Is my truck possessed ?

[Freckles]

I drive a 2001 F-250 Diesel. Sunday morning when I opened up the door the Blower fan was running and the keys weren't even in the switch. I put the key in and it started up fine. As I drove to the lake I noticed that the "off" light on my overdrive was blinking. After checking things over I found out that my cruise and radio wouldn't work either. Umder the dash I heard a muffled beeping sound. After 15 minutes on the road the "OFF"light for the overdrive went out and later the cruise and the radio started to work, but not all at the same time. The rest of the trip went fine. This morning as I walked to my truck to go to work, it sounded like the engine tried to turn over. This was when I was outside of it yet with the keys in my hand When I did try to start it the Batteries were dead. Both Sunday and this morning it was raining. Could something have gotten wet and shorted something out or has any of you ran into something like this?

Freckles

[Valv]

I don't think it's a common issue, I might look into the electrical system, it could be a possibility that it got wet somewhere, but it shouldn't matter very much, I never heard of a truck that cannot be exposed to rain.....

Where did you buy it ? Dealer or private ? Salvage history or worse, flood history?

And.....you know it was coming.....it's a Ford, you cannot expect much

[MIKE IN lINO III]

I have an '02 diesel. I was having problems with my shifter not going into gear. Towed it to the dealer, they could not find anything wrong with it, suprise!.

Took it home a a day later it was acting up again. I went through everything under the hood and found a place on the wire harness that had rubbed through the insulatiuon and was shorting on the frame.

Maybe something like that is happening???

Mike

[DinkADunk]

I would look for frayed wires (short) and especially grounding wires. Very wierd things can happen when a ground starts to float around (had that happen with a Honda Goldwing).

[Eric Wettschreck]

To answer your question, yes, it's possessed.

Get a priest.

[JollyT]

Obviously something electrical. Could be a bad ground somewhere, could be a short. Computerized electrics are great 'til they don't work.

[Surface Tension]

Check the ground strap from the frame to the firewall.

[efgh]

The first thing I would have checked at a dealership would be the ignition switch, sounds to me like it is shorting across. My 91 ford had the radio playing one day, didn;t think too much about it, about a week later all the wiring under the dash burndt up, they traced it back to a bad ignition switch. About a year later ford had a recall on bad ignition switches.

[Jeremy airjer W]

The good news is you guys are all wrong! The bad news is you need an underdash fuse block. I just did one of these not to long ago. As soon as you said it was trying to start by itself it through the red flag for me. What happens is moisture gets into the underdash fuse block and starts to corrode the plates. Eventually pathways for power are developed where they shouldn't be. The first time I saw this I thought it was the ignition switch myself, but after double checking the wiring diagrams I had power where power shouldn't have been, even with the fuses removed and the switch completely disconnected.

These are not that hard to remove. As soon as you get it out look for moisture where the bulkhead connectors go. I almost gaurantee you'll see some.

Good luck!

[Valv]

Quote:

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The good news is you guys are all wrong!

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I wasn't wrong, it's a Ford....it does happen

[Freckles]

Is this under dash fuse block hard to find?

Freckles

[eyepatrol]

Freckles....I may be able to offer some interesting insight on this one!

First of all, my folk's Expedition (1997) was having similar problems to what you're having. The problem was electrical, but it was being caused by rain! After spending nearly $2,500 on service and parts over a period of a few years, what the Ford dealer finally found out was that the WINDSHIELD was not sealed up tight and whenever it rained, the water leaked down through the bottom of the windshield onto the electrical components.

Whenever it would rain, the windshield wipers would go off, the a/c would be running, the truck would try starting by itself, the radio would be on...all kinds of things that nearly burned the vehicle up!

Anyway, my folk's vehicle was in a very similar situation where things like this would happen during and/or after it rained. The bad seal on the windshield was THE problem! After getting it replaced a second time (wasn't installed correctly first time), they haven't had any more problems.

You may want to consider that and talk to a dealer about that. My folk's spent A LOT of money on the dealer fixing, replacing, etc. until they finally figured out what the real problem was. Hopefully this won't happen to you.

Good luck!

[Jeremy airjer W]

In my rush to post and still get to work in time I did forget to mention the window seal as the culprit for the moisture problem. Thanks for catching that Bass!!

Freckles, The underdash fuse block should be right above your left foot.

[Freckles]

Thanks I know which one your talking about. When I got home from work last night I went to start it and drive it into my shop to check things out, but it wouldn't turn over. I cleaned the posts and put the charger on it . came back two hours later and still no juice. All the dash lights and all other electrical works, but starter wouldn't even click or make a sound. Now what happened? I cant even get it into the Ford dealer and service to get it checked out.

Freckles

[efgh]

When you do get it fixed be sure too let us know what the problem was. It will help someone else down the road a ways. Still say, bad ignition switch.

[Jeremy airjer W]

There should be a starter solenoid under the hood (not real familiar with the diesels). With the key on and the trans in park or nuetral , the ebrake set , and all loose clothing and or limbs away from anything that could move in the engine compartment (what I'm saying is please be carful doing this may not be a bad idea to have somebody in the drivers seat to put their foot on the brake and or to turn of the ignition if something goes wrong!) jump the two large terminals with a screwdriver. It will throw off sparks and put a nice nick in your screw driver so be ready for it.

You can also take the small wire off the solenoid (should be a red wire with a green tracer) and jump that terminal to battery positive. If the solenoid is good the starter will start to crank. if the solenoid is bad you may not even hear a click.

If your not hearing any click than I would suspect something has gone hay-wire in that fuse block. If thats the case doing the above should start it. That red with green wire that goes to the solenoid comes from the ignition switch then goes into the fuse block then through a fuse then back out the fuse block then through a couple of bulkheads then finally to the solenoid.

[Freckles]

The wrecker came and picked it up yesterday. Gone one week checking things out with no luck. Now the professionals have it. Hope to hear something soon. I will update when I find out anything.

Freckles

[Freckles]

Well I got my truck back and the culpret that was causing the problum was a solinoid located on the inside right fender. "Fried" Great to have it on the road again. Thanks for all the repies.

Freckles

[stmichael]

Airjer,

Way to go on the troubleshooting!

U da man!!

[Jeremy airjer W]

Unfortuneately I think the vehicle will be back in the shop with the same symptoms in the near future. I guessing they replace the starter solenoid which makes sense because the truck was cranking until the batteries went dead. It doesn't explain why it was cranking or why the other accessories wouldn't work.

That would be great if that part fixed it. Simple to replace and not to expensive. Keep us posted whether or not the exorcism worked!!

St. Michael, what? One of us, myself or the shop, totally misdiaged this one. IMO it was the shop!!

[stmichael]

I read your post as stating it was the solenoid.

(as stated in your second post...OOPS third post )

I apologize if not reading correctly.

I was not being a smart aleck in making the comment. (not sure if it was taken that way.)

I was trying to give a compliment...sorry it will not happen again!! (JUST KIDDING )

[Jeremy airjer W]

It was taken as a compliment and I appreciate it!! Its hard enough trying to fix some of this stuff when its right in front of you let alone 8 counties away over the internet! The more ideas we share the better the chances of figuring out the problem.

A perfect example. One of the guys I work with (still a little green) has had a car that the window starts to go of track after it gets about 3/4's of the way up. He has replaced everything and the problem still exists. The other guy I work with went over to see what was up (by the way this guy has figured out some stuff that has left me scratching my head for days) after about 15 minutes he through up his arms and said I don't know. I went over and started looking at it and noticed that the mirror looked like it had just been replaced and thats when all the pieces fit together. It turns out he knocked the mirror off and the window started acting up right after. A closer look at the window track revealed the problem. When the mirror was knocked off it bent the window track in on itself the window would go up fine until it hit that spot and would get pinched off and it would go off track. A quick straightening of the channel and the problem was solved, but it took three guys input to figure it out

[NapoleonDynamite]

No the problem got fixed when airjer pulled out his magic wand and gave it a flic.

[Jeremy airjer W]

Speak of the devil, I'm surprised you could remember your password Napoleon!!