Battery Light Flashing at times.

[IH-Warranty]

98 Windstar
3.0L engine
87,000 miles

The battery light has come on several times now. The light comes on for just a second and then goes off. There are no performance problems at this time. Not sure if it could be related or not but the "abs" light comes on & stays on.

Could the battery light be the alternator or regulator starting to fail. Or is there another possibility?

[tripletdaddy]

First, I would start by verifying the health of your battery with a load test, often available for free at a parts store. They can also test for the output of the alternator at the same time. The only complete test of the alt is pulling it and letting the parts store test it, again for free.

Most likely your alternator is at the least having the brushes stick. I have had this problem on two of my vehicles with identical alternators. Eventually I replaced the alt on one and now wish I had tried replacing the voltage regulator brush unit instead as the alt is quite expensive and I think it could have worked. On my other car, the bat light would flicker on and off but eventually stopped a year or two ago.

Did the abs come on the same time as the bat light? I know that I tried to jump start my van with too weak a battery and somehow got it to function but wound up with an abs code for too low a voltage to the abs. That was a pita as I replaced the battery, had good voltage, but the light remained on as a hard code and I couldn't pass inspection with it on. Anyway, I got a dealer to tell me how to read it and delete it.

[IH-Warranty]

Well it was definitely the alternator. I pulled it & took it to a local parts store to be tested & it failed. Put on a new alternator & now working fine.

The abs light is still coming on though.

[IH-Warranty]

Originally Posted by tripletdaddy

Did the abs come on the same time as the bat light? I know that I tried to jump start my van with too weak a battery and somehow got it to function but wound up with an abs code for too low a voltage to the abs. That was a pita as I replaced the battery, had good voltage, but the light remained on as a hard code and I couldn't pass inspection with it on. Anyway, I got a dealer to tell me how to read it and delete it.

No, the abs light has been coming on for several weeks now. I replaced the alt & the abs light still comes on. It comes on after driving for about a 1/4 mile & then stays on till the van is shut off. How were you able to read the code?

[tripletdaddy]

Unfortunately, I don't remember and I didn't write it down if I did so that I could find it. duh. Searching around on the forum might get you something. Most of what I've read just suggested that you clean the four wheel sensors and the toothed rings, inspect them and the wiring for damage and tightness. Does your light blink any? If so, it may be giving you an error code, but I'm not sure it even does that. I think they are two digit. Three flashes, a pause, and two flashes would be 32, for example, and it may repeat the codes. Maybe if you post the codes here and possibly at other ford technical, etc, forums you might get an answer.

[tripletdaddy]

Sorry. but everything I was able to persue indicates that you will need your van scanned with an abs compatible scanner. What I was thinking about was probably the SRS and couldn't recall correctly until digging around some. Look around on the forums, as I haven't if you want to see if others have a way to do it or verify how it must be checked. Wished I could help more.

[96wWindstar180K]

IH-Warranty
In most cases a constant ABS light is related to a bad wheel speed sensor or exiter ring which is attached to the half shafts on either side of the vehicle. The exciter ring looks like a gear with a bunch of teeth. That ring can crack or fall off. Check first and see if either is broken. While looking to you will see an electrical connection to each wheel. Follow to the end by the hub. It will have a pick up there that sometimes gets dirty or sometimes brake dust fills the grooves of the exciter ring. You cant get the codes read for the ABS at AutoZone so you might check these things first before spending money to have someone scan your ABS.