abs lit. All axillary pwr off. engine finally die

Vince-00-winstar · 03-01-2007, 08:02 AM

Hi everyone
I have 2000 winstar. I have the dealer flush my transmission 3 wks ago. I was driving my van last night and the ABS light come on. At the same time I loose all the power to my radio and cluster instrument lights. Odometer light then also went out. No left nor right signal lights and then the headlight started flickering on and off. All of these happened with the van still running on the freeway. When I got off the freeway, the engine was idling roughly, then the engine sputter when I try to drive it. It will go jerking for 2 miles then it came to a stop when I tried to go over a freeway bridge. I tried to start the engine but the battery all drained. I was close to home so I call my wife to give me a jumped start, the engine started but still driving roughly and die again... Any one has any idea to what is going on? Is this a problem with an alternator or maybe it is a electrical short somewhere? Please help, Thanks

CraigRK · 03-01-2007, 10:50 AM

Vince

Not saying this is it, but those are the exact same symptoms I had when the alternator in my 98 Windstar died recently. With almost no warning, first warning lights on and radio died, then the engine died just a few miles later. (The battery runs "dead loss" until it runs down completely.) If you charge up the battery, you may be able to restart the vehicle to move it, but if its the alternator, it'll die again soon. I replaced the entire alternator and the S-belt at the same time. Less than two hours work. No problems since. Best of Luck.

CraigRK

mark v · 03-01-2007, 04:47 PM

I totally agree with what CraigRK said. I had the exact same thing happen. I had to replace the original 8 year old battery with the alternator. I got lucky the Van died in my driveway after a 300+ mile trip.

Vince-00-winstar · 03-01-2007, 11:09 PM

Thanks Masters! You guy are right on

I check the batery with a volt meter reads 12.07V. I then jumpstart the car and guess what the voltage is at idling 11.4V. The alternator is using the battery to fire the ignitor coil. Find a trade in alternator for $95 at local store. Replacing the 2000 winstar alternator is fairly easy just three 15mm bolts and 2 electrical connector. However, I got a hard time finding the retending bulley for the belt. Finally from other forum of 98 winstar, I found that the bulley is the self spring loaded located at the bottom rear of the engine. Used the 1/2" key and torque it forward (counter clockwise) and the belt come off easily. Test run new alternator looks good for now. Only now hearing a funny sound when turning right, don't know if it due to belt is not tight enough or not.

Thanks for your help though. Until next problem...