I got a -96 explorer. The car didn´t start the other day. It semms that no power goes from the battery to the car. I had this problem before but all I had to do then was to claen up the +pole on the battery.Now I changed the connections to the battery. I´ve checked the battery and it holds 13V, but when I reconnect the +cable, the battery only holds about 8,5V and some relay of some sort makes a humming noice in the back of the car. WHAT TO DO???

 

That humming is likely the fuel pump. Can you isolate it to the fuel tank? It's not supposed to go on without the key in on or start position. So I first think of bad ignition switch. I have also heard of fuel pump realays going bad but usually don't closed, not get stuck closed. Eitherway, if this is the fuel pump that is running when you connect the battery, you should have well over 12 V - it doesn't pull that much juice to drop you to 8V like a starter might do. I think you might need a new battery - which if it's been drained constantly by a continuosly running fuel pump, could very well be the case.

 

Sounds like a dead battery. You need to do a load test. Do you have a charger that you can try to charge the battery with? If so, then try charging it up. I suspect that the humming noise in the back is the fuel pump. Did you have the switch on? If not, and it was the fuel pump, you have another problem (which may be what killed the battery). Try pulling the fuel pump relay and see if the humming quits. (it's in the power distribution box under the hood). If that's it, you may have a bad relay (stuck engaged).

 

Well that's what I meant - just can't articulate as good as Jerry.

 

Jharger, you articulate fine. Looks like we were writing the same thing at the same time. Great minds and all that

 

The battery was dead. I meassured the alternator and it gave 14V The battery took the charge but could not deliver the juice. Thanx for your advise now the Ford is running