came out from shopping to dead truck- 8200 miles owned since new. less than 6 months.

[silverflash]

so i took the ranger to a remote spot of land i own where you need 4x4 to go up due to steep, bumpy, and gravel roads. I've done this road many times before in the ranger and many times before in other vehicles and never had any issues afterwards of any kind.

it cranked fine up there and came down as i usually do, in 4lo, so i can go slow without riding brakes. nothing extreme there that a honda crv can't handle easily.

stopped at the local hardware store for 10 minutes and when i came back to the truck, the fob wasn't working. i thought maybe the fob battery was dead but it's 6 months old. i would not think it be dead so soon. i will say that i have made a few extra keys and this one may be the one i bought online and had cut/programmed, if that matters.

so i used the mechanical key to open the truck and expected the alarm to go off, nothing. the dash lights did not light up as well. i put key in ignition. nothing. it was like someone removed the truck battery.

popped the hood and checked the battery cables best i could with my hands and they would not budge.

got back in, nothing. sat there a few minutes. was trying to decide if i should call ford roadsize assistance or AAA. it is sunday afterall.

then i went to pop hood again to check grounds, and when i popped it, the alarm went off......i had power again. it started just fine. drove to walmarts and shopped came out, started right out.

got home and checked the cables with pliers- all i have here- and they are tight. grounds are tight as i can't nudge them with my bear paws. i am a fairly large man and some strength.

the fob locks/unlocks now no issues.

what was this?

my first thought is a bad battery in the truck at some level? but it's so new.

then i think maybe the fob? can a flakey fob cause the no lights issue?

any thoughts?

taking to dealer isn't going to happen as i am out of town this week and i need my truck and with lack of loaners locally, i am pretty much stuck.

if it's the battery, it would be easier to just replace the battery on my dime versus dealing with ford.

perhaps the truck was doing something like a reboot or something?? or an update?? I did disable the sync updates though previously.

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[rcairflr]

This exact thing happened to my Ram 1500. After a few minutes, and doing about the same as you. It came back to life. Have heard of others having this problem also.

 

[silverflash]

This exact thing happened to my Ram 1500. After a few minutes, and doing about the same as you. It came back to life. Have heard of others having this problem also.

Did it ever do it again?

 

[Trigganometry]

That’s odd. Can’t recall the nut size on the battery’s connection points but would be wise to pull negative cable and let it sit about 10 minutes. Then reconnect. System should reset.

Do you have an OBD unit to see if any codes got thrown?

A trickle charge wouldn’t hurt ether. You might have a bad cell in the battery. Colder outdoor temps will exasperate this more.

 

[Langwilliams]

My truck did this once this past spring. I have an off road LED light bar in the bumper opening an when I hit the switch it light up the night so I knew the battery was good. I messed around with it like you did an right before deciding to try to jump it to life the dash lights lit up an it fired right up. The dash lights were maxed out an almost blinded me but other than that nothing changed. Radio presets an clock were all normal.

 

[silverflash]

My truck did this once this past spring. I have an off road LED light bar in the bumper opening an when I hit the switch it light up the night so I knew the battery was good. I messed around with it like you did an right before deciding to try to jump it to life the dash lights lit up an it fired right up. The dash lights were maxed out an almost blinded me but other than that nothing changed. Radio presets an clock were all normal.

Hasnt happened since?

 

[Langwilliams]

Hasnt happened since?

nope. I have a little jump box thing I should carry. If it happens again it might wake up the system. I think it might be a battery management module error.

 

[rcairflr]

Did it ever do it again?

Twice in the 6 years I owned it. Based on what it did, there is not doubt in my mind the battery didn't have anything to do with it.

 

[silverflash]

nope. I have a little jump box thing I should carry. If it happens again it might wake up the system. I think it might be a battery management module error.

What if i were to unplug that connection off the neg side of battery? Prevent this from happening again maybe and disables auto stop start?

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