Any truck mechanics in the house?

beatswork · Post by **beatswork** » September 6th, 2007, 7:59 pm

Hope somebody can give me a little advice, the Ford shop's closed and Advanced Auto didn't have any parts. I have a 2003 F-150. Truck has never given me any problems. I get in it this evening to head to the house and I've got no power. Then I start hearing a bunch of clicking noises under the dash. My dome light starts going on and off in time with the clicks. Sounds kinda like the turn signal is turned on, or the flashers. I take the fuse panal off and feel the different relay switches, feels like one of those is clicking on and off and is a little on the hot side. Looking in my manual it is relay #2 the battery saver relay. One of the prongs on it looks a little scorched. I googled it and could not find any good info. Do you guys know what this is, and could it basically cripple my truck if it went bad. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Post by **Boat_Full** » September 6th, 2007, 8:08 pm

Sounds like the battery connection, but your fuse panel should have an extra fuse just to eliminate the fuse being the culprit.

PS I'm not a mechanic, but I've had a similar issue.

What a mess · Post by **What a mess** » September 6th, 2007, 8:18 pm

Start with the ground.

beatswork · Post by **beatswork** » September 6th, 2007, 8:29 pm

I checked the terminals. No corrosion and clamped down tight. I continued looking on the Web while waiting for some replies and the more I learn about this relay the more I think it may be the culprit. A couple of years ago my window would not go back up on the way home from SGI. About half way home with a thunderstorm looming a tried it just one more time and the window rolled up. Never gave me another problem so I forgot about it. This battery saver relay sometimes gets stuck and funny stuff like that happens. It was put in the truck in case somebody forgot to turn their dome light off, would shut it off for you after ten or so minutes. Unfortunatley, it seems like it can throw some monkeys in the system too. Truck of course won't run with out one, or at least mine won't. I just hope this is it, and it's cheap for a replacement relay. I'm headed to the good 'ol dealership right before work in the morning. If anybody has anymore ideas, I'm all ears. Thanks BF and WAM for your quick response.

Post by **QueenB** » September 6th, 2007, 9:22 pm

Trade the truck in!!! That is what I do when something breaks on my vehicle or one of those silly lights come on that says check oil or when the floor mats get dirty......hahaha.....I hope it is something simple and cheap to fix! GOOD LUCK

What a mess · Post by **What a mess** » September 6th, 2007, 9:35 pm

"The old smoke theory."

I was told by a technician that inside every single electrode diode and fuse or breaker all elactrical parts comes with a small amount of smoke inside that was put in at the factory.

If the smoke gets out they never work again and no they can't be refilled.

Sounds like the "smoke" got out of your relay.