First, off, I would like to thank all members of these forums as I have found many answers to my Questions regarding my 2000 Excursion PSD.

My latest problem is this. Periodically, my truck would not start. That was usually traced back to my passenger side negative battery terminal. The first time it was badly corroded and subsequent times the connector had worked itself loose. Once tightened, the truck started again.

Today, however, something strange happened. The truck did not start at the grocery store. I wiggled the problematic terminal and it was loose again. But I could still not get the truck to turn over. So, I jumped the passenger side battery and got the truck started. This is where it gets weird. I noticed I was getting no reading from the alternator. It appeared to not be charging. No reading at all. Just stayed at the bottom of the gauge. Then, I noticed my airbag light on. I put in a cd and it said "bad disc" even though I had listened to it on the way to the store. I tried a different disc and got the same message. And the sound coming out of the speakers on the fm station was crackling and poor. Then, the low fuel light came on even though I had 1/2 a tank. As I drove, all the instruments and warning lights started to go bonkers. I put my foot on the brakes and all the gauges (including speedometer and tachometer) would go to zero. Then, some would come back while others would not. ABS light goes on and off. The truck was running fine, but I knew if I shut off the engine, I would never get it started again.

So, I got the kids, made it home, and shut off the engine. I turned the key back on and everything appeared weak and instruments were stuttering. The interior lights would go on and off. The theft light blinks rapidly. The battery light and SES light now stay on. The Airbag light blinks on and off. No response on the gas gauge. I hear something running up towards the right front of the truck in the engine compartment.

I looked into the fuse box and I could hear relay 1 clicking as the running board and interior lights went on and off. I pulled it out andchanged it out with Relay #2 and the same thing happens. How do I check the other relays? Any ideas where I should start? My thought was to replace at Relay #1 and perhaps all the others. Are those expensive? Seems like I shorted something out. Do I need to look in the engine compartment and start checking those fuses? Thanks in advance for the help.

 

You have a bad Ground or bad connection. The relays act that way on low voltage.

 

It sounds like your system voltage is low like subford said. And since you have aproblem you know about that could cause this, I would get that fixed first.

You need to look at ths problem you have had more carefully, and find out what's going on. I would suspect the cable is bad, and hopefully the terminal on the battery is still ok. If this connection has been getting hot, it would explain why it keeps getting loose. The cable can go bad internally where you can't see it, so I would go ahead and replace it, and clean the battery terminal up till it's nice and shiny before you clamp the new cable on.

 

Okay, thanks. I will attack that cable first. I thought I fried some circuitry inadvertantly. I have never had a vehicle act like it was possessed before. I will let you know what happens. I am an amateur do-it-yourselfer, but with the guidance on this site, I have accomplished many upgrades on my own. Too much of a tightwad to have someone else do it unless necessary. Since it is cold and dark outside right now, any specifics I should pay attention to when replacing the cable? Or, more succinctly, how exactly to I replace that thing?

 

It should be a bolt-on deal, but I know how newer vehicles are, and I have never worked on your later year. Scope it out and see how bad it will be.

 

I will check it out, thanks. I did a search and found more of your answers regarding what connections to check and how so I will run through that as well. I have always found the solutions here are right on the money. So, I am confident the cable is the problem. I never had a clue that a cable could be bad and what the ramifications would be. I just figured I had to tighten it tighter. It was weird to me that only one terminal ever came loose, though. Now I understand why. Cool. Thanks again.

 

Okay, I looked under the hood this morning and it is the positive cable, not the negative cable. So, I looked online and found a Deka Battery harness for Fords with dual batteries. The local Ford place wants $159 for the Motorcraft. The DEKA at JC Whitney is $60.99. Any experience with the DEKA? Way cheaper and it looks correct.

 

I figured a universal cable at the parts store may work, but like I said I have never worked on a vehicle like yours. I guess the ends are special or something?

 

The thing about this cable is that for the dual battery setup, it has two positive terminals plus an auxillury cable. So it is long and I figure must be wired specifically for a dual battery setup 10' feet or so. I called Powerstride batteries in California since I live in Nevada, but their prices were different at each shop I called. Close to JC Whitney at $65 from the Hayward Store but $89 from the Fresno store. I asked one place if they would ship they said no problem but they did not have it in stock. The Bakersfield store had it for $69 but would not ship it. I have spent too much time on this already so I ordered the DEKA one from JC Whitney. I saw somewhere else in this forum where another guy used one and it worked out fine. So, Fedex in two days and it should be up and running by the weekend. It is hard to move three kids and the wife around in an older extended cab truck without the rear doors. Plus, we have to drive to California for Christmas so I'd better get this figured out.

 

Okay, got the new positive cable and installed it. Not too bad. So, after sitting for a week, I figured the batteries would be low. So, I hooked up two trucks (one to each battery) and jumped the truck. Started up, gauges worked, voltmeter registering. Seemed like problem solved. I unhooked the driver side battery. Fine. Then, however, as soon as I unhooked the passenger side battery, the truck quit. So, I repeated the procedure. This time I let the truck run for a little while with the other two trucks attached. I unhooked the driver side again. Everything seemed fine. I unhooked the passenger side. The truck ran but it was not steady. I checked the gauges and they were going crazy again. Then the truck quit.

So, is it the passenger side battery that is the problem? Or something more serious? I will take the batteries in tomorrow to get them checked. Diehards. Just under the 3-year warranty so I might get two new ones if they test bad. Or, I was thinking of springing for a couple of Interstates. What do you think?

 

Yes, definitely get that battery checked. They should put it under a load with their tester and that will tell the tale.