Incoming wall of text...
I was having an issue with my mustang not wanting to crank. Power would dim inside and I didn't have enough to crank the car. This has happened a couple of times and I just replace the battery and go on my merry way. I have been cheap in the battery replacements, so I figured the once a year bit was that. When this would happen, I would just wiggle my positive and negative wires around for a little bit and then I would be able to crank the car and get it to where I needed to go. This last time, I decided to get a little better battery and not have to replace it so soon. About a week later, I had this issue again. It became more difficult to coax it to start. I figured that I had some bad or corroded connections along my battery cables. I took it to a mechanic to replace those along with an Stabilizer Bar Bushing (who really wants to jack up a mustang and crawl around underneath for all that?). The mechanic takes a year and a day (figuratively speaking of course) to replace the parts. The car gives him a little trouble starting, but cranks right up. On the drive home, I notice no odd gauge readings. Everything seems normal. I stopped at a gas station to get a drink, came back out and the car would not start. This is where my no start issue happens.
I get decent power inside. Once I turn the key, I hear the fuel pump engage and then I hear one click from the starter then the power levels go down a hair. Nothing else happens. We were able to push start the car. I drove it to a friends house without issue. At the friends house we jacked the car up, pulled the starter and had that tested. It tests green. I replaced the starter relay in the fuse box. We tried jumping the car to test the battery. Still nothing. Tapping on the starter with a wrench did nothing either. We checked the grounds (which the location of the main one seems incredibly stupid btw). We ran a cable from the battery directly to the starter and tried to start and got nothing but sparks (anyone want to do some welding?). We used a wire brush on a part of the engine and fire wall and ran a new ground. Still nothing.
At this point, it is Sunday and I have no idea where to go from here. The mechanic I used is closed today along with my normal mechanic. Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated. I plan on calling both Monday morning.
Quick Reference for Problem:
1) Initial Starting Issue, Wiggle Battery Wires to Start.
2) New Battery. Things Run Great.
3) Week Later - Problem Returns, Wiggling does not work as well.
4) Mechanic Replaces Battery Cables and Stabilizer Bar Bushing.
5) Car Starts and runs.
6) Car gets turned off, will not turn back on. Power + one click from starter then nothing.
7) Push started, runs fine.
8) Starter Relay replaced.
9) Starter pulled and tested. Tests Green.
10) Tapped on Starter, still nothing.
11) Car jumped, still doesn't want to start.
12) Grounds checked, all look ok.
13) Wire ran from battery to starter, sparks but no start.
14) New ground ran from motor to firewall.
Bonus:
Thought it could be an issue with the clutch sensor. If the clutch is not depressed, I do not get the click from the starter. I believe that is working as it is supposed to.
Alternator has also been tested before and it tests green.
I was having an issue with my mustang not wanting to crank. Power would dim inside and I didn't have enough to crank the car. This has happened a couple of times and I just replace the battery and go on my merry way. I have been cheap in the battery replacements, so I figured the once a year bit was that. When this would happen, I would just wiggle my positive and negative wires around for a little bit and then I would be able to crank the car and get it to where I needed to go. This last time, I decided to get a little better battery and not have to replace it so soon. About a week later, I had this issue again. It became more difficult to coax it to start. I figured that I had some bad or corroded connections along my battery cables. I took it to a mechanic to replace those along with an Stabilizer Bar Bushing (who really wants to jack up a mustang and crawl around underneath for all that?). The mechanic takes a year and a day (figuratively speaking of course) to replace the parts. The car gives him a little trouble starting, but cranks right up. On the drive home, I notice no odd gauge readings. Everything seems normal. I stopped at a gas station to get a drink, came back out and the car would not start. This is where my no start issue happens.
I get decent power inside. Once I turn the key, I hear the fuel pump engage and then I hear one click from the starter then the power levels go down a hair. Nothing else happens. We were able to push start the car. I drove it to a friends house without issue. At the friends house we jacked the car up, pulled the starter and had that tested. It tests green. I replaced the starter relay in the fuse box. We tried jumping the car to test the battery. Still nothing. Tapping on the starter with a wrench did nothing either. We checked the grounds (which the location of the main one seems incredibly stupid btw). We ran a cable from the battery directly to the starter and tried to start and got nothing but sparks (anyone want to do some welding?). We used a wire brush on a part of the engine and fire wall and ran a new ground. Still nothing.
At this point, it is Sunday and I have no idea where to go from here. The mechanic I used is closed today along with my normal mechanic. Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated. I plan on calling both Monday morning.
Quick Reference for Problem:
1) Initial Starting Issue, Wiggle Battery Wires to Start.
2) New Battery. Things Run Great.
3) Week Later - Problem Returns, Wiggling does not work as well.
4) Mechanic Replaces Battery Cables and Stabilizer Bar Bushing.
5) Car Starts and runs.
6) Car gets turned off, will not turn back on. Power + one click from starter then nothing.
7) Push started, runs fine.
8) Starter Relay replaced.
9) Starter pulled and tested. Tests Green.
10) Tapped on Starter, still nothing.
11) Car jumped, still doesn't want to start.
12) Grounds checked, all look ok.
13) Wire ran from battery to starter, sparks but no start.
14) New ground ran from motor to firewall.
Bonus:
Thought it could be an issue with the clutch sensor. If the clutch is not depressed, I do not get the click from the starter. I believe that is working as it is supposed to.
Alternator has also been tested before and it tests green.