please help me with electrical problem

[jamie_j]

hello,



my name is jamie and i am from L.A. area. i just registered here at this forum looking for help. i have 2000 ford ranger(the 4-cylinder@60,000 miles). when i tried to start the engine, it didn't even crank. what i noticed were :

1. the door light didn't came on as opened the door.

2. when i tried to start the engine, the light-indicators on dashboard briefly came on but was very weak and dim. the headlight didn't came on.

-- at this point, i thought it was a dead battery, so i tried to jump --

3. even with jumping it failed to start.

4. after shaking the bettery cable and the fuse-box few time, now the doorlight will come on, headlight will come on and the radio seems to be resetted.

-- now i try to start the engine, but still won't start --

5. now the doorlight won't come on, headlight won't come on and can't start the engine.

-- i touch the fuse-box again, shaking here and there --

6. doorlight will come on, headlight will come on but still can't start.



i have checked every fuse in the box and they are all fine. the bettery should be strong enough to start the engine. but i can't start the engine with all those things happening. at this point i really don't know what/where the problem is other than it seems like some sort of electrical(connection) problem around the fusebox. i don't know what/where to check. is there some part around the fusebox that could cause such problems when it goes bad?

i just check the battery again. it reads 12.2 v and 9.2 v with the key in engine running position. however with the key in engine running position, i hear ticking sound from the part which is between the battery and fuse box. i don't know the name of this part but it's made of black plastic with wires going in.


Please help me with this problem. any opinions and suggestions are very much appreciated. once again, please tell me what you thing and what i should check.



thanks very much in advance for your kind help.



sincerely,



jamie

[splashiod]

I would also guess battery. I had a simmilar problem where it didn't have enough power to crank engine but I could kick it off & it would run. Also check that connections are clean(no corrsion) & that the battery cable itself isn't corrroted inside. The black plastic thing is most likely a relay, but I don't know which one is there.Good Luck!

[2000mudder]

your battery at 12v is enough to start so it sounds like a bad connection or a short in the wiring. could also be a bad starter grounding out the system. check for loose or coroded wires to starter 1st.