After sitting for a week the electrical not working properly

2001 FORD EXPLORER
240,000 MILES • 4.0L • 6 CYL • 4WD • AUTOMATIC
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ONEOFF
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Vehicle sat for a week, came out, jumped, it off with charger/booster, fine no problem... that evening , tried to leave and nothing, no instrument panel, no dome light, no click , nothing.. two days , went back checked all the fuses in the power distribution center, none were bad, pushed down all the relays and viola, it started, the next day, today , got in fired right up, cool drove about 4 miles , parked and shut off , a half hour later, doormats dead, same scenario as before, but this time I replaced all the small fuses and pulled the relays , cleaned the posts as best I could, and still nothing?
Aug 20, 2021 at 4:26 PM
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AL514
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Hello, try swapping a couple relays around that are the same type. Sounds like you have a relay that has carbon build up inside. A little moisture in the air and they can act differently. But no click from your starter, check the starter relay first. If not the relay there might be corrosion on the underside of the relay panel. 2001 is 20 years old. You'll definitely be having corrosion on connections by now. Look for green crustys on connections.
Aug 20, 2021 at 4:48 PM
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ONEOFF
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Okay, cool, thanks!
Aug 20, 2021 at 4:56 PM
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ONEOFF
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Well, still no power to anything inside the vehicle....?????
Aug 20, 2021 at 5:03 PM
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AL514
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Well, I think you were in the right area to begin with. If you were really able to push down on the relay, most likely you were putting pressure on the entire fuse/relay box and there is probably a broken wire on the underside of that box. It's extremely common, you should be able to unbolt the fuse panel and inspect the wiring and pins underneath. You may have had a wire that was just about to break and finally did. A good visual inspection should be done under that box. Do you own a 12volt automotive test light? They are inexpensive and a very valuable tool. You can also check the fuses inside the vehicle with one as well, which I recommend doing. I find corrosion and broken wires all the time on a vehicle that is 20 years old.

Here's some instruction on the test light method:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-use-a-test-light-circuit-tester

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-check-wiring
Aug 21, 2021 at 7:38 AM
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AL514
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Hello, have you found any wiring issues or swapped relays around? Or anything on the underside of that fuse/relay panel? One other thought was did you happen to pull on any wires when you were pushing down on the relay the first time this happened?
Aug 22, 2021 at 2:21 PM