I have a 95 Explorer with the one and only 4.0L engine
offered that year. When I start the car I get a momentary
grinding noise which I am sure is the starter gear not
retracting quickly enough. So I need a new starter. Last
night as I turned the ignition it cranked for a second and
then everything died. No lights, no radio, no nothing, as
if the battery had suddenly been disconnected. My first
thought was a current overload on the starter that popped
a fuse. However, I wasn't sure what fuse would cause
everything to lose power. Anyways I did a quick check
of the fuses and found none visibly blown. I then
disconnected the battery and did a quick voltmeter reading -
12.8V, OK. I then reconnected the battery and was surprised
when the underhood light illuminated. The vehicle is working
fine at the moment.
My question. Is there some type of circuit breaker
mechanism that would explain what happened? Either by
waiting long enough or by disconnecting the battery it
seemed to fix itself. This has never happend before in the
eleven years I've had this car. I understand I probably
need to change out the starter, but I'm not sure why things
died and then fixed themselves. I'm curious.
Mark