Hello,

I've run into a problem with my 2007 Ford Ranger 2.3L over the last week and I've been searching the forums for several hours but can't find a solution to my problems.

Last week, I accidentally left my headlights on for about an hour, but the truck ran fine. The next day I left them on again for about 5 minutes and it occurred to me that the reason I kept leaving the lights on was because the light reminder and key in ignition chimes no longer function. Sunday night, the not charging light came on the dash and the lights dimmed, but it only lasted about 30 seconds and everything returned to normal. Yesterday, after driving about 1 mile, the not charging light came on and has stayed on ever since. I have a ScanGauge II, and the voltage reading while the truck was running was 11.4 volts.

I took my battery in today for testing and it tested bad, so I got a replacement. Now my ScanGauge reads 12.2 volts, but the charging light is still on and I believe I should be seeing about 14 volts if everything was working.

I would assume my alternator is bad, but why would the headlight and door chimes quit at the same time? If there possibly a fuse somewhere that could be blown? I looked at all the fuses I could, and didn't find any problems, and I did a quick scan for corroded wires or wires that might be grounding out, but couldn't find any of those either.

Any suggestions? I would prefer not to buy an alternator unless I'm sure that's the problem.

 

Sounds like you have two separate problems.
Get the alternator tested.
Does the dome light come on when you open the door on the driver's side?
If not then you have a problem with the door switch.
Spray WD40 into the door latch as the switch is mounted in there.
Close and open the door a few times , then spray it again.These switches get dirty and won't work over time (common problem).

 

Thanks for the reply.

The guy at AutoZone hooked up his tester to the positive and negative cables at the battery and said there was no voltage from the alternator. I would go ahead and replace it if I knew the chime issue was totally unrelated. I don't know how they'd be related, but it's just ironic they went out within two days of each other.

The dome light does come on, but no chimes at all. Is it possible that the door latch switch would cause the chime to not work while the dome light still comes on?

 

From the wiring schematics I found its possible these may be interrelated. It looks like Ford modernized the cluster with a microprocessor unit that controls the warning lamps, chimes, and the charging system indicator light. I'd start by looking for a gray wire at the Alt I terminal. Unplug it from the Alt and turn the key to run position. Using a volt meter, check for power at this wire. If you don't have power at this wire, check fuses 9 & 10 at the SJB in cab. If these fuses are good, you'll need to pull the cluster and conduct further tests.