Hello, I am new to the forums and was looking for some guidance with a few electrical problems in my '02 Ranger.

#1. The Negative Battery Cable. My battery terminals were always bad in my Ranger, very difficult to remove, and very corroded. It finally got to the point where I couldn't get them off at all. My ranger sat for a few months and the battery ended up dying totally, unable to be charged, and I couldn't get the terminals off, so I had to cut the cables. I cut the cables as close to the terminals as I could, but the negative is very short and if I put a new terminal on it, it would not reach the battery. I wanted to know what gauge the battery wires are, as I would like to splice them, and put on a different style of terminals.

#2. Flickering Gauge Lights. About a year ago, my fuel and volt gauges (all the way on the left of my cluster) started flickering. None of the other interior or exterior of the lights flicker, even none of the other gauges. I was thinking this could be something with a voltage regulator somewhere? That is a total guess.

#3. Speedo Reading while idling in Park. Before my ranger got parked, I was idling it after it sat for sometime. I noticed that the speedometer was reading around 10mph quite erratically at idle. If I increased the RPMs in park, it would read up to 20 mph but again quite erratic. I was guessing this might be the speed sensor?

Any and all help is greatly appreciated.

 

Welcome to the forum

It all reads like poor ground issue

Redo your battery cables FIRST and see if all the issue go away

If you don't want to buy new battery cables go to a wrecking yard and get/cut the battery terminals you need with long enough cables to splice to your cables


There should be a Ground strap on the back of drivers side head to the Firewall, that's the MAIN GROUND for the cab electrics, make sure it is there and connections are tight

 

I agree with replacing the battery ground wire, I would also replace the positive one as well. The reason is the corrosion can easily be up into the stranded wires of each one and hidden with sheath. If you have access to an ohm meatier you could check them to see if it’s to the spec for resistance.

 

Ok, I will try the battery cables first and then report back. I will also check that main ground strap, it very well may have a bad or damaged connection as my truck just rolled over 275k miles. I think the junkyard cables are a good idea but I don't know if any yards are open with this virus going around, I will have to check on that.

I have a basic multimeter, that would allow me to check the resistance, correct? Does anyone know the spec?

Another weird electrical issue I thought of is the remote locks. I have owned this truck for almost 3 years, and maybe 3-4 times I have had the lights flash when locking or unlocking it. First few times I thought I was crazy, as it never does any other time, but the final time they flashed I wasn't alone, and my buddy confirmed that he saw them flash too. I read in the owners manual that they definitely should flash when locking or unlocking the vehicle, but mine does not, only those 3 or 4 times. I will see if the battery cables fix it, but I am skeptical if they will, because the lights did not function properly, before any of the above issues surfaced. Any thoughts on what would be causing that?

 

Yes, on your multi meter there should be an Ohms setting. Once set to that test it by touching the ends together, it should give a reading of near Zero.

You might contact a battery shop or parts house to see if they have a spec to compare. If not I might be inclined to pull them off and compare to a new one at a parts house. Im not so sure I would trust one from a junk yard.