Ford F-150 - 1997-2003 :: 1998 - Intermittent Battery Light / Low RPMs
Aug 20, 2017
1998 F150 4.6 automatic.
Had problems with battery light. Was intermittent. Battery cables wouldn't stay tight, replaced them, light stayed off. Light back on now, constant. Battery reads 12.5ish off, 14.3ish running under load (lights, AC, etc.).
When truck is started, even cold, it doesn't rev up the RPM's and then die down to idle speed. It just goes straight to around 550rpm and surges slightly up and down between there and 650ish. Can these be related?
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My 97 with a 4.6 has had some charging issues. It started when I left a trailer hooked up with dome lights on (ignition to the on position, not running, for the trailer hot circuit) and it drained the battery. I boosted it to move it and put the charger on it. It ran fine till the other night (a week later) and on the road the CEL light came on. I didn't get another mile till the lights dimmed and the dash lights went out and the radio started flashing. I turned off the radio and heater to get home (another 2 miles). On the rest of the way it would drop to 8volts then up to 13-14 and the headlights would get bright. Then it would drop back down.
The whole time the battery lamp in the cluster never came on (forgot there was one). I pulled the alternator and took it in to have it tested. They said it tested fine. I re-installed it and fired the truck up and the battery lamp would fade in and out. I put a charger on the battery again overnight and now when it runs the battery lamp only comes on at idle and goes off when I increase the RPMS past about 1,400.
Is it possible that the alternator is going bad and the tester was running it at high enough RPMs to generate proper output?
I made sure to check the wires on the connectors going to the alternator when I re-installed it and made sure there was enough tension on the connectors before putting them on the pins. I've also thoroughly cleaned the battery clamps and inspected the wires at that point for corrosion. I haven't traced it back. If it is related at all, I had it in a few weeks ago for tires so I had an oil change done and they replaced the serp belt. Should I have it tested elsewhere, should I start tracing wires for corrosion?
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Vehicle is 1998 F150 with 194k. The battery is 1 1/2 yrs old and belts and alternator are original.
Yesterday morning my VHF and dog tracking eqipment started humming with the truck running. The hum on the tracking eqpt. only happened when I pointed the antennae over the direction of the hood with truck running. When I shut truck off everything is normal. Later in the day the battery light came on. The battery light would go off if I kept it over 2400 rpm's. The charge on the dash was normal but as I got closr to home last night it dropped to almost nothing and the lights were very dim.
I am thinking alternator. What I am confused about is the humming noise in the background. The tracking eqpt. is completely separate from the truck while the VHF is direct to the battery with an iline fuse. Bad voltage regulator?
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So my truck started to intermittently misfire about a month ago . I changed the spark plugs wires at first and it seemed to get better but it still had a misfire . I replaced the spark plugs and ignition coils and the misfire is still there . Up until the other day it was a noticeable issue but still drivable with . On my way home from work it got alot worse and started to misfire any time I tried to accelerate and now is noticeable at idle now as well.
I checked the fuel injectors resistance and they are about 14.8 ohms . I am not getting any codes for a misfire . I tried to pull the fuel injector connectors to try to find the source of the misfire but could noticeable change in engine rpm. Where to go from here and what I should check first? Would a clogged fuel filter cause something like this ?
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I have a 98 F150 4x4. I had some trans trouble so I pulled it out and had it rebuilt. Now when it shifts into drive the rpms speed up right before it shifts. What is causing the trans to do this? It doesn't do it all the time, only if I take off faster the usual which is most of the time.
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I'm a relatively new F150 owner (just got rid of the 98 Ranger I drove since 99), so I thought I'd check in to see if I was overlooking something obvious. A few days ago, after driving to the store with no obvious issues, I went shopping (coincidentally for oil change materials) and when I returned to my truck it would not start.
Here is a bit of info:
Starter cranks over the engine.
Battery is relatively new, and has plenty of power.
I can hear the fuel pump kick on briefly.
Check engine light is on (EGR Valve fault).
Engine started with starter fluid.
Engine ran like normal after starting.
Finally, the vehicle started/ran fine for a few days before the issue occurred again.
Like I said, I'm not too familiar with the vehicle yet, but I'm assuming the issue must be with the fuel delivery system. I plan on replacing the EGR valve, but I am curious whether a faulty EGR valve cause a no start? Also, I'm wondering if it's more likely that the fuel pump is going bad, or something electrical is the problem since I'm under the impression that the engine stops sending fuel to the cylinder if/when the engine doesn't start quickly after turning the key.
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So my 98 f150 xlt 4.6 is having a issue where the truck is jumping from 1500 rpm to about 2500 - 2600 rpm. You know sitting there trying to get up to speed. then all the sudden i look down and its at 1500 rpm. but still not really going anywhere. So i give it a little more throttle or gas and it jumps from 1500 to about 2500. Its been like this for a month but i thought it was crap fuel. What is the cause or maybe a solution?
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My F150 with 175,000 miles on gave me a the ol' P0305 code indicating misfiring in cylinder #5. I changed the plugs and wires using Motorcraft wires and Motorcraft AGS34FM plugs.
Now the truck idles fine, does not give a OBD code but runs rough at 2,000-2,500 rpm. Tried it out on the highway and it started "bucking" a bit. Not sure what to try next.
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Finish a job yesterday and go to start my 98 F-150...4.6 and get the dreaded click. All has been fine. Firewall relay clicking, so crawl underneath in the slop and snow and the main battery wire corroded off the starter solenoid. Go back up top and turn the key to run position, crawl back underneath and short that wire to the other main terminal that feeds the 12 volts into the starter. Truck starts right up. That gets me home, I found a 4 gauge lug in my electrical stuff, clean up the wire and crimp it on ( actually a smoosh with a vice-grip cause my crimper won't get in there and trying to solder in that position wasn't gonna' work). Replacing that cable and how hard was it to pull it out of that loom that it shares with other wires? I was thinking just run a separate cable in a new loom and zip tie it to the other loom? I was guessing it is 2 gauge? Looks like about 4' would be enough to go from the battery to the starter.
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I have a quick question, I just replaced the head gaskets on my 4.6 with 301,000 miles on it and now my battery only charges when you punch it and when you lift off the gas pedal, in town it does fine, but on drives 25 miles on the highway the battery guage goes to the line on the bottom. What could be causing that?
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I have a 2003 F 350 Crewcab 6.0 liter SD. I was preparing my truck for the first haul of the Summer. I noticed that my batteries were on their way out after 2 years old. I replaced them and noticed I had an intermittent battery light coming on/off on/off. It seemed like only at lower RPMs. So the day of my trip, I ended up changing out the alternator.
The trip went fine, however, I noticed that pesky battery light came on and then off a few times. I also got a hot plastic type smell from the front of my truck.....you know that hot plastic smell Anyway, I got home just fine. Via Torque Pro, my battery volts were reading 12.2ish when my battery light came on, but then would quickly return to 13.9.
Since I"ve been home, I have read about fixing the grounding points for our trucks and also adding a second ground wire and a second hot wire from battery to battery. I can not find exactly where the ground's lead to. I still have that fricking battery light coming on .....more often that not. How to chase this problem.
First I need to find out where the ground wires go to. My volts of recent have been reading 11.5-12ish when the truck is running and the friggin battery light is on. I did search and found a few links to this problem, but where to find the grounding points.
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I have a 98 f-150 4x4 the abs light is on and I can't link with scanner or seem to find anything wrong I don't have front abs just rear. I hate lights and I've checked everything I can think of.
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2003 Pontiac Montana
So I got a phone call from the wife and she tells me when she is driving, the Battery Symbol Light in the dash is lit up only when the Blower is on, but goes out when the Blower is off.
Also, when the vehicle is in Park and idling, the Battery Symbol Light is on but if the engine is revved up, the Battery Symbol light is not lit.
This would lead me to believe it may be a weak tension on the serpentine belt.
I will check both the tension on the belt and the voltage level tonight when she gets home from work, but I am puzzled, because my experience with alternator is either dead or alive. Not just a little dead.
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I have a 98 F-250 5.4L that has a constant ABS Light illuminated. My truck seems to brake fine ... I just bought this vehicle used and it has 93,800 miles on it.
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He has a 98 F150 4x4 and the tail lights are staying on all the time. I had him to replace the pressure switch(I think that's what it is called) but that didn't solve the problem. So now he has been taking the fuse out every time he stops, just so the lights will go off. When he puts the fuse back in, the tail lights stay on all the time, but his widows will not roll down. The windows roll down when the brake fuse is out.
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Not mine, but the guy claims his trucks battery light and CEL are on with the key off??? He's battery goes dead (it is new) and only 12.3 volts running with it revved up. My inclination would be alternator, but how can those 2 light in the dash be on with the key off? He did replace the ignition switch.... nothing ...same condition.
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I have a 2003 F150. When the temperature is hot outside and I have the air conditioner on the Gauge will sweep and the ABS light and battery light will go on. The battery gauge will go to high charge. When RPM is dropped (idle) or when the RPMs are increased to pass a vehicle, everything returns to normal. Power windows will not work but all other functions due. It will boil my battery if ran to long like this. I have changed the alternation and battery. Only happens in the summer?
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My 98 f150 a problem it won't shift into 4wd the lights glow and i can hear it click but nothing. When in 4L the engine gears down but nothing. I took the shift motor down and turned the motor turns but nothing i took pliers and manually turned the shaft the front wheels still don't turn.
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I have a 98 f150 4.6 v8. when i start driving and i hit about 40 my truck doesn't want to shift, i have to take my foot off the gas, let it shift then apply the gas again. if i don't it shifts real hard or the RPM's go real high. and then every so often my overdrive off light blinks. it shifts in and out of overdrive ok though.
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I own a 1998 ford f150 4.6l triton v8. I was leaving my house to go on a snowboarding trip about three weeks ago it was a rather warm wet day and all of the sudden my check engine light began to flash. I immediately pulled over and restarted my truck, once it was started again it was solid.
I turned around and started driving towards home. I get a small amount of feedback from my speakers and usually it's a smooth whizzing sound but as i accelerated the sound began to stutter rather than remain smooth. after about 5 minutes of driving this went away and the check engine light remained on.
so today I went out it's also a wet day and it's raining quite a lot. on my way into town everything seemed okay. then on my way home the check engine light began to flash again and the feedback from the speakers became choppy again.
I would also like to mention my battery light is on but it was on prior to the first time this happened. I'm just wondering if the belt could be loose or slipping due to the wet weather?
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This ID10T light came on last weekend, and I just started trying to fix this. I found this post [URL] ....., but this isn't my problem.
The alt is old, but tested good four times at Napa. Battery is three years old, and it's holding good charge. My scan gauge 2 is showing 11.4-11.6, and I'm guessing this is what's throwing the code, although there isn't an actual code.
I don't have the money to go just start replacing parts, and I need this truck for next weekend, 10/3/15, so I hope to find something by then.
At 2000rpm the SC2 is still showing 11.6 volts, so would it be the charging system? Volt reg? Something in there is clamping the voltage down. At 18 years old, and 250k miles I'm not afraid to put new parts into.
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