This one's got me stumped. Here's the specs: 2001 Ranger XLT 5-speed 2.5L.

I've only had this truck for about 3 weeks now and up until today it has been great (CEL is always on). Advance Auto said the CEL indicated 'low lean bank 1'. It has and exhaust leak at the EGR/manifold connection, and the idle jumps up a bit between shifts.

After work today the truck would not start. No dash lights, no radio, no door bell. I didn't leave anything on this morning (radio, dome light, acc, doors were closed). So, I put it in N, set the parking brake and got a jump. When I started driving home when I noticed the ABS light had begun flashing (never been on before today). Every once in a while the RPMs would drop and the CEL/ABS lights would go out, then resume normal driving. This happened several times during my 20 minute commute. I might imagining things, but it felt like the brakes were locking up with the RPMs and lights would drop out. Battery was at 12.8 when I hooked up my charger.

Any thoughts or direction?

 

Check the basics.

Check the connections at the battery terminals, check the charging system.

Perform a load test on the battery.

Check the condition of the fusible links near the positive battery cable.

After this let us know what if anything you found wrong.

 

Thanks for the reply EO.

Battery initially metered at 12.8V. After charging to 90% (forgot to meter), I was still without power. Ground at battery good. Positive at battery good. No blown fuses. I've had an issue with the starter solenoid after an engine bay cleaning, so I decided to check there. It looked as if there was a loose connection at the positive post. Disconnected, removed solenoid, cleaned contact points and reinstalled with a touch of dielectric grease.

She started right up and hasn't given me any further issues, but now I'm without a constant CEL and the flashing ABS light. Could a loose solenoid connection cause flashing ABS and hiccups throughout throttle range? I'm still stumped.

 

I try not to get caught up in what is possible. To know this you would need to know what wire or wires were at fault or if they were at fault.

Then you would have to track down what circuit was effected by these wires.

But yes a bad connection can cause weird things to happen.

At this point the only thing I would do is a wiggle test of any wires under the hood near where you were working, just to make sure the problem is fixed for sure.

It could be a bad connection somewhere else was disturbed while working on the starter allowing a temporary better connection to the real culprit wire.


If you seen a obvious loose connection at the starter chances are good you did fix the problem, but if your unsure do the wiggle test.

 

Well, it happened again. The black solenoid wire had worked itself loose. When I wiggled the small, black wire on the solenoid, it attempted to start. When I tried to tighten the nut the post snapped off. Off to find a new solenoid.

 

Make sure to use the new nuts and lock washers that should come with the solenoid.

Also you may find the harness needs to be secured.

Someone could have worked on it previously, cut or disconnected a strap allowing the harness to move around too much.

 

this SAME exact situation is happening to me right now lean bank code shift rpm jumps everything, battery died and had to get jumped i mean i litterally just read my own story, i checked all my grounds etc checked the starter and everything looked fine as well but when i turn my key to try and crank it the overhead light flashes saying door ajar on the cluster as well, i can’t fiqure our what is going on, is it just my starter or could it be something else? when i turn the key to the on position i don’t even hear the fuel pump going

 

Welcome to the forum

What YEAR Ranger?

If you had to jump your battery then either battery is bad or alternator is, you need to test BOTH of these first

A good battery reads 12.8v to 12.3v
12.8v when new
12.3v when 5/6 years old and time to shop for battery sale

12.2v or lower is failing battery

After startup battery should read 14.3-14.8volts, thats the alternator working
Then after 5-10minutes it should have dropped down to 13.5v-13.8v, thats voltage regulator working

 

yes, i believed that could have been the issue as well, i had the alternator and battery tested multiple times and all checked out there

 

Who tested them?

You need to get a Volt meter and test these yourself

 

o’Reilly’s tested the alternator for me and I had AAA come out and test the battery as well as I’ve tested the battery myself

 

And what voltages did YOU see?

 

i saw 13.4 i believe it was

 

13.4 engine running is OK, IF.....................it had been running for 10 min, if that was just after start up then there is a problem

If engine wasn't running then there is an even bigger problem