Van sits 2 weeks, now has electrical issue

[Klutch9]

My Sedona in my sig sat for just over 2 weeks while we were on vacation. I start it up yesterday to head into the office and all was well. When I left the office about 3 hours later however, while heading down a sidestreet, I suddenly lost gear and every light on the dash lit up like a Christmas tree. 2 seconds later it was back to normal, no CEL or anything. So I made a stop at the bank, and when I go to unlock my van with the fob, nothing. I manually unlock the door and stick the key in the ignition, and a few displays try to come to life, but are very dim. Sounds like a dead battery right? The voltage was at 12.8v at rest, which doesn't mean much. But here's where it gets weird... I start wiggling the steering wheel for some reason, and everything kicks back to life! Displays, radio, fan, etc. Van starts just fine. This also happens a second time about 10 minutes later at the post office. Out of curiosity, I then have my battery checked at a local autoparts store, and it indeed is bad. Previously the battery would only reach 13.3v at idle, whereas the new one reaches 14.2, which sounds about right. So all is well, van works fine.

Fast forward one day and 200 miles later, and my van again will not start. The remote unlock worked, and when I went to start, nothing. All gauges are off or dim, clock has reset, etc. So I pull the positive battery terminal cover off to check the fuse block (there is one integrated into the + terminal) and all looks fine. Everything is tight and clean, no corrosion. I then snap the cover back on, and I hear all the electronics come back to life. Huh?! Van then starts fine and the battery is 14.2v at idle. Do I have a bad connection somewhere? All fuses also look fine, FWIW. I thought the battery was the culprit, but now I'm not sure. Alternator seems to be charging just fine.

tl;dr, van won't start, electronics have no power, then jarring the vehicle brings it back to life with full voltage.

I swear I have had so many odd issues with this van, many of them being of the electrical variety.

 

[Rand]

is the alternator working correctly? worn out? charging?

 

[javacontour]

Fusable link? Relay? Something is loose. Gotta start probing the fuses to see if they have power on both sides when you get the no-start/no-power condition.

 

[B20z]

In addition to above, ignition cylinder, battery points (frame and block), wire brush battery terminals even if they look clean, check battery (yes, check the new one).

 

[Klutch9]

Thanks for the replies guys. The new battery comes to 14.2v at idle, which is a good number. This indicates to me that the alternator is charging, the main wires are free from corrosion and can handle charging current, and the battery is being charged at a proper voltage. I pulled and cleaned the small fuse block mounted on the + terminal, and everything checked out okay. I metered each fuse individually. There is a fuse block in the cabin and another one under the hood, but all fuses look okay.

 

[2cool]

Dumb question coming! Did you check the ground cable from the battery to the body? In my experience, most of these mystery systemic failures are due to bad grounds. Another avenue of inquiry would be to check the voltage drop between the alternator output terminal (B+) to the battery. If you don't know how, there are many places online that can teach you, it's honestly not hard. Getting to the B+ terminal could be the hardest part. Another thing to check is the positive cables to the car, if you can see the ends of the strands, they shouldn't be green. If they are, they could be corroded farther up the line.

 

[Klutch9]

Originally Posted By: 2cool
Dumb question coming! Did you check the ground cable from the battery to the body? In my experience, most of these mystery systemic failures are due to bad grounds. Another avenue of inquiry would be to check the voltage drop between the alternator output terminal (B+) to the battery. If you don't know how, there are many places online that can teach you, it's honestly not hard. Getting to the B+ terminal could be the hardest part. Another thing to check is the positive cables to the car, if you can see the ends of the strands, they shouldn't be green. If they are, they could be corroded farther up the line.


Yep, the ground cable and the connections are good. The cable itself is only about a foot long, fwiw. I haven't metered the alternator directly, no.

 

[oldhp]

+1 on checking ground to body, which should be different from ground to frame. The body ground should be attached to the engine block for it's ground.

 

[Vikas]

Quote:
I then snap the cover back on, and I hear all the electronics come back to life. Huh?!
What does that tell you?
- Bad cover?
- Bad alternator?
- Bad battery?
- Bad connection?

 

[TFB1]

Originally Posted By: Vikas
Quote:
I then snap the cover back on, and I hear all the electronics come back to life. Huh?!
What does that tell you?
- Bad cover?
- Bad alternator?
- Bad battery?
- Bad connection?

My choice is #4...

It probably has a corroded terminal on a fuse or relay connector(socket)...

 

[901Memphis]

Did someone try to steal it when you left it parked and mess around with the wires inside the column?

 

[zzyzzx]

Originally Posted By: 901Memphis
Did someone try to steal it when you left it parked and mess around with the wires inside the column?


I had something else in mind:

 

[simple_gifts]

+1 for zzyzzx.

I had a sensor wire chewed on my 2300

 

[KrisZ]

+2 on the possibility that some rodents chewed through the wires and there is an intermittent short somewhere now.

I would start inspecting all cables/wires, starting with the engine bay.

 

[Klutch9]

Originally Posted By: KrisZ
+2 on the possibility that some rodents chewed through the wires and there is an intermittent short somewhere now.

I would start inspecting all cables/wires, starting with the engine bay.


Even if there was an intermittent short, wouldn't it blow a fuse every time? And why does it only manifest itself when I try to start the vehicle? Otherwise (save for the odd time I lost gear momentarily) the van runs just fine.

 

[TFB1]

Originally Posted By: Klutch9
Originally Posted By: KrisZ
+2 on the possibility that some rodents chewed through the wires and there is an intermittent short somewhere now.

I would start inspecting all cables/wires, starting with the engine bay.


Even if there was an intermittent short, wouldn't it blow a fuse every time? And why does it only manifest itself when I try to start the vehicle? Otherwise (save for the odd time I lost gear momentarily) the van runs just fine.

I'd tend to think so, all some know is to say short...

At the moment the engine starts to crank there is very high current(amperage) drawn, that surge will break down a loose, corroded, damaged etc connection...

 

[Klutch9]

Originally Posted By: TFB1
Originally Posted By: Klutch9
Originally Posted By: KrisZ
+2 on the possibility that some rodents chewed through the wires and there is an intermittent short somewhere now.

I would start inspecting all cables/wires, starting with the engine bay.


Even if there was an intermittent short, wouldn't it blow a fuse every time? And why does it only manifest itself when I try to start the vehicle? Otherwise (save for the odd time I lost gear momentarily) the van runs just fine.

I'd tend to think so, all some know is to say short...

At the moment the engine starts to crank there is very high current(amperage) drawn, that surge will break down a loose, corroded, damaged etc connection...


Right, this makes sense. The thing is, I don't even have to crank the motor for this to manifest itself. Usually simply sticking the key in the ignition, or turning it to 'ON' will bring about the problem. I've also researched that this may be a bad ignition cylinder, or a broken fuse that is making bad contact. Thankfully, we have an outstanding automotive electrical shop nearby. If this problem persists, I won't hesitate to bring it there. Some things just aren't worth trying to fix yourself without the proper diagnostic equipment.

Since it wouldn't cost much, I may just add additional grounding cables in the future, regardless of what the issue is.

 

[HerrStig]

Originally Posted By: Klutch9
Originally Posted By: KrisZ
+2 on the possibility that some rodents chewed through the wires and there is an intermittent short somewhere now.

I would start inspecting all cables/wires, starting with the engine bay.


Even if there was an intermittent short, wouldn't it blow a fuse every time? And why does it only manifest itself when I try to start the vehicle? Otherwise (save for the odd time I lost gear momentarily) the van runs just fine.
Not all wire problems are shorts, some, especially M Mouse derived , are "opens". Usually when lights or other devices drawing high current dim, there is going to be heat and smoke.somewhere.

 

[KrisZ]

Originally Posted By: Klutch9
Originally Posted By: KrisZ
+2 on the possibility that some rodents chewed through the wires and there is an intermittent short somewhere now.

I would start inspecting all cables/wires, starting with the engine bay.


Even if there was an intermittent short, wouldn't it blow a fuse every time? And why does it only manifest itself when I try to start the vehicle? Otherwise (save for the odd time I lost gear momentarily) the van runs just fine.


If the short is to the ground, no fuse will be blown. I had something like that happen on my motorcycle, where it would run intermittently on one cylinder. Turned out that one wire was rubbing on the thermostat housing and grounding itself. A short doesn't necessary mean connecting two power sources, where they should be separated.

 

[TFB1]

Originally Posted By: KrisZ

If the short is to the ground, no fuse will be blown. I had something like that happen on my motorcycle, where it would run intermittently on one cylinder. Turned out that one wire was rubbing on the thermostat housing and grounding itself. A short doesn't necessary mean connecting two power sources, where they should be separated.

Say wha??? A short to ground is generally what does blow fuses... Of course there are exceptions, but if it's a 12v powered circuit that's shorted, there will be a blown fuse or the magic smoke will be released... A short from power to the operating side of the circuit will cause the light, device, whatever to stay powered continually, no fuse blown...