96 Explorer Electrical Problem?
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Senior User
Joined: Dec 2004
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From: La Grange, TX
96 Explorer Electrical Problem?
Hi
Have a 96 2x4 Explorer 4.0 EFI(IIRC) with auto tranny.
I hate electrical problems. Today the wife comes in at lunch and says(at 175K for mileage) that the radio came off and on a few times, the check engine light went off and on(its been on constantly for quite some time IE over a year) and the voltage gauge went to max.
Then it all went back to normal and has not happened again.
Though I expect I'll hear about it again sooner or later.
Any thoughts would be welcome. We can't afford a new one due to F350 payments so this one will have to do. And most of the mileage is highway mileage, not city running around. FWIW
Thanks in advance, Jeff
Have a 96 2x4 Explorer 4.0 EFI(IIRC) with auto tranny.
I hate electrical problems. Today the wife comes in at lunch and says(at 175K for mileage) that the radio came off and on a few times, the check engine light went off and on(its been on constantly for quite some time IE over a year) and the voltage gauge went to max.
Then it all went back to normal and has not happened again.
Though I expect I'll hear about it again sooner or later.
Any thoughts would be welcome. We can't afford a new one due to F350 payments so this one will have to do. And most of the mileage is highway mileage, not city running around. FWIW
Thanks in advance, Jeff
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Joined: Jan 2005
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re: electrical problems
On our 96 4x4 v8 Explorer, we had problems with the check engine light coming on. Fix number one was to replace the gas cap. A year later, it starting coming on again and I think it's an oxygen sensor issue but haven't investigated. If it stays on for a while, I disconnect the battery for a while and the light goes off after that.
For the electrical stuff, I'd check your battery and alternator first. A parts store should do this for free. If all checks out, try cleaning the battery terminals and ground cable connections.
Note that their tester can't check for occasional shorts in the battery even if they say it can. A short in the battery can cause all sorts of odd problems in a car. One test for a short in the battery is to wait for the odd condition to happen, shut down the engine, and then open the cells in the battery and see if any of them are hot. Hot means there's likely a short in that cell. This was for a case I had where a battery worked fine sometimes and then was totally dead other times. If your car starts fine all the time, this might not be a helpful test.
For the electrical stuff, I'd check your battery and alternator first. A parts store should do this for free. If all checks out, try cleaning the battery terminals and ground cable connections.
Note that their tester can't check for occasional shorts in the battery even if they say it can. A short in the battery can cause all sorts of odd problems in a car. One test for a short in the battery is to wait for the odd condition to happen, shut down the engine, and then open the cells in the battery and see if any of them are hot. Hot means there's likely a short in that cell. This was for a case I had where a battery worked fine sometimes and then was totally dead other times. If your car starts fine all the time, this might not be a helpful test.
