I have a Ford Contour. Within the past couple months, I
was having trouble with it dying on me while I was driving
it. Last month we had the alternator rebuilt and the
battery replaced and it was still doing the same thing
occasionally. Charge my battery nearly every night now.
It's ridiculous. I've taken to calling it my "electric
car". Yesterday evening I got stranded at the bank
because the battery died. DH had just found out that
morning that we probably needed to replace the alternator
fuse. So he replaced it in the bank parking lot, jump-
started it. Turned the car off once and it started. Did
it again and it wouldn't start. So we jumped it off AGAIN
and he was able to drive it home. I followed him home and
at first my tail lights were really dim, but they
gradually got brighter. This a.m. I took it out briefly
to get breakfast with the boys and the battery light, ABS
light and airbag light started to come on when I just
rolled down my window (automatic) to order. I just knew
it was going to die right there (like it had at the bank)
so we headed home. As I pulled back on the road
those warning lights on the dash got REALLY bright like it
was on the verge of kicking the bucket. I gunned the
engine hard and all the lights went back off. This is the
main part I don't understand. When I got home, I plugged
the thing back into the charger where it sat all day. We
didn't leave the house until the evening when we went to
my mom's house. Five miles away, if that. We got there
fine. But on the way home, I noticed my dash lights were
dimmer than usual, then the CD player went off (as it does
when this happens) and the same warning lights came on
again. We were waiting for a left turn arrow. And again,
when I started driving I gunned it again and the lights
all went off, CD player came back on, and dash lights got
as bright as they could be.

WHAT is the problem here? Why does gunning the engine
make the lights go back off and such? My guess is we
still have alternator problems but I am so confused. My
husband has been doing most of the repairs himself (short
of rebuilding the alternator). We are really dreading
having to take it to a shop, esp. with the holidays right
around the corner and money is tight.

If anyone has had this problem before or has any
suggestions, I would be so grateful!

PS Yesterday our battery was replaced for free. They thought it was faulty. We were hoping against hope that it was the solution. But that same night, it tried to die on me again while I was idling in a parking lot. But once i was able to take off and gun it hard, things went back to "normal".

 

Hey, quick question about something I've come across in the past. Have you had any major engine or transmission work done since this problem started? I've had a Mystique (same as Contour) come in for a similar problem. I traced it to the main negative/ground cable from the battery not being securely fastened to the engine near the starter after a transmission change. Have your hubby follow ground post from the battery back to wherever (any of the...) the cables go. You may find a loose engine/transmission bolt.

Good luck, hope ya get it worked out.

 

Aint it fun ??? , I have seen charging/ starting systems put most Tech almost to tears at some point . but I think { frdtef05 } is probaly rite on the nose there with it. whats going on probaly is everytime you turn an or gun the engine something is making a quick contact an exciting the alt .

Normally as the engine /alt turns faster it causes the alt to start to charge the battrey ( excite the field ), One thing you might want to check to is to see if you have a bad motor mount an as you speed up the engine is tilting up an pulling on the harness an creating contact somewhere in a connecter plug , or pulling a eyelet against a bolt .

A quick way to check your motor mounts is to have some one start the car, have the hood open an you stand off to one side of the fender ( please dont stand in front of car ) ... Have your driver hold the foot brake down firm , an then shift the car slowly from park, into reverse, an then into drive . Sometimes it helpful to give the engine a LITTLE gas in drive or reverse holding the BRAKE . ( sometimes called power braking ) An if you see the engine jumping from side to side a good deal then its a sure bet you got a broke / missing motor mount, As the engine should only move a very lil if at all .


I had a Volvo that the ground strap went rite to the top of the Motor mount bolt an the nut was missing so every time they could get the car to start it would show no charge till they put it in gear , just enough to bounce the ground wire.


Also another quick test you can do with the engine running , put one end of a jumper cable clamp on the negative battery term. an then put the other end on a good clean metal bracket on the engine if you got a bad ground chances are you will get a small spark when you hook up the cable, also check your lites an such at that point if every thing is working , you know you got a bad ground

An ya'll laugh at this one , but I had it happen new neibour been having similar problem. Car had been in several shops, I ran into him one nite at the store at the far end of the parking lot . He had his hood up car would just click wouldnt start , I had him hit the key an the ground wire at the side of the block would throw sparks, ( because it was dark , an my flashlite was dead you could see the sparks in the dark ) tightened up the bolt for him. Car fired rite up , his wifey sent me food for like a month, cake cookies etc, I guess they had spent close to $1000.00 on that problem in 4 months, new starter , new alt. , several batterys , a tow bill before moving in

Let us know what you find ,, be safe

So go thru an check all your wiring connections on the car Battery , Alt , Starter, go ahead an tug an pull on the wires a bit see if they are loose. Iam 100% sure your going to find a loose connection.

On the ole chebby the 2 small wires on top of the alt went into a lil plastic plug they were forever burning an getting a bad connection.

The Fords had a 2 multi wire plugs that went to the alt , same deal the connections would get loose , build up heat an melt , looking at the wires pluged in it seemed ok , till you unplugged it an looked at the ends they would be all melted an burnt, sometimes you could wiggle the wires an the car would go to charging