01 7.3 excursion will not keep a charge.

[travermann]

Hey guys, new here what a great wealth of info you provide. I have a problem that I can not find out. My 01 7.3 excursion had the battery light flashing for a while, i thought tightening would help but nothing. Then in denver my car died and we changed the alternator. That got us back home and then the light came on. While driving the electrical went out, (radio,gauges,windows) and the car died. I changed the battery and checked the alter, which is good. Everything was fine for about three weeks an then the light came back on and now my car is dead, it will not even accept a charge. Something is take more charge then it needs to. Does anyone have this same problem or had it and fixed it. Any help would be great, thanks.

[Fuelking]

Hi. New to the site by desperation. I am looking here at 2:00am from a hotel while my vehicle sits at a repair shop down the road. I have an 02 Excursion that left me stranded due to an apparent charging failure. Problem sounds exactly like yours except that I really don't want to spend thousands of $$ on problem if I can avoid it. Did you ever find out what was causing this? Any help by e-mail will be appreciated.
Thanks

[Bobabouy]

have you guys found a fix to this problem yet my 04 is doing the same thing even after the alternator has been replaced and out in 2 brand new Optima yellow top batteries. any insight would be greatly appreciated

[BroncoJoe19]

Did you read this thread and try its suggestions?
http://www.ford-forums.com/electrica...al-system.html

[mark v]

Biggest issue with new alternators burning out is using them to charge a bad, weak or dead battery. Have the battery tested when an alternator goes bad. Always bring the battery up to a full charge, this goes for brand new batteries too. Dont assume the new battery has a full charge no matter what the guy behind the desk says, I have sold them and installed new batteries and not 1 has ever had a full charge on it.

I replaced my Alternator in my Windstar along with the battery cause the failed Alternator killed my good battery to the point where it couldnt hold a charge.

Killing a brand new battery is easy, all you have to do is let it go dead once and then by jumping the car you can kill the Alternator.

[Bobabouy]

my truck stalls when driving i have total electrical failure then the engine dies. the new alternator has been tested and 2 optima yellow tops installed. aparently the alternator is only puttin out 11.2 volts at idle about 600 rpm at about 1500 it's over 13.

any ideas?

[BroncoJoe19]

I think you should get 13.5 at idle. It is my understanding that the regulator fails more often than the alternator, and although they are integral to the alternator, they are replaceable. But one way or another to fix your problem you need to address this.

[mark v]

11.2 at Idle is waaayyy too low. Here is what a Battery should read when you test it by its self not connected to the car. As you can see the vehicle is actually running off your battery at idle and this should not be happening.

Battery voltage on a Battery
12.6V or higher: 100% charge
12.4V - 12.6V: 75-100%
12.2V - 12.4V: 50-75%
12.0V - 12.2V: 25-50%
11.7V - 12.0V: 0-25%
11.7V or less: 0% Dead Battery

[Bobabouy]

thanks for the info i will check that

[skidmarks]

check your vehicle recalls. those 7.3 have a few with wiring and cam sensors