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Old 01-18-2011, 10:17 PM   #1
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Electrical seems to have gone haywire!

Hopefully someone out there can help. I just recently bought this 2005 Ford E-350 diesel SMB with 13,000 miles and just about every option.

I came home and the lights were flashing and radio was on. This has happened previously but also included a beeping noise from what sounded like my alarm system and the doors were locking/unlocking. The beast had a mind of its own!

The first time I pressed unlock/lock on my fab and that fixed it. More recently last week my wife unlocked it and started it up which seemed to stop the issue. Three days ago I tried to to start the van and the following happened: I turn the key to warm the coils, but the coil symbol disappears after a split second and the dash just slowly seems to be losing power, and makes a clicking noise. It definitely won't turn over. The rear battery meter also shows Red, low power on the house batteries.

I keep the rig on shore power all the time and keep the engine block heater plugged in to fend off the cold here in CO. I just tried to jump it but that didn't do anything.

Could something have happened that shorted out my entire rig?

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Old 01-18-2011, 10:23 PM   #2
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Re: Electrical seems to have gone haywire!

I've gone through two sets of starter batteries and one of the original house on my 2005.

Weird things can happen when your batts are low, and the way their wired hides problems with your starter batteries. Still, I don't know about the radio coming on. I'd sit down and hit the panic button firing your alarm and see if the radio comes on.

A minor short coupled with bad batteries maybe. Where are you in CO?
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Old 01-18-2011, 10:32 PM   #3
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Re: Electrical seems to have gone haywire!

Can you disconnect your house batteries to test your starting batteries? Almost sounds like you're alarm in a program mode and low voltage might do that. If the van starting batteries are OK and it still is causing problems, you might contact an alarm installer. I have accidentally sent my work truck alarm into the program mode and it did some wierd stuff. Check the battery connections while you're at it. Good Luck...tell us what you find.
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Old 01-18-2011, 10:47 PM   #4
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Re: Electrical seems to have gone haywire!

Thanks gents! This will be my first time but I'll get diagrams and work through it. What batteries do you recommend for starter and house? I could just order from SMB.

I'm in Carbondale, CO.
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Old 01-18-2011, 11:21 PM   #5
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Re: Electrical seems to have gone haywire!

I don’t know if they are the same but the Diehard’s are a real good battery for the price. I have the Odyssey and it’s been a good choice so far just high dollar.
http://www.yotatech.com/f131/sears-dieh ... ey-135337/
Concorde is a good choice for a house battery. They are the same as the Lifeline W/O the warrantee.
http://www.concordebattery.com/

Other good batteries out there though even the Optima’s are a good battery.

Lots of info in the electrical section to look at.
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Old 01-19-2011, 06:28 AM   #6
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Re: Electrical seems to have gone haywire!

Quote:
Originally Posted by leffylongtime
Thanks gents! This will be my first time but I'll get diagrams and work through it. What batteries do you recommend for starter and house? I could just order from SMB.

I'm in Carbondale, CO.
I recently had the original batteries die and I dealt with Batteries Plus in Grand Junction. Great service and the newer batteries have more CCA's than the Motorcraft.
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Old 01-19-2011, 08:26 AM   #7
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Re: Electrical seems to have gone haywire!

I don't think that new diehard can be beat right now and the warrenty is really long. So long I wrote the dates on the battery and taped the paperwork real good to the side of the battery so I'll have it down the road.
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Old 01-22-2011, 06:03 PM   #8
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Re: Electrical seems to have gone haywire!

I recently went to Ford to have an alarm installed. They were having all kinds of problems installing it. It turned out there was a leak in my fixed fiberglass top that resulted in water getting the electrical harness that the dome light circuit connect to. My E-350 conversion is only 5 mons old, so the problem is apparently a poor install by SMB Indiana. Is there any evidence that you have a leaky top?
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Old 01-22-2011, 06:45 PM   #9
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Re: Electrical seems to have gone haywire!

Thanks for all the info. We think since all the batteries are 5-6 years old we're going to replace them to start. I'll let you know how it goes!!
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Old 02-18-2011, 11:30 PM   #10
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Re: Electrical seems to have gone haywire!

I got my 4D house and 2 starter batteries replaced and everything works great! Here's the 4D I went with: MK Battery (DEKA) 8G4DLTP battery at $414 and $85.00 shipping. Here is a link to the specs: http://www.mkbattery.com/images/8G4DLTP-DEKA.pdf. I'll post again if anything goes wrong. Otherwise consider this case closed!

Thanks all for your feedback - you guys are great!! Enjoy!!
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