89 mustang lx wont start

[J-Dawg87]

I just bought a 89 mustang lx from a friend of mine and it wont start. When I turn the key the idiot lights dont come on or nothing and when I go to crank the car it does nothing wont even turn over, complete silence. I can turn the headlights on and unlock and lock the doors. The windows dont work or none of the accessories. I checked the ignition switch and pulled it out but it looks fine and seems to work fine. Could it be something in the column broke?

 

[Stinger]

Did you check the starter solenoid?

 

[J-Dawg87]

No how exactly do you check it if I might ask?

 

[Stinger]

Turn the key on, take it out of gear, and jump across the terminals and see if it cranks.

 

[lime88]

Hi, My 1988 Mustang is doing the exact same thing. Did the starter solenoid fix your issue. How do you jump the accross the terminals?

 

[fess40]

This may sound stupid and simple, but check your battery and cables. I had a somewhat similar problem and messed with stuff for a couple of hours before my 9year-old-son told me I needed to clean the battery because it looked "really yucky". Here I thought God gave me a son just for his small hands and part retrieval abilities. Turns out he's already brighter than his old man.

 

[Red_LX]

Hi, My 1988 Mustang is doing the exact same thing. Did the starter solenoid fix your issue. How do you jump the accross the terminals?

Put a screwdriver across the terminals on the starter relay (on the inner fender) and see if it cranks.


If you turn the key and hear a loud "CLICK" that is probably the relay switching over, and isn't necessarily your problem.

It can be a number of things- bad connection at battery, bad connection at starter, low battery, bad ground....