I have a 2000 Windstar LX sport. Lately I have been having electrical problems. Lites not working occasionally etc. I took it to a garage and they said they tested the alternator and it is fine and that possibly it was a short. Last night I had it running while at the grocerystore and the lites went out. The van continued to run but drove home with no lites. Now it won't start at all. If you recharge the battery it will start with a jump and run till the battery is dead. Before I have it towed to a garage I would like to know if anyone has experienced the same problem and what it was.

 

Does your van stil have the factory battery in it? If it does its time for a replacement, if you can drive you van to a parts store during daylight hours and have them test the alternator and battery.

 

Thanks for posting! It is not the original battery and the van will need to be towed to get it anywhere. I think I may have to go that route after all but was hoping not to be totally at the mercy of a repair shop.

 

Are you saying the headlights are completely out, not even a dim yellow color?? Clean the battery terminals, and retorque the wire clamps, re-charge and try again. Find the receipt for your "new battery" not all batteries make it four or five years, some die after 1 year, or less. I hope you don't have any wiring harness problems, I mean, the van hasn't been in an accident or worked on by a less than knowledgeable tech has it?

 

Thanks for the response 924x2150 - The headlites and everything electrical go out completely once the battery is drained. I had the battery tested at the same time as the alternator when I first noticed problems and was told it was fine too. Is there a way to check the wiring harness? No one has worked on the engine since it was in to a garage for a tune up and oil change etc.

 

Clean the battery terminals and connector first. Once you slow charge ( 2 amps)the battery over nite or until charged completly for about three hours???, jump start it. I would bring it to another place of ask for the Senior tech. and tell him the battery and alternator passed last time. Sounds like a bad alternater. That's what happened to my Corolla. I drove across county for one afternoon with no lights, and no radio. I had to rebuilt the alternator, the brushes were worn out. Best way to go I think. There's a test up here where they do a load test on the battery and it checks most of the electrical system, for free. Make sure you go to two name brand places first, it seems everyone say's the battery always dead, not enough cold starting amps. Check all magor grounds. How cold does it get there? if it needs a battery to, get the most cold cranking amps you can fit in it. Walmart batterys work fine.

 

Check your fuses.

 

Unless you have an electrical multimeter, and a basic electrical schematic of the system you'll never fix it yourself. #1 What is the battery voltage at the battery terminals when the ignition is off? #2 Voltage while idling?#3Voltage with all lights on?#4 Voltage while revving engine 2000 RPM's. Sears once mis-diagnosed a faulty alternator in my truck, problem was, the alternator was intermittantly failing to charge, I got tired of having to jump-start the truck, replaced the so-called "good" alternator, and the dead batteries stopped happening. The three major problems an electrical system suffers are dead batteries, one or more cells inside the battery short-circuit internally, usually indicated by very low voltage or at zero volts. A good battery in a healthy system will be about 12.6 VDC. The second and less common is Alternator won't charge, this is usually detected by measuring the output of the alternatoe while the engine is revving at around 1500- 2000rpms, if you are getting less than 13 volts output and assuming there isn't an unusually heavy electrical load the alternator is failing. Optimum alternator operation is usually indicated by a reading of around 14VDC at the battery. The third problem is starter problems, some starters have a way of short circuiting internally and causing an unwanted continuous drain on the battery. Most likely the problem is one of the first two. Alt or batt.

 

If you drove home and the lights would not come on. you have an electrical short somewhere.
There have been problems with the ignition switches on ford vehicles that could cause the problems you have

 

Yea jmoore, that is a good thought too. I label that as a long shot though. It is a fairly new vehicle.