Having an intermittent problem, started out with no power at all (no dome light with door). Figured that my battery was gone been in there forever at least 8 years, replaced it and things seemed to get better. But yesterday when trying to move out of the garage got in turned the key and nothing, checked and again no dome light, turned the key many times for nothing then left it in the run position for maybe a minute and all of a sudden heard the fuel ump spool up and had power again and started no problem. HELP I am confused there are way to many parts that are in the system to blindly switch them out one by one.
By the way it is a 95 with a 302

 

At first I would have said its your collumn switch. Its on top of the collumn at the bottom. (neer the pedals) Theres a long rod going from the key to it. But, if the dome light doesnt work, it may be coroded cables at the battery.

 

be sure and check all connections sounds like a bad terminal.

 

Wires were bad befor I changed the battery but put new ends on both of umstill shows a little corosion but not real bad. I will double check them however

 

battery cable may look good at the terminal but may be corroded down the line...if they are old I would change them...

 

I'm having the EXACT same problem also. It just started about a month ago and is slowly getting worse.
Tonight I filled up at the gas station and when I went to start it up...nothing.
What is weird is that all the dash lights will light up just barely and slowly.
None of the gauges move,headlights wont come on.
I popped the hood and started jiggling wires and nothing.
What I did notice and I am hoping someone can possibly tell me where to look,Is after a few minutes I hear a relay or something click and everything turns on and I am ok.
I have checked battery cables,grounds,wires etc for the past month.
All I know is after a while it will click like a circuit breaker or something and everything works.

Did you ever figure anything out wileec?
Thanks in advance.

 

I was thinking it may be a bad/worn relay for the eec so I flip flopped all the relays under the hood and it hasnt done it since.I'm just going to replace all of them and see how it goes.

FWIW my Bronco is a 93 w/302.Hope this helps.

 

NO ideas yet it has only hapened the onve since I installed the battery. Up side is that since it is a five speed I can get it rolling almost anywhere (KNOCK WOOD LOUDLY). Your description is perfect but I think the relay you here is the fuel pump starting up???

Any ideas frm Greystreak I was hopeing you would add yur wisdom?

 

You should replace every battery cable anf ground strap under the hood. Make sure you use good connectors.

I had this problem on my Mustang a few years ago. It was like the battery was dead on minute, then fine the next. It turned out that my cables were totally corroded inside the sheathing.

 

If you have an ohm meter you can check all the cables instead of just blindly swapping them out. A cheap one goes for $20 at the parts stores. If you are checking individual cables make sure at least one end is disconnected before testing. Then put one lead on each end of the cable and you want a number close to Zero - least amount of resistance possible.

You could also check the ground on the battery to the frame resistance.

 

It's possible, but they can test well when not under a load. Then, when you subject them to a massive load (such as a starter) they overheat and stop working.

Instead of buying expensive cables at the parts store, I use welding cable and crimp/solder ends. You can solder cables this size with a propan torch and electrical (not plumbing ) solder. I like to crimp as well so that there is a mechanical connection. Cheaper, and better. Two things I like.

 

Well folks this situation has goten worse. I said after I installed the new batery it was better now after sitting in the garage for 3 weeks or so I get nothing, no start or dome light but batery shows OK voltage. It sounds like wires to me as well but I do not want to replace all of them $$$. I will work on the OHM meter but like the man said with out load the results can be wrong. Any other wonderfull ideas. HELP

 

I know the above explanation didn't make any sense mechanically,but after I switched all the relays around I have not had the problem since.
If you havent tried it,what do you have to lose.

 

If you make replacement battery cables out of welding cable make sure to oversize them by 2 sizes as compared to the old wires. I just got this info from my starter/alternator rebuild shop.

Ryan87xlt - if you are getting more than 1 ohm of resistance for every foot of wire then you have corrosion in the wire and when amperage / heavy load is applied then you are right they will overheat but that usually causes the wires to show signs of heat damage on the outside.

 

Replace all the cables, thats the problem. Just fab up some new ones.