electrical haywire and other problems

[Michael27]

Greetings from Washington State. I read through the forums and i figured it would just be easier to list what is wrong and hope I can get some answers on them. I have a 1998 Ford Windstar Limited.

First the electrical problems:
My radio will cut out from any of the following; turning on the windshield wipers, turning signals, ac/heat, hitting the brakes, or even bumps. A simple solution is hitting the power switch on the radio twice to turn it back on, but it cuts back out within a few moments depending on road conditions and weather. Another problem I have is that one of the sensors says that there is a door open when they are all shut. If I hadn't pulled out the block fuse #29, my battery would die.

The next problem is the van seams lower to the ground and at times uneven. My guess is the air in the shocks, but I have never worked on them before.

Last night my wife was driving behind a truck and a paint pan flew off and went under the right front wheel. Ever since my wife said the van bounces a lot. I took it for a test drive this morning and noticed it as well. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[busboy4]

Hi
Just wanted to comment on the rough ride. Very carefully check that right front tire. Best bet is to jack it up and rotate it so you can carefully check the tread and sidewall throughout the full circumference. I am concerned that the tire is damaged and possibly de-laminating. I don't want it to come apart on you at higher speed.

[Michael27]

Thanks, the tire itself seams fine. Aside from some gravel being stuck in the tread, there doesnt seam to be any damage to the tire.

[garync1]

As for the door open it could be that the rear door latch is gummed up. You have to remove the rear door panel to gain access. Follow the latch and you will see the latch sensor. Has a wire plugged into it. Clean around the latch sensor area. Also the sliding door has 3 or 4 pins that make contact, an eraser will work to clean those. As for the radio problem someone said they had an issue like this and found coins in there tape deck from their kids. The radio can be removed by a removal tool or close hangers bent to a U shape you need 2 of them to remove the radio. The tool to me is much easier and only cost around 5.00 bucks at Advanced auto. There called stereo removal tool for Ford. They are t2 U shaped tools that go into the 4 holes at the same time and pushed outward to push the inside clamps in. Also by removing the radio you can see if other electrical issues occur. If only the radio is affected and nothing else is shorting out than you may have a short or something in the radio. At least you can pull it out and shake it to see if somethings in there. Also you may have an air leak in your air shock. You can look at the connections to were the auto level pump plugs into at the shock to see if there is a leak at the connection.. Hope this helps.. Gary