car wants to die...

[snookylsc]

on my way home from where i park the car, the lights ect. were all dim, i had to push the car home cause it sort of died...seems the electrical wants to work but won't go all the way, only half way to being bright in the car, or merely dim...i have the battery charger on it now...it was at 11.20 amps BUT...does my steering wheel column being half ass on have anything to do with the electrical going, cause before it died, or tried to die, i tried dimming the brights and it just about killed the car, so i left the brights on, and eventually they faded out...but i was playing with a wire connected to the ignition switch, and it seemed to make everything bright again in hte car...but by then, i had no juice in the battery to get teh car started, so i pushed it home...

the reason the steering column is half down is because i'm trying to remove the dash to get to the heater core...with the column being down, did i stretch a wire??...or something???

[hypostang]

Driving with the column half disconnected can cause everything you described and so much more , My advice is to put it back together before you try to drive it again
GOOD LUCK

[gadget73]

could be almost anything from a broken wire to a bad alternator. Driving with the column apart and not fully attached could have damaged a harness.

[snookylsc]

would a bad voltage regulator be draining my battery's??...i charged up two batteries, both are at 12.60 amps now, but..when i start teh car or just leave the cables on, the voltmeter shows the numbers going down..when i take off the negative battery cable, my voltmeter shows teh numbers climbing again...changed alternators and same thing..battery drained..but with cable off, the battery comes back up??..someone, an old timer told me the VR is overcharging and killing the batteries...any ideas???

mike d

[86MarkVIILSC]

Well, unless the VR was replaced recently only with a Motorcraft one, and it's still original, it's probably time to replace it anyway. But, remember that Lincolns were "special" then and really need Motorcraft electrical parts.:D

[Hizhonor]

would a bad voltage regulator be draining my battery's??...i charged up two batteries, both are at 12.60 amps now, but..when i start teh car or just leave the cables on, the voltmeter shows the numbers going down..when i take off the negative battery cable, my voltmeter shows teh numbers climbing again...changed alternators and same thing..battery drained..but with cable off, the battery comes back up??..someone, an old timer told me the VR is overcharging and killing the batteries...any ideas???

mike d

Get a new Motorcraft VR. Seriously, the VR in our cars are the cause of 85% of all electrical gremlins!

[snookylsc]

so, i installed a new VR, Battery, had my alternators tested, both are running exeptional, but new battery is now at 12.22 after getting home....this all started when i disconnected the radio, climate control adn lowered the steering column, and partly moving the dash ahead about an inch....i have no idea now...can' drive at night cause lights drain everything so fast....

mike d

[Tony T]

Does charge light come on with key on engine off? You may have pulled it's connector loose when you pulled on dash. It won't charge with this disconnected.

[snookylsc]

thank you tony, that was it..i had taken that part of the dash off and left it in the back seat, after reading your post, i quickly dashed outside and reconnected that electrical part and checked the battery voltage, and its up to 13.60...and everything started buzzing and whirling again in engine compartment...i had no idea that connector had such a big impact on the functioning of the car...

thanks again

mike d

[Tony T]

Thanks for the thanks, glad it worked out.