I have a problem with my Expedition. While driving home Friday afternoon I came to a stop light and the truck stalled out. When attempting to restart, the truck would click and not turn. I had the truck towed and have been attempting to determine the cause and get the truck running. Here is what I have accomplished so far.
-When I attempted to start the truck at home, the same problems occured. However the one difference was that it did turn a little before stopping.
-Checked the starter solenoid by disconneting the ignition line and applied 12V straight from the battery. It tried, but would not turn.
-Shorted out the two lugs on the solenoid, and it tried but wouldn't turn.
-Pulled the alternator and had it tested at Western Auto. It was putting out about 16 volts and had a slight noise to it. It may have been the test rig that they had it bolted to. But none the less I didn't replace it.
-I pulled the battery since it seemed that there just wasn't enough power to kick it in and run. Western Auto put it on the diagnostic macine and it went into a charge after it was analyzed. When it was done, we checked it again and it came up and said that it was a good battery.
- Installed the battery and the engine turned, but didn't fire up.
-The battery gauge on the dash now shows a low battery. And when attempting to trun over the gauges all drop off to nonthing and when the key is returned to the idle position they all max out and then drop to nothing. The needles then go to a normal state (ie 3/4 full indication on the gas needle)

I don't think that it is the starter since the wheels will turn, but haven't rulled that out. I am at a loss as to where to go now. I really can not afford to have a shop work on it and I don't have the funds to buy parts that will not fix the problem. The truck had been running really well since I had replaced the COP's and spark plugs about a year ago.

Please help me....

 

sorry to say this but it sounds like you siezed or broke something....thinking timing chain......what you have is total draw on the electrical system.....so step one will be to see if you can turn the engine from the crank shaft if you can't...sorry to say it's very broken

 

Before you undertake massive repairs, consider the age of the battery. If it is more than 3 - 4 years old, replace it first. Your symptoms point to a battery with a surface charge but one or more cells going bad.

 

an open cell def could cause the voltage drop out but even if the battery was bad the truck would not have stalled..this is why i was looking toward a failure that has the engine locked up

 

I installed a new battery this morning. The truck really wanted to crank over but finally stopped. Now there is a new twist though, the Battery light is on. So I am not really sure why that wrinkle came and showed up. itstheshark suggested that I may have siezed or broke something, but if it was siezed would the engine try and turn over. If the crank shaft is turning I don't see how it could be. Not to say that there isn't a problem there, I just don't quite understand how it could be the problem. I am still at a loss though and haven't been able to come up with a solid answer on how to proceed. It is very disappointing to not have a direction to go.

Thank you all for you assistance and inputs.

 

Well now that the new battery was installed it took a few trys through out the morning but it finally started. I am thinking that perhaps everyone was right. The crank shaft may have been partially seized causing the system to be bogged down. I was able to turn it my hand, but it wasn't really easy to turn. From what I heard it should be fairly easy. So maybe that was causing the drain on a bad battery. Since when I installed the new one there seemed to be a whole lot more power trying to turn over the engine.

But now I still have an issue with the truck. The battery light is on when the truck is running. This was never a problem before, and since I have the new battery in I am thinking that the alternator may be the culprit. Is there a way to tell if the alternator is bad while running? I checked all the wires that the Hayne's Repair Guide suggested and everything checked out according to the guide. The only thing it didn't say was how I would check while running.

Thank you all very much for your input and help.

 

The crank is NOT easy to turn by hand. With all the belts attached and accessories connected, it should be pretty difficult to turn. You don't have the mechanical advantage or the torque that the starter motor does.

If you have a voltmeter, you can check at the battery with the engine running, it should show about 13.5-14 VDC (I think). With the engine off it should be right around 12-12.5VDC. I probably have the numbers off, but it should be higher with the engine running.

Make sure all connectors/connections are tight and clean, don't forget engine and chassis grounds.

If the battery was discharged from the prolonged cranking, it may need to be driven a while.

I'll let the Pro's elaborate further.

 

it sounds as if you got a connection issue,likely a ground connection needs to be cleaned and repaired,the light is put on by low voltage in the alternator or incorrect wiring,sounds like the original issue was a shorted battery,if this happened it may have arced an already loose ground connection into failing completely as well as damaging the alternator, however if the alternator tested well i would recheck my steps when installing it, make sure the heavy gauge wire connections are clean and tight, make sure no crud got into the lighter gauge connector when you plugged it back in