Ive got a 94 flareside with the 5.0, 5 spd and manual everything. It just turned cold here and snow fell this week. My battery died because I left my lights on at work on . Engine wouldnt turn, even when jumped, so I got a new battery. Turns out the solenoid/relay is bad too. I sparked it and drove her home.

When it wouldnt jump, I noticed the headlights were bright and I had dash and cab lights (clock had reset on the stereo). I also heard a ticking sound which I traced to Relay 4 in the engine fuse box. No fuses looked visibly blown. Now here's the crazy part. Whever I open a door, turn the key, use a turn signal, or otherwise do something that would engage the electrical system, the relay clicks, the dash lights pulse on and off, and the 4-ways activate. It does this for maybe ten seconds then stops, and it does it with the key on or off. If the truck is running, having the running lights on prevents the flashing, but I still here the relay ticking.

I looked up that relay and it says it's for dual rear wheel lights, and trailer lights. I put a harness on the truck, but it's not for the kind with actuated brakes, it's just passively spliced off the rear light harness.

I think the spirit of Christine has taken over my rig! Any ideas for troubleshooting would be a godsend! Thanks!

Here's a pic of the squasher. It's a little old, I took that fairing off and gave her new 35's and some other mods.

 

Please add your thoughts if you have any ideas. I'm replacing the starter relay today but I doubt that will cure the lights flashing problem.

Can I just pull the #4relay or will that kill all my lights?

 

My truck got a similar issue where it would randomly just not start. Like you would turn the key ON and everything would be normal, but as soon as I tried to crank there would be a fairly loud buzzing from under the hood, all the gauges would spaz out, and there would be no power to anything for a few minutes.

Traced the buzzing to the starter relay. Replaced that and the problem went away for a couple weeks, then returned. Finally noticed that if I held the key to start, even when nothing was happening, a slight wisp of smoke rose from near the battery. You guessed it- bad ground. The cable inside the (-) battery clamp was corroded to hell. Took it off, cleaned it, and the problem hasn't happened since (6+ months).

 

That's good info, I'll check the grounds around the battery and relay boxes. It makes sense -- I didn't have electrical problems before I had the dead battery. Maybe the jumper cables mangled up one of the wires to where I have a spotty connection.

 

Sounds a little like what happen to me... I installed a new stereo system and in the process of removing the battery connectors I broke the negative terminal. I fixed it and all seemed well... UNTIL... I was out cruising listening to my new system when I drove by the Orange Bowl where a Football game was in progress. I went to sound my horn and my truck jerked and all the dash lights and radio went out for a brief moment then came back on. It would do this if I used my blinkers, horn, or E-flashers.

I got her home, turned her off then tried to restart and the same thing happen to me that happen to RaWarrior.. The was a click then everything went dead. I had to disconnect the battery then reconnect to get power and to try and start again. Turns out I had a bad connection to the battery, I cleaned the battery terminals and the battery wire connectors with a wire brush and I haven’t had a problem since.

Good Luck

 

Ok, I got it figured out and fixed. You're all going to get a good chuckle over this.

I got this truck 3rd or 4th hand. It's a fun runner and off road toy that became my commuting vehicle when we had our son and my 2005 F250 Diesel Lariat had to go to a new, loving home. I knew the truck had a history but for 2000 bucks what do you expect, right?

Today I replaced the starter solenoid and she still wouldnt turn over. The clicking was still present when I opened the door or turned on the lights, etc. I thought, "lemme see if there's a GEM module up under here" and peered under the dash. HOLY SMOKES there's a burglar alarm in here!

The siren had been removed from the engine compartment and the wires were cut at the firewall, but she was still hooked up. It msut've gotten armed when the battery went dead and it got juice again. Of course I don't have the key fob so it was "going off" causing the lights to blink and relays to cycle. It also killed the ignition.

I started rippin and cuttin and splicin and dicin and she's back to normal now. She wasn't haunted at all. She just thought I was breaking and entering!

 

My truck came with a remote starter/power lock controller installed by the previous owner. Which worked fine for a while, but I disconnected the battery to clean a ground, and it hasn't worked since. I don't have a manual, so it's a paperweight ziptied under my dash now. It has no fewer than eleven billion wires coming out of it, going absolutely everywhere, all so I don't have to be cold for 2 minutes until the motor warms up in cold weather. Big deal.

Those things seem like more trouble than they're worth. Car alarms are so common now nobody pays any attention if one goes off anyway.