I have a 1995 Ranger XLT. While driving yesterday, all my electrical (headlights, dash light & gauges) went out but the engine kept running. I noticed my voltmeter was low right before this occurred. I have a new battery and the alternator was checked at the local auto parts (only 6 months old). I have checked all the fuses with engine off but cannot find an open circuit.

I have read a few posts about the GEM but I am not sure to look here yet. After towing the truck home, the engine will only start with a charger attached. The engine dies shortly there after.

Can anyone post suggestions?

 

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I would start by having the battery tested/charged and checking all the battery cable connections. Once you have it starting and running on it's own see how the lights are doing, might be a light switch problem.

 

First off, make sure your battery has a full charge. Available voltage is important and you cannot diagnosis any problems if the battery does not have a full charge.
After hearing your description here is my "best guess" problem diagnosis and without checking voltages with a fully charged battery and the engine running this is as good as it gets.
Your altenator is probably not charging your battery fully. Once the battery is discharged, your lights and everything went out as the amount of available voltage coming out of the alternator was not enough to run all of these items. Now, I'm guessing the battery is down, so requires the battery charger to start. Then the available voltage again is depleted and the engine dies.
The only way to check to to fully charge the battery and start it and check the amount of voltage as it is running. If it drops then your alternator is probably bad. Unfortunately even though it is only 6 months old they can be bad or go bad. And with colder weather it does put a bigger strain on the electrical system.
Start with the easiest pieces first, the belt, tight not glazed. Alternator tight and does not wiggle or is loose say on the bottom. Battery fully charged and holding a charge, say overnight. Then check the amount of voltage or amps coming out of the alternator when running with a fully charged battery.

Keep us posted.

Roger

 

I had the exact same symptoms on my 95 ranger about a month ago. I tore the alternator apart and the brushes were worn out.

It looked like the alternator needed more then brushes, so I went ahead and spent the $130 to buy a refurbished one. It fixed my problem.