and see if they are working and bright enough. Also, if it fails again and if the battery is old, you might want to have it checked under load at your local parts store.

John Gunn
Coronado, CA

Shoot, attaching the jumper cables might have "wiggled" something into a good connection again for all I know. When I mentioned that I had the same problem, that is how I got through the night, and made it home, had to wiggle the negative terminal with a sharp tap

Definitely on the money, clean the connections!

[donkjc2]

When it first happened that was the first thing I checked;the connections are very solid and clean, so I wouldn't think that was the problem.