2000 PSD 2WD Excursion:
Idiot Ford Dealer was chasing a problem on my vehicle while I paid for 6 ski boats for the salesmen. When
I finally figured out it was the alternator, they wanted to charge me another $360 on top of the previous goose chase - without any refund or consideration for money spent for Zero Improvement. Well - that was 4 months ago, then last Saturday the problem showed its ugly head again. Always happens when my wife is driving, never when I'm driving it. After sitting in a parking lot for an hour it won't start - obviously due to low batteries. I jump start it and things look OK except the battery is obviously not charging. This is very fishy since I replaced the alternator 4 months ago and the symptoms were the same. I took the alternator out to take it back to AutoZone and Lo and Behold happened to notice that the positive battery cable that runs from left to right over the top of the radiator was on a cheesy plastic cable clamp that was letting the cable rub through on the aluminum housing of the radiator. This was happening on both sides! A 3" piece of heater hose and two tie wraps on each side and the problem is fixed, forever and ever Amen. (knock on wood)
My 2000 X has about 95k miles, and X's have a known problem of alternators going out in 80-90k miles. I Do Not Believe that my old alternator I replaced 4 months ago had any problem at all. It was an intermittent short through the radiator and battery cable. Could it be that others have the same problem? Check it out - fix it anyway just to be safe.
