Wondering if the Windstar is known for electrical problems?

Seems I have had a few with this vehicle.

My wife called me today stranded in our 98 windstar with all 3 kiddos on board.

Pulling into a parking spot the vehicle went dead (stalled) while just a few moments before the radio she said sounded like a cassette tape that had seen better days.

The battery was completely flat and would not turn the vehicle over, even despite a 8-10 min boost on the cables with my car.

A few years ago we had a similar problem and the dealer told us that they found a deffective connection in the wiring harness in the loom that goes into the firewall on the battery side. As I remember the wire had broken?

Now it seems that something must be draining the battery as the battery was tested today and shows good under the rather long test performed on just the battery out of the vehicle.

The charging systems seems to check out as per the dealer today as well.

The load test today did not indicate that there was a drain, but this test was only done with the test light and not a meter.

No dash lights either to indicate a charging system issue.

Any commen problems which this make and model that may help in diagnosing the problem?

As I remember, last time I wrote a rather large check to the dealer for all the labor they invested to find the problem. Not really interested in funding someone elses early retirement to chase this problem.

Any ideas?

Thanks,

GB

 

Does it run ok now? When you tried to jump it, it would do nothing, or would it turn over very slow, or would it turn over a little bit and then start making a buzzing sound?

 

Franklin2,

Thanks for the response.

This issue just started on Friday mid-day and as of right now the issue is still occuring.

When I trided to jump it I was able to get less than a second of cranking (slow) and then nothing. It did not even sound like it threw the solonoid over. However, the power windows still operated.

I don't really recall a buzzing sound which I think may be the solonoid?

I had the booster cables on it for some time thinking that I could get it back enough the start, but no luck.

The best way to described the situation was that you could tell that you had a very weak battery (virtually dead) trying to turn over the engine and you could tell that it would not be enough.

I had a brand new battery that I had just picked up for my cougar the day before so I put that battery in as well and have experienced the exact same issue over the weekend.

Sure looks like something is draining?

The vehicle was detailed on Thursday which included an engine shampoo but this issue did not arise untill Friay mid-day.

Any ideas?

Thanks,

GB

 

I know the dealership did this before, and found nothing, but since the problem is happening pretty regular, and you think you might have a drain, then do this test to see what happens.