'99 Ford Ranger Electrical Gremlin-No Start concern

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Kornwulf, Apr 20, 2023.

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  1. Kornwulf

    Kornwulf New Member

    Hey folks, I've been having an intermittent electrical fault for the past week or two in which has been preventing starting. It's been going on since I accidentally drained my battery by leaving the headlights on while parked.

    Main symptoms are the dashboard warning lights being extremely dim, the radio not working, and the starter solenoid either just clicking or not firing at all.

    Generally if I left the key in the "On" position between 10-20 seconds I'd hear a click and the warning lights would come on fully and I'd be able to start the car. This doesn't happen every time, maybe 1 in 15 starts.

    However, today, it stalled in traffic (after throwing up momentary ABS warnings and killing the radio as I was stopping at lights before that) and was unable to be started for over 20 minutes. It didn't even have enough juice to run the hazards. However, after leaving it be for 20 minutes or so while waiting for the tow truck, the solenoids inside the cab started firing off like machine guns, the hazards came on, and the engine was then able to be started, and ran without issue afterwards.

    I'm stumped, but it's a problem that obviously needs fixing. Anyone heard of anything like this? Could it be as simple as getting a new battery?
    Thanks in advance
     

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