My 1995 Ford Aerostar Van has been in the shop twice for some strange symtoms.
An altenator was replaced both times. however altenator did still show the mechanic that the altenator was not running up to par. He cannot find anything that causes all the following problems.
Symptoms/Problems:
(past and current)
Sudden stall when I had turned on a blinker. Wrecker took van to shop because van would not restart. Van restarted instantly for Service station several times and for several days in a row.
Other problems: Van stalled when defrost was turned on. However would restart. Air conditioner disconnected. but have never used defrost since this has been done (weather change did not need heat and forgot all about it so I have not tested this since and cannot test it now because Van is dead in the carport AGAIN!)
Anytime heater, blinkers, brake lights, wipers or any other accesories were used there is a drop in battery power shown on gauge inside van. Altenator? however battery never lost power for starting van. Using accessories caused loss of power but battery always recharged to full power.
Loss of battery power at low idle. returned power at acceleration.
Van would not start: I had to wiggle tilt wheel a few times to get power for starting. Van can be warm from a previous drive, or completly overnight cool. 3 out of 5 times this would happen.
One time when it would not start I tried everything with the tilt wheel (and ignition switch) - would not start. So, I opened hood and all of the sudden all lights in van came on and key in ignition beep started. I had touched nothing! Van started right up!
Current Problem: Electrical warning buzz: (faint smell of electrical burn) When shutting door to van a buzz sounds from the door (no power to van - van won't start but door will buzz) open door and try to start van, a buzz sounds at the rear control panel in the van! ...If I hook up battery charger to the battery I will also get buzz at the rear panel.
NOTE: Also I have checked all over the net for anyone else with problems with this 1995 van I have found that there has been a recall on several things that may be the cause to this vehicles problem: (tell me what you think may be the one):

Fuel pump wiring harness short 1994-95 Aerostar
Accessory power feed circuit short 1992-97 Aerostar
Defective TFI (thick film ignition) modules

I already checked with FORD Co. and they "claim" that this van has already been serviced ... so I know I will get no help from them.
HELP!!! I need to bring the van in again I wish to have this taken care of. What can I suggest to the mechanic to take a look at? ...they are at a complete loss as to what it might be.
(I have not told them the above new information I have found - perhaps they too will find the "recall" information helpful, but would like your opinion too.)

 

Since merely opening the hood restored power in one instance, it would be safe to assume you either have a bad connection at the main harness junction on the firewall, or a poor ground for the dashboard components. Put your blinker on and start testing the wiring harness by wiggling the connections along the firewall area. See if the hood hinge contacts any portion of the harness or has snagged a loose wire, etc. Sounds like the problem is somewhere up front in the engine bay area. Electrical problems are the worst faults to deal with.

 

Somehow I missed this message. My 1990 4.0L has almost exactly the same symptoms. I have been fighting it for about 9 months and still have not found the problem. I agree that it is something that is opening the circuit. I do not believe it can be a short because it would drain the battery eventually.

The one thing I can not figure out is that with an extra load of power on the engine, why does the idle never raise. I have heard others say that when they reset their computer, the idle will adjust up or down until it stabilizes. My idle stays the same always. The problem never surfaces if I am moving or have no accessaries on but and added items will significantly drop power with the headlights being the worst. I just don't understand the engine not being forced to idle higher with a larger load.

The only thing I can not duplicate is the buzzer noise. When my power goes out, it is gone. No powere anywhere.

Good luck,

John

 

Hi John,

I just got the Van back last night from the service station.

It was gone for 3 WEEKS!!! ....the service station was super busy.

Anyway, I actually picked it up for testing it for the weekend and to report back to them within the week

They replaced the starter. This is where they thought to start.
The van caused them no problems throughout the three weeks of having it there....although the starter was finally put in just this past tuesday.

I asked them why this was something they thought to replace and the reply was: Sometimes if a starter is going bad you can have a build up of heat which may cause some of the problems I was having. Although they are unsure if this was the true problem, this is where they thought to start.....the next thing would be to maybe replace ignition switch.

When I dropped the Van off to them I had printed up all the replies I had recieved here and included a detailed list of all the symtoms I was having.
They kinda laughed at me for doing this...but had admitted that they had read it several times and several of them had read it to come up with a plan for the repairs they might have to make.


To continue, I have only driven the van twice and had noticed that she sure did start up real good and strong....it was different than the way she used to sound when I would start her up.
I am hoping against hope that this will be the answer to all the problems.

If so I will report back to you as well as the service station to let you know if this would be something you too would like to do with your van.


Thanks for writting and you will hear from me again this week.

 

HI Cherry,

I wish you all the luck. I have replaced the Starter, Starter Solinoid, Altenator, TCS, Idle Control, Battery, all battery cables, Starter Solonoid, 3 of the 4 Relays and a list of other things too long to mention. The problem will go away, sometimes a day sometimes a week, but eventually comes back like gangbusters.

Sooner or later I will figure it out. When we replaced the starter, starting also improved dramatically. For a few days the problem was gone, but when we really needed the car one day, surprise it was back.

Oh well. Again best of luck to you.

John

 

Unbelievable!!!!

I can't believe all you have done and still having all these problems!!!

I am very dissapointed, I was so hoping that this would be the answer! Now I am scared that I too will have to go through all of the things you have listed above.

The van we have also will go fine for a while and then start acting up again....so unfortunatly I feel she will act up again just like yours.

My insticts tell me that there is a problem in the ignition switch...or connections in that area. This is something I have told the Service Station each time (3x) I have brought it in to be fixed.

You do not mention that this is something you have replaced or inspected....is this one of the things you have taken a look at but have not mentioned here?

I would really like to know if this just might be the problem but if you too have taken care of that area then I am stumped.


Note:I had posted my complaints of my van in another catagory in this Ford Forum...I had many other suggestions from other members...if you would like to see what they have suggested go here:
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...hreadid=128146


Thanks for all your information so far....I hope to hear from you again.

Cherry7

 

It was not my intention to worry you. I just wanted to make you aware of the possibility.

I read the other thread you listed. No I have not replaced the ignition switch. The reason being that when this happens the lights are out also. If I am tracing the wiring schematics correctly, they do not come through the ignition switch on my model. If you leave the lights on and turn off the car, the lights are still on.

I firmly believe the problem lies on the engine side of the firewall. When the problem happens I shake things inside the engine and the power comes and goes or comes back and stays. It is not consistent enough to find.

It could not have been the starter overheating on my car as this has happened 1st thing in the morning when everything is cold.

I appreciatte the feedback and will let you know if I have further progress.

Best wishes.

John

 

likely unrelated to your problems, but it may help someone...

dying battery (not enough amps) caused me similar symptoms (although would always appear strong enough to start van, charged and never ran down), with new battery no more voltage dips/stalls when running accessories.

eventually this battery finally collapsed internally, taking the alternator's rectifier with it. Replaced whole alternator, Discovered it was the battery only later, when new alternator still did not fix all problems and would not charge battery.

I unhooked the van from it's own battery & I hooked up the van to the battery on my other car using jumper cables and lo and behold finally discovered the problem.


Also this drove me crazy, van would shudder, buck & sputter on sometimes on load, could not find a rhyme or reason to it. Often would fail to start, engine would turn as if no fuel or spark..
failing "tach" (green) wire going into coil, would sometimes fail to carry signal, van would turn but never fire spark (this was a bear to find until it failed completely, then I was quickly able to find the problem)

Other interesting problem I have run into that caused symptoms as you describe (and too many others to detail here)
was caused by the humid climate I live in, condensation would build up and become trapped in big round connectors in the wiring harness,
unplugging the main wire harnesses (the big round connectors) spraying volatile non conductive electronics cleaner to clean and rinse, letting dry and replugging again, fixed the problem for good...

Sure the connectors have o-rings to protect moisture from seeping in at the 2 plugs union point, but moisture eventually seeped and built up through the slack space around the wires coming out of the back on the connectors...

 

I think the last point about the round connector is at the heart of some of my symptoms. I am going to pull it off soon and spray it as you suggested.

Thanks for the input.

John

 

Now that you mention moisture, I too remember in the past of making comments to myself just before starting van: "Great, its a bit wet outside, she probably won't start!" (however, her starting were 50/50 chance. sometimes start no problem sometimes not)
But for some reason my insticts did tell me that moisture made starting unpredictable.
And yet, it could be very dry for a couple of weeks and I would still have this problem

As for the Service station replacing the starter, I too was surprised that this is where they decided to start in repairs (of course they have replaced altenator 2x for this problem...and they are just baffled with this van)

As for my thoughts about the ignition switch, I am not sure it is the ignition switch itself but a wiring harness conector(s) inside the steering column (or there abouts). Every time my van would not start, I could wiggle the switch, or play with tilt wheel up and down and suddenly this would restore power and she would start. (for the exception of the ONE and only time my efforts in that area failed so I went to open hood and all power suddenly was restored to van and she started right up. I touched nothing in the engine compartment but simply lifted the hood).

I had a Mercury Cougar that also gave me starting problems and I had to use the wiggle ignition and tilt wheel to get it to start.
This worked for a while untill finally she would not start anymore.
A friend took a look inside the steering column and found that the plug-ins to a wiring harness had finally burned up. Melted into each other...this was replaced and I never had the problem with starting that car again.

I have mentioned to the Service station all three times I have brought the van in that this may be a place to look, but they do not check that.
Anyway this is why I mention the ignition switch in my unrelenting quest to get this problem fixed.
I may be totally wrong but it seems that nobody else has the answers either.

I do like what Aerorat has written here, I too think this is a great place to take a look at.

Thanks to both of you with helping me try to unraval the mystery of this annoying problem.

PLEASE keep me posted on anything you try and have found to be successful.

again: THANK-YOU



.

 

JL_Aero ... I found your original post here in the forum.

I am going to put the address to your post here for my own refrences.

If I have to bring my van back in I want the suggestions of the folks that have responded to your post.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...hreadid=132113

If I have to bring the van back in I am going to print all the suggestions again for the service station.

 

Also I have posted another problem I am having.

It is not major problem but invloves the built in TV in my Van.

I have been getting such great advice from everyone here that I thought maybe someone would have a clue as to what may be my problem with the TV.

You can see this post here:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...hreadid=137832


...

 

I think I finally found my power problem. After replacing about everything at least once, I decided to replace the Alternator myself. The previous 2 had been through a garage. After pulling out the alternator, there is a round connector from the wiring harness that goes to alternator with one plug for the alternator and another for the voltage regulator.

I pulled the cable off since the new alternator requires, a new crimp on alternator plug be used. They claim the original is a one use plug and repeated on off usage causes problems. This cable was covered with electrical tape and a plastic sleeve covering. When I got the covering off so I could cut off the old connector and crimp/solder on the new, low and behold the 2 wires going to the voltage regulator were crushed together. My guess is one of the times in the past the cable got crimped under the alternator as it was being installed. I repaired the wires, crimped the new plug and put on the new alternator and the difference is night in day.

It is too soon to tell if this is a complete cure but the symptoms have disappeared so far. The way the wires were crushed they could short sometimes, open sometimes, work partially or work normally.

I hope this helps others who have had similar problems.

Thanks for all the help.

John

 

Thanks for the update from JL_Aero!!

I will definantly keep your new information in mind.

My Van is still starting strong, better than ever before. However I still notice a drop on the battery gauge when anything with power is used (blinkers, headlights, heater fan, etc.)

My instincts tell me that it is only time before she starts acting up again!!!

Keep me posted on how well you van is doing with your repair to the wiring.

THANKS THANKS THANKS!!

Cherry7

 

Cherry7,

I think I have found the problem to the weird occasional power problem and a previous problem that re-occured where all power in the car would go away and suddenly come back when you closed the hood or shook the wires.

The problem re-occured a few nights ago. After going for several days without major problems, my wife drove home from work and when she turned off the engine, once again all power was gone in the car. I came out and shook everything carefully and finally found the wire that was causing the problem.

There is a red wire between the starter solenoid on the starter and the starter relay on the top driver side of the engine fender wall. It is a 10 guage wire and gets bolted on by itself on one of the terminals on the relay. When I carefully would shake this, it would cause all power to go out and then all power to go back on. What did not make since was, when I took the wire off completely, the power would be on, but of course the starter would not start.

I determined the top 8 to 10 inches held the problem, so I cut off that portion, including the terminal crimp, and then stripped all the insulation off to see what the wire looked like. The top 6 inches were very black, as if it was arcing, but the wire was not broken in any way.

I crimped a new piece of wire and new terminal eye onto the existing wire and reconnected it and the power seems very stable now with no strange symptoms.

I can only guess that somehow moisture got into the wire and slowly caused it to deteriorate. Under certain conditions the wire would arc inside and trip some kind of circuit breaker in the electrical circuit. I really have no idea why this wire that was not shorting out against anything elese could cause all power in the car to stop, but hopefully, it's repair has caused the problem to go away. I will totally replace the wire soon.

Sorry for the long message but this has gone on so long I felt a full explanation was warrented.

John