1993 Ford Escort, Transmission Will Not Shift With The Tail Lights On

This 1993 Ford Escort came in with the unusual complaint that the transmission would not shift with the tail/park lights on. From experience it seemed like it would be a faulty ground. I checked all of the grounds under the hood and all were okay. Since my faulty ground thoughts had not panned out I … Continue reading “1993 Ford Escort, Transmission Will Not Shift With The Tail Lights On”

2000 Ford F350, A/C Not Cold Sometimes

This 2000 Ford F350 with the 7.3 liter diesel engine came in with the complaint that the a/c works sometimes. It seemed to work okay when a cold engine was started but as the engine warmed up the a/c would stop cooling. This one was easy enough to diagnose just by looking at the air … Continue reading “2000 Ford F350, A/C Not Cold Sometimes”

2009 Mercury Grand Maquis, Air Will Not Blow Out Of Face Vents

This 2009 Mercury Grand Marquis came in with the complaint the air conditioner would only blow air through the defroster vents. Rarely would air come out of the face vents. This is a common problem and can be expensive to repair. A work around, of sorts, is to manually drop the blower speed to the … Continue reading “2009 Mercury Grand Maquis, Air Will Not Blow Out Of Face Vents”

1992 Ford F150, No Charge Condition

This 1992 Ford F150 came in with a no charge complaint. The battery, alternator and alternator connectors had already been changed. I had to start with improving the splice connections that were used when the repair harnesses were installed. There had been a combination of scotch lock type connectors and poorly crimped cheap splicing connectors … Continue reading “1992 Ford F150, No Charge Condition”

2003 Ford Focus, Runs Hot, Cooling Fans Inop, Part 1

This 2003 Ford Focus came in with the complaint that the car was running hot. It has a 2.0 liter engine and is a non SVT model. Although similar to later model vehicles with the same set up, this year is unique in it’s wiring harness design. After asking multiple questions of the owner and … Continue reading “2003 Ford Focus, Runs Hot, Cooling Fans Inop, Part 1”

2003 Ford Focus, Runs Hot, Cooling Fans Inop, Part 2

Welcome to part 2 of this repair on the cooling fan system on a 2003 Ford Focus. To see part 1 please click here. I consulted the wiring diagrams further and found that there was a fan resistor located in the fan housing. After unplugging the connector this is what I found. One terminal was … Continue reading “2003 Ford Focus, Runs Hot, Cooling Fans Inop, Part 2”

1996 Ford Ranger, Battery Went Dead

This 1996 Ford Ranger wound up at my door with a dead battery. Well almost it was stopped in the median in front of my shop. This is going to be more of a people story rather than an actual repair as I never fixed the vehicle and it is the most simplistic of diagnoses. … Continue reading “1996 Ford Ranger, Battery Went Dead”

1993 Ford Ranger Headlights Turn Off

This 1993 Ford Ranger came in with the complaint that the headlights would turn off driving down the road. I wanted to duplicate the problem so I connected  my battery charger to the battery and set it on the medium charge rate. Turned the headlights on and waited for the lights to turn off. After … Continue reading “1993 Ford Ranger Headlights Turn Off”

2008 E350 Ford Van, Battery Drain

This 2008 Ford E350 van belongs to one of the local utility companies and the battery will go completely dead if it sits for more that two days. The standard routine, I connected my trusty Fluke meter in series with the battery negative post and terminal. There is a significant drain present as you can … Continue reading “2008 E350 Ford Van, Battery Drain”

1996 Ford F350, Battery Voltage Low

This 1996 Ford F350 had multiple problems. One of which was low battery voltage while the engine was running. The owner complained that the battery would go down If he ran at night with the lights and a/c on. Go figure. At some point the ring terminal at the alternator was damaged and instead of … Continue reading “1996 Ford F350, Battery Voltage Low”