Ford Escape: No electrical Power. Dead? HELP!

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Jul 6, 2004
Messages
1,385
Location
Houston, TX
My wife's Escape is dead...it would kill batteries nearly once a month, AAA was tired of coming and replacing their batteries under warranty. When they would come and check, their diagnostic service showed a fully functional alternator.

We ended up replacing the alternator for about $500 a few months back, and everything has been fine.

Today, my wife tried to start her car. Usually the gauges illuminate on the "ON" key position, they do a range from 0 to Max when powered up, then the car would start after the starter would crank in the "START" position. I did that this afternoon after she said it would not start, and the gauges illuminated and then were "hung up" on their Max positions. I turned the ignition off, and tried to restart. Click, then nothing. No power to any lights, gauge pod, nothing.

Battery is fine, shows full voltage. Tried to jump, but no connection...like there is a blown fuse. I checked every fuse in the engine bay power distribution center as well as the kick panel fuse center. Nothing blown.

Does this sound like a bad/dead ignition switch? The only thing making me thing that it is not that is even with the key out/not present, I still have power door locks/lights/power seats operating...but this time I have NOTHING. Like not just a bad battery but zero battery. But all fuses are good. Bad relay somewhere?

My wife says this is the last straw and wants to trade it in, but we owe about $1K less than trade-in value and I don't think we'd break even if we had to tow it into the dealership.

Thoughts?
 
Maybe, definitely a bad connection somewhere. Will probably take a pro to diagnose, but should be easy for one to find when it's acting up. The usual problem with these intermittent issues is that they never seem to happen in the shop. Good luck.
 
I'm with your wife... Electrical gremlins are always the last straw if you ask me.. When a car has weird issues such as this, it can either be fixed and never come back, or be nothing but problems moving forward.

I hate electrical problems!
 
Are you certain the battery connections are tight and clean?
A short ckt. somewhere is probably draining the battery.Someone should connect an ammeter into the pos. battery cable and begin pulling fuses one by one until the current draining device containing the short is found. I would start with the fuse for the rear window defogger.Hopefully this will help.
 
If you find ,for example that the rear defogger is shorted and drawing current then don't reinsert the fogger fuse.Run your vehicle without the defogger-Unless you want to spend the money to get it replaced.
 
Have you had any,any work done to it in the last while? Even if it was something small? If so,what was it and how long ago?
 
Can you charge the battery and see if that fixes it?
Both ends [and where they seat] of ALL cables must be clean and shiny - as perfect as you can get them.
Some factory mountings are corroded, have insulating paint, etc. that stops a good connection.

If you hear a 'click', then the ignition wiring sounds OK. You may have a faulty starter, of course.
 
No clicks, nothing...just 100% dead. I am going to call AAA as my wife overpaid for one of their roadside batteries and WILL use up it's warranty with service visits!
 
OP:

I'm wondering if all the previous electrical issues prior to you replacing the alternator may have cooked the ECM?
 
Have you checked for/seen a system voltage drop when the igntion switch is in the START position? That would indicate whether or not the switch is actually doing anything. Did you check the fuses visually, or with a DVOM or test light? If you used a DVOM or test light, did you ground to the battery post or to the chassis? If you grounded to the battery, try to the chassis and see if you still see a good connection. My thoughts are that it may be a poor ground to the block or chassis, possibly to the battery itself. It may be good enough to allow a small amount of current to flow but is too much of an impedance when larger amounts are required. Chasing a bad ground can be real pain in the arse sometimes, especially when changing other parts agitates it and seems to "fix" it.
 
This sounds like a bad connection to the battery. How corroded do the battery terminals look, and are they tight?

As far as checking for a bad ground, what I've done in the past is to connect a jumper cable between the negative battery terminal and the engine block. If the power comes back, yea, it's a bad ground or a bad negative battery cable or connection.

Also...AAA likes to cut battery terminals off and replace them with universal clamp-on ones, which are problematic at best.
 
"Battery is fine, shows full voltage. Tried to jump, but no connection...like there is a blown fuse. I checked every fuse in the engine bay power distribution center as well as the kick panel fuse center. Nothing blown."Like not just a bad battery but zero battery"
If I get you right it sounds like you have full power at the battery terminals but no power anywhere else? no lights no nothing?
If so it should be relatively simple to find, you must have a major ground or power connection missing, see if you can follow the cables where they connect to the power distribution or ground at the engine etc. possibly a cable that feeds everything at the starter.
since your in Texas it is probably a loose or broken connection instead of corrosion.
I have an 04 Escape and will look to see where the power runs. and repost if I think of anything for you to check
 
I wouldn't expect the Ford Escape to use any fusible links. Ford designed them out of all of their vehicles (that I've ever looked at, anyway) in the 90s. They use MAXI or PAL or MEGA fuses instead.

I'd check the battery cable where it connects to the underhood fusebox for a loose, corroded, or otherwise bad connection.
 
Originally Posted By: brianl703
I wouldn't expect the Ford Escape to use any fusible links. Ford designed them out of all of their vehicles (that I've ever looked at, anyway) in the 90s. They use MAXI or PAL or MEGA fuses instead.

I'd check the battery cable where it connects to the underhood fusebox for a loose, corroded, or otherwise bad connection.



Our expedition has a fusible link on the battery cable. Not sure if my focus does or not, never looked really.
 
I can't explain it but some cars will go totally dead if the alternator connections, the hot wire that typically runs to the starter or even the voltage regulator connector is not secure or the alternator is open. I can't really explain it because I've seen this on cars where the schematic show main power teeing off a battery distribution terminal seperate from the alternator and starter. I'm not saying replace the alternator, but that your problem is in the main positive feed off the battery or the ground. You need to trace power from the battery at those two conections.
 
Just got home, I'll check things before it gets dark.

It clicked once and still had power to lights/locks/gauges, and then the second attempt went completely dead...not dim, but dead.

You guys are right, AAA snipped the cables and added universals on there. No corrosion and they are tight.

Visually inspected fuses and relays, no burn trace or broken elements but did not check with a light...good idea.
 
From what I've seen on Fords, especially the ones at work, you either have a dead battery or a cable problem even though the battery is new. If they had to cut the cables and redo the ends most likely that battery isn't for it. I have a hard time believing they couldn't find the right battery... I'd make them pay for a new wiring harness and battery it were me.
 
If new ends were placed on the battery cables,make sure that all of the wires have a good connection.I dont know if this car has them or not but theres usually a wire or two that are smaller that connect on both the negative and positive cables,one or two on each cable.They may be loose,broken or not have a good connection,even though they are kooked up.You may also need to check all of the connections at the starter,not just the one that leads to the battery.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top