Apologize in advance for the long post, but I know I hate it when I only get part of the story when I am on the forums. Hi guys. First time post. I bought my daughter an E one month ago. 2004 LX 158k. Got what I thought was a great deal. Paid $1400. It was absolutely filthy and the suspension needed A LOT of work, but started and ran great. Was really excited to see that the engine was replaced by the dealer. I am a pretty good mechanic so I gladly paid & drove away patting myself on the back. Got it home and brought my wife out to show her. When I went to start it, nothing. Would not start. Checked all fuses nothing was blown, but did put all the proper amp fuses in. It started right up. A couple days later, I noticed that the fuel pump wouldn’t prime and again a no start. I started checking the fuses, but when I simply pressed the fuel pump fuse under dash, I could hear the pump kick on. Started right up. So proceeded to check and clean the contact point. I also noticed that the top mount on the box was broken so the box is only supported by the bottom bolt.

The E drove fine for a couple days. I replaced the lower control arms, ball joints, sway bar bushing, links and adjustable upper control arms in back. And the driver’s side CV axle. Took it to get new tires and alignment and it happened again. That’s it, I thought, I will just buy a used MICU (fuse box assy). That didn’t work, because it wasn’t the same one. Oh well $30.00 and lesson learned. Cleaned all the contacts in the original box and glued the top bracket on. Started right up and ran great. Took daughter on a road test. We were sitting in the parking lot as I was teaching her to park. All of a sudden the E just died. Called my wife to jump us as the battery was at about 11.8V. Before it died, the lights were dimming and the gauges were flat. Drove it home and started right up after parking in the driveway. I order the infamous ELD (OEM) and waited for it to come in.

I installed the ELD and the problem seemed to be gone. Wife and I drove to Orlando from Jacksonville round trip without a problem. Drove it to work for 2 days (54 miles round trip). All of a sudden while sitting in stop and go traffic, it died again and battery was at approx. 12v, but not enough to get started again. Had it towed home. While I waiting for the tow truck I found a great deal on a Denso alternator as I am thinking its got to be that aftermarket POS . I get the E home and jumped it and put the multimeter on it. The alternator was putting out 14.4v and 14.2 under load. WHAT??? Oh well no harm in installing new alternator right. Also ordered a new positive sub harness as the one on there looks rough.The next day I proceed to start to recreate the issue in my driveway. Stayed strong no drop in voltage. So I start to jiggle the fuse box under dash. That’s when it happened. The lights started to dim and the rpms were surging. Checked the multimeter and Alternator was not charging the battery. Jiggled it again and started to charge again. SMH. So before I buy a new fuse box assy $224 from HPN (can’t find a used one), I wanted to know if anyone else has experienced this or can offer an alternative. I haven’t seen anyone else with this issue. Can’t find a thread on this. Just my luck I have a gremlin….

Also, no check engine light. No battery light.

 

welcome to the forum. don't have an E, but had a Kia that caused a no start every once in a while, it was caused by a loose plug at the fire wall. it was not easy to find but when the tech pushed in on it, he heard a click and found it was loose from the factory. never had a no start since, now 5 years. I also ran into this on an airplane, the emergency battery warning would come on and would have to change batteries and charger unit, most of the time it was a good fix and the plane went on to another station. the actual fix was a wire that was loose in the socket of 5-10 wires and it would back out through vibration. we found it by chance playing with the wires and repined the wire and reinstalled it to a positive lock, never had a problem with that system again. don't know it this will help.

 

It sounds like you found the problem early on when you pushed the fuse and the fuel pump kicked on.
A little more testing on the fuse box to confirm ...
Could have avoided all the other stuff if you just replaced the fuse box???
20/20 hindsight

Hope this is the final fix

 

I hear ya. I checked all of the connections when I installed new and old box, so all connections are good.

 

Fingers crossed.

 

The fuse box assembley/multiplex/MCU will be here Saturday. I will update on progress. With all of the other stuff I replaced, hopefully it will be worry free for years.

Also some other quirks that this may fix or maybe symptoms other might have (may help):

• Sometimes cooling fans wont kick on
• Cooling fans intermittent when a/c button pressed (a/c not charged, but they should still kick on)
• Check engine light doesn't flsh when turning key at start up (supposed to come on right away and then go off when started)
• No battery light
• No codes
• Poor acceleration (intermitent). Sometimes strong quick accel other times feels bogged down.
• Won't shift into gear with key in on position while prssing brake (previous owner zip tied safety release as a fix)

All of the above kind of rule out a loose connector of short in the harness. Wouldn't cause all of those problems.

Also, kind of rules out a bad or fried ECU, because tapping the MCU causes or solves the problems listed in the post and above. I hope this works.

 

Welcome in,you didn't buy a lemon,you got the whole dang tree! Something like this would keep me up at night.