No power at all until jumper cables?

RUSTYSHAKLFRD

MEMBER
1990 FORD PROBE
2.2L
4 CYL
2WD
MANUAL
150,000 MILES

So, I came home from work last night and parked my car. Jumped in it this morning cranked it up. The car was idling at around 1,000 RPMs. When I hit the brake pedal it ran the RPMs up to 2,000. When I arrived at work, I shut the car off, and then I had no power anywhere, nothing at all. Had someone jumped it off, when we put the jumper cables on the battery, I had full power immediately cranked right up and I let it run for 20 minutes then I shut the car off and no power again. Thinking it's a solenoid or something somewhere but I have no clue what to check. Whenever I hit the brakes turn on a blinker or the headlights individually it revs up to 2,000 RPMs and then drops back down to 1,000. I drove it home from work 39 miles after getting a jump start.

4 Replies

RUSTYSHAKLFRD

MEMBER
3 POSTS

When I arrived home back to no power to anything.

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Wednesday, November 9th, 2022 AT 7:38 PM

JACOBANDNICKOLAS

MECHANIC
109,885 POSTS

Hi,

These vehicles are very sensitive to low voltage. The idea that the RPMs increase when you apply an electrical load leads me to think it is running off the alternator only and the battery has shorted internally.

So, the first thing I want you to do is first, check for battery voltage at the battery using a voltmeter or multimeter and let me know the voltage.

If the battery checks good, and I suspect it won't, next make sure the battery terminals are both clean and tight. If they are, jump-start the vehicle and check the voltage at the battery with the engine running. It should be around 14v.

Here is a link that explains how this is done to test an alternator:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-check-a-car-alternator

Let me know what you find. Also, it's important that the battery terminals are clean, tight, and free of corrosion, so make sure they are good.

Let me know the results so I can explain what to do next.

Take care,

Joe

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Wednesday, November 9th, 2022 AT 8:26 PM

RUSTYSHAKLFRD

MEMBER
3 POSTS

Thanks for the fast reply, Joe, I went to swap batteries from another car I have, and as I loosened the ground side wire on the Probe battery all my power came on. I tightened and cleaned everything even though it was tight and clean already and now seems fine no RPM changes or anything I'm going to drive it to work again tomorrow! Thank you guys for all you do!

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Thursday, November 10th, 2022 AT 7:26 PM

JACOBANDNICKOLAS

MECHANIC
109,885 POSTS

Hi,

That is good news. I'm glad to know it's working right for you now. If the terminal was already tight and clean, make sure the cable itself is in good condition.

Let me know if anything changes and thanks for the update. Also, feel free to come back anytime in the future. You're always welcome.

Take good care of yourself,

Joe

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Thursday, November 10th, 2022 AT 7:48 PM