E350 not turning over, low voltage

urbanfood · 11-25-2018, 04:45 PM

hi all, i have a new to me 2004 E350. I thought i had dead batteries last week so i took both starter batteries out this weekend and tested them and they were about 98%. so i cleaned the terminals and reinstalled and it started right up. i've started and run it about a dozen times the last few days.

i was just in a parking lot and it wouldn't turn over. i tried a few times and all lights were on but not enough juice to get it to turn over. it was more than clicking noise of a dead battery, it was trying to turn over. waited about 5 minutes, tried again and it started right up like nothing was wrong. drove it home and parked in driveway. and it won't start up.

same issue/ noises as half hour ago. i put a battery tester in the cig outlet and voltage started at 12.58 without it running. tried starting and same thing, noises but not enough juice and voltage dropped to in the 9s and i let off the key and it went back to 12.43. waited about 15 minutes and put the battery tester in the outlet again and it was dancing between 12.4 and 11.8.

what could it be? alternator or starter? any other test i can run?

urbanfood · 11-25-2018, 05:27 PM

i located the starter below the passenger seat and i hear it clicking when i try and start the van up. it's a loud enough continuous click to hear but it's not turning over the engine. it just keeps clicking.

carringb · 11-25-2018, 06:40 PM

I'd suspect corrosion inside of the terminal ends, where it's swaged to the wire. Longstanding terminal corrosion can creep up into the wire, and make a poor connection there as well. If you do need new terminal ends, skip the clamp-down style ones. Only soldered, or mechanically swaged, will work as well as OEM.

Try wiggling the battery wires (and double check they aren't loose), and see if that helps. If it does, you most likely need new ends.

urbanfood · 11-27-2018, 07:35 PM

thanks for the info. i think you might be right. there is one of the negative terminals i have in mind for that. i guess i'll get in there and take the batteries down again and assess the connection at each terminal. i didn't think of that before because after i got everything cleaned off, it started right up. live and learn lol.

Bbasso · 11-27-2018, 09:15 PM

Sounds like a poor connection, somewhere.