Ok guys, I need your help! Bare with me because this may be long. I just want to provide you with the most info as possible so that you can, hopefully, better help me.

So, we have a 1997 Ford Explorer. Never really had any major issues. Just your typical wear and tear repairs. Within the last 1.5 years we handed the truck down to our teenage son.

I'd say about two years ago he was driving one day and came home to park the truck only to find that he could turn the car off, but not get the key out. In order to keep it parked, he had to throw it in N and then put the E break on. Anyway, after looking around on another forum on the internet, I saw that someone else had something similar wrong and it ended up having to do with a screw (gold) that fell out from under the steering column. We quickly went out to the truck only to find, yup, you guessed it, a gold screw on the floor. We took the truck to a garage and they put it back in which allowed us to once again put the car in D, N, P (without the needle being slightly off to the side, like previously). All was well.

Fast forward to about a month ago and son tells us he needed a jump home from work one day. Said the truck wouldn't start. After the jump he was able to make the 40 min drive home. He left it sit all day and it started later that night. He drove it a bit then parked it again. The next morning it wouldn't start. Let it sit. Then later that night my husband tried it and it started just fine. Our son took it out again a few days later and all seemed well. Then, after running into a local store he came out only to find he couldn't start the truck again. He was able to get a friend of his to come out and check under the hood. He told him the starter solenoid needed replacing and possibly the battery (the battery was about 7 years old anyway). So, he had the solenoid replaced a few days later and everything worked fine. He even took the truck to autozone to test the battery and they said it was fine. So we assumed the solenoid was indeed the problem. All was well.

Now tonight, we get a call from him, he's stuck about 30 min away. Says the car just died. He says before this happened he had stopped in a drive thru and tried rolling down the auto windows. It wouldn't go down. He then noticed the red battery light was flicking off and on and the lights got dimmer. He was still able to drive it about 10 more mins but had to keep it going pretty fast. As he was going downhill, he pressed the accelerator but there was no acceleration. Just drifting. He figured there was a problem so he pulled off and shut the truck off. It wouldn't start back up. He was able to get someone on the block to give him a jump and was able to make it home and to our local autozone.

He called me at this point to say he bought a new battery. Figuring that was the issue and that we needed it anyway regardless since it had been so long since we bought one. He also asked the guy to check the alternator. The guy said it fluctuated between 14.2 down into the 13's (he can't remember the exact number). But the guy told him to keep an eye on it. From what I read it's normal to be between 13.8 and 14.8. Is that true?

Anyway, since it was closing time when he arrived, the autozone guy told him he could come back tomorrow and he would be able to take "a piece" out (I guess something that's in the way?) to better check the alternator to see if it was indeed bad or not. He said my son could do that, and/or take it to a garage because he said it could also be electrical, fuses OR even that that same old issue with the bolt under the steering column could be a contributing factor. Funny he said that because we have not been able to put the truck completely in D, R or N. Like the little needle is off to the side and not actually on the letters.

My son also tells me that he sometimes has to pull some tricky moves in order to start the dang thing. Such as, if it doesn't start he has to turn the key forward once, push and hold the brake, shift into reverse, and then shift into drive, and then slam it into park and while he's doing all that he still has the brake down. The way he says that he knows that's gonna work is if after putting it in park (well if it goes into park), the doors will lock. He then turns the key back as if shutting it off and then unlocks the door and then he starts it and it comes on with no problem.

If none of that works, he takes the key out of the ignition and then he locks and unlocks the truck using the receiver. He then puts the key back in and tries it and it usually starts. Crazy, huh? And keep in mind sometimes it just starts fine with no problem and no crazy combinations need to be done.

Anyway, what does it sound like may be the issue? As you can tell, none of us are mechanics and we really don't have a clue as to what we're doing or looking for and we don't want to walk blindly into a garage and be taken to the cleaners. I mean, the truck is so old that we really don't want to put too much money into it. So we are hoping it's nothing major that is wrong. Maybe even something simple we can do ourselves? Although, the truck doesn't really have that many miles on it. Just about 145,000. But from what I hear and know about Ford Explorers, they last waaay longer than that without any real issues.

Anyway, I greatly thank you for taking the time to read all of this and hope that I provided sufficient info and that you are able to possibly help me figured this out. Thanks so much!!!!!!!

 

I believe you have more than one problem.
One of the first things you might consider is to have the charging system thoroughly checked out.
I also think you have some poor connections that are causing the weird starting difficulties.
I wouldn't want to condemn the trans range(neutral safety)switch until all the other things are checked over first.
Five years out of a battery these days is pretty good.
Could you tell us what kind of maintenance you have had done to this vehicle?

 

Thanks for answering.

As I mentioned, the new battery was bought last night anyway. We figured we needed it so my son just got it.

As for maintenance, we do the typical oil changes/fluid fills/etc. on time. Inspections done each year and whatever (if anything) needs to be fixed/replaced/etc. gets done. If at any time something goes wrong or bad, we always get it into the shop right away to be checked/fixed. We've really been good with taking care of the truck.

We haven't had any major issues or problems with it at all. I think the most work/most expensive work we had done on it was two years ago when it needed a new front end suspension. Other than that nothing but simple things.

 

Thank you for replying.
The Explorer will probably last a lot longer , but the alternators usually don't. 145,000 is good service from an alternator. If there is any doubt about that alternator have an electrical starter /alternator shop check it out. If it needs anything they will usually rebuild yours and put it back on. Getting exchange units can come with their own problems. If all that checks out OK, then Have someone check the adjustment / operation of the trans range switch. The alt shop may be able to take care of that for you also.

 

Thanks again for replying. My son took it over to Autozone today and they were able to test the alternator and said that it's definitely bad/going bad. He told my son it was ranging between 10.8 and 12.

So, if we get that fixed/changed, what price range should we be looking at? And, once we do fix that will that take care of those strange issues with starting the truck? I'm assuming not and that we'll also need to get that bolt tightened (trans range switch?) again under the steering column since the needle is off and not exactly spot on like it should be when in P, R, N. Thanks again!!!!!

 

So,, does the shifter lever have (still) any excessive looseness or play?

The screw on the floor generally is either a column/shift tube screw, or more often one of the two that attaches the lower shift lever to the base of the shifter tube. If the lever is loose, sometimes you end up having to 'shift hunt' or move the lever around, back'n forth to get the trans range switch into the correct position to get it to crank. Think you mentioned having to slam it around.(?)

I think part of your problems may be the shop doing the work. If it were just 'one' screw that fell out of the lower shifter attachment, and the shifter tube itself has/had no slop, usually re installing the screw fixes the issue 'without' the need to readjust the needle pointer. If the pointer is off quite a bit, there's probably still an issue.

If not, meaning the shifter has no play, and the point is only 'slightly' off, then to correct the range pointer is simply done with a thumb screw wheel at the base of the cable attachment for the shifter. It doesn't affect the starting, but does for the indicated ranges as you noticed. It 'should' have been part of the initial repair if needed and makes me question the quality of the repairs being done.

If the alternator is allowed to drain the battery, then it could cause quite a few of the problems running, starting, stalling etc.

Be sure to use quality parts, installed by a qualified tech that knows the product, otherwise it may be hard to get off the repair merry go round...

Like Hanky, I think its certainly more than one issue..

 

Hayapower, I would like to say thanks for a lot of techs that work hard to stay current and try to do a decent job. The way you laid out the choices and comments is a credit to the profession. I can only hope our poster realizes the discreet way this situation was handled. Nice work !

 

Hello Hay, thanks for posting as well.

Like I said, we had that problem with the screw on the floor 2 years ago. That's when I searched around and read about someone with a similar problem. The forum I found that info on told us exactly where it (the screw) went (we even looked and saw where it went...kind of an awkward location) and what to say when we went to the shop about getting it fixed. Which we did. They then put it back in/secured it/etc. and everything was totally fine. The needle was back in place. The guys on that forum also gave us an idea of what the cost should be with labor and they were pretty much spot on!

We never had any other issues with that/the needle being off since then until a few weeks ago when we started noticing the needle being slightly off. So, we're assuming the screw must have just come loose again like it did before and just need tightening/adjusting again.

In fact, that's exactly how it started before. We first noticed the needle slightly off but didn't think it was a huge issue and was gonna get it looked at. But, before we could, that's when the problem happened with us not being able to put it in park without first having to throw it in N and then applying the E break. Once that happened I searched for answers online, as I explained above, and then we took it to the garage.

Anyway, with the needle being off again, I'm thinking it's headed to that point again. But at least this time we know. And no, I do not believe the shifter is loose. At leat my son hasn't said it was. I'll have to ask to be sure. Also, we have been using a different garage since then.

As for the parts, this new garage does not allow us to buy our own parts. He will not install parts you bought. He claims he cannot guarantee the work that way because he has no way of knowing where the part came from, if it's any good, etc. So I guess that makes sense. But we trust their work. And you can request a certain brand/type/etc. if you don't mind paying for it (should it be more than what he'd typically use). We've had stuff done by them over the last few years and they came highly recommended by a coworker of my husband's (hubby works with the owners wife, most of the employees at their job go to this guy too).

Anyway, I hope that I'm answering you guys correctly and giving you what you want to know. I know you all are using the correct terminology and I'm not. So I'm trying to answer the best that I can and hope that you're understanding what I'm explaining. LOL

We plan on having that alternator replaced ASAP. The truck will not be used until we do. And like I said in my previous post, we will also get them to check under that steering column.

So what do you guys think we're looking at roughly in costs to have those two things done? And do you think those two things are truly all that's wrong? Thanks again!!!

 

As you know different parts of the country charge different hourly rates, sooo not knowing where you are plus without actually looking at the vehicle itself my crystal ball is pretty foggy and I wish I could provide a better answer,but That darn fog is in the way !

 

Yeah I guess. I just figured since I have been given a "round about" figure/idea many times online before (without people knowing anything more about my location, vehicle condition, etc) that maybe you guys could do the same. But that's ok. I understand. I'm in South Central Pa., however. But it's fine. I just hate to go in to have work done on a vehicle and be totally oblivious as to what I should or can expect monetarily.

As for the vehicle's condition, before this issue started it was/is in good shape. We always take care of it and do the routine fluid/level fills, oil changes, etc. We've had it for 13 years and the biggest issue it had was when it needed that front end suspension two years ago. Otherwise just normal routine wear and tear repairs (i.e., tires, battery (once before the other day), fluids, oil changes, small/minor adjustments/fixes).