Electrical starting problem!!!!

My 1991 Mustang lx Notch will not start. Something is shorting out when i turn the key. There is some sort of relay or fusible link that keeps kicking out, i can here it click then all the power goes dead in the car. I looked for frayed wires touching and found none. Could the starter be shorting the whole car out? I first noticed the problem when my battery light came on yesterday could the whole battery be shorted out? I replaced the alternator thinking that the battery was not properly charging but that was before the car would not start at all. I tried moving the steering wheel in different places thinking something was touching but nothing. I looked between my headers to see if the starter wire was touching, it is close but not touching. I looked at the starter selonoid and found some dry week green wire that i cut and fixed but the car will not start the power keeps shutting down totally. Where should i look for a direct short?? :(
 
  • Sponsors (?)


have you checked the solenoid? put car in neutral, ebrake on. solenoid is on the driver fender. take the little slide-on connector off and touch it to the lug with all the connections on the solenoid (normally on the firewall side). does the car turn over? if so, you can turn the key to 'on' and try it again. the car should start. if it does, that suggests a problem with the wiring from the ignition switch, the clutch/neutral switch, or the ignition switch.

if no to above, jump the two big lugs on the solenoid. if it starts/turns over, that suggests the solenoid may be bad and/or stuff above may be bad.

if you put a test light on the slide-on wire, it should read 12 volts while trying to start.

if none of the above, hook up a jumper battery (like jumpstarting) and try it. you may have a half dead battery. also check battery connections.

Jrichker has a nice list of stuff to check, but i think i hit the biggies. good luck.
 
Kiknads said:
check your battery cables, if they're worn out/corroded too bad the same thing will happen
oh yeah, good point!!
dont forget the motor ground. juice flows from ground to positive. the starter achieves ground via the motor ground(s).
 
Thanks for all the advice, kIKNADS, was correct. My positive battery cable has been corroding and is somewhat cracked in places. It did not look like it was touching anywhere but replacing it fixed the problem. People do know there mustangs!!

Thanks for the help!!