Ford Ranger ‘03

[Timothy]

Wifey bumped a car in front of her today.  Truck won’t start even after resetting the fuel inertia button several times.  No juice at all, won’t even crank.

Towed it home, getting 11.55 volts from the battery.  Thinking the battery may have just died and unrelated to the bump.

Gotta see if I can jump when I get back home.

Anybody??

[les snyder]

Timothy... I had an 03 Explorer Sport with the 4.0 engine... and was going to suggest the fuel pump inter lock you mentioned... mine stopped dead when the electronic control module (ECM) black computer box located behind the middle of dash died... there were no new replacement units, so had to go to the internet for a replacement, luckily it was a good salvage unit... hopefully you just need a new battery, possibly the bump broke something, reducing the required voltage... only other problem I ever needed to replace was the command air sensor... probably using the incorrect terms... regards

[Solus]

Does it crank at all?  or just click when the key is turned to start?

[Timothy]

Just nothin...  no crank, no lights, even the interior dome is ka put

[Timothy]

11.5 volts is basically a dead battery.  I’ll jump it tomorrow after work and see if it will start.

[Sponsor]

[Big Frank]

It should be 12.6 volts at the bare minimum.

[MikeBjerum]

'03 is old enough that 11.5v should at least give you lights, horn, and a few other things.  Does Ford have an battery disconnect inertia switch?

Our '06 Silverado will crank and start below 12v.

[billt]

I've had batteries go like that. Once I got in my 1991 Ford F-150 with it's 5.0 V-8, and it spun like a top and fired right up. I then drove to the grocery store about 2 miles away. When I came out 5 minutes later nothing. The dome light wouldn't even go on. I thought someone stole the battery. It was dead as a doornail.

I walked home and got my other car, drove back and jumped it. It barely started. I got it home, pulled the battery and got a new one. They tested it and it was DEAD. No warning what so ever. I've had several do that over the years. Fortunately all except that one died in the garage.

The desert heat out here is brutal on batteries. If you get 2 Summers, you're on borrowed time after that. The battery in my Jeep Grand Cherokee is under the seat, so it's not exposed to all the heat under the hood. So far so good. It's a 2015.

[Timothy]

Just hooked it up and jumped it.  It turned over after charging for 15 minutes but wouldn’t run.  My guess is it just shat da bed at a coincidental moment.  Five years out of an Autozone battery is probably long enuf.

New battery, 70-80 bucks and I’m sure it’ll fire.  I’ll check voltage from the alternator then.

My wifey thought she murdered ol Trucky!

[PegLeg45]

Standard Auto batteries these day are junk. I used to get 5 to 6 years out of a good name-brand battery and now am lucky to get 3 to 4 max. Now they are even making model-specific batteries for cars and trucks and if you stray and use a different model or type it voids the warranty.

Most auto parts stores will check an alternator for you with their machine for free. The redneck way is to disconnect the battery cables with the engine running and see if it stays running. You can also check output voltage at the same time.