Help! Almost Got Stranded!

ViperPunk

Member
Jul 30, 2010
195
1
18
idaho
Story goes.. I just finished working out in the gym and walk out to the car to leave. Hopped in, rolled the windows down, and radio came on. Weird part is everything appears normal until I hit the key over and boom everything goes dead like no power at all so I think dead battery. Hit up the couple of buddies that are at the gym and no one has jump leads, so I call the wife and go sit by the car in the heat of the sun. Finally I said screw and tried one last time flip the key on to power with the door open and I see a bright dome light so I pray and turn and boom! Everything goes dead again so I leave the key in the on position and then WAAAAAHHHHH I hear the fuel pump and dash lights kick on and she fires right up! Drove it home fine with good readings on the dash, and then killed it and restarted it many times and all was good. So... What the hell do I check first?
 
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Check battery cables, and your lugs on the battery. Over the years they can get stretched out and produce a bad connection, to when the amps needed for the starter will cause arching within the connection, and kill the connection. Happened to me several times.
 
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Some of the symptoms of ignition switch problems are things that don’t work or are intermittent like radio, wipers or heater.

There was a FREE recall on Ford ignition switches. They overheat and sometimes catch fire. That burns up the steering column and sometimes the car interior. Since this is very old information, you may not be able to get the switch replaced for free anymore. The auto parts stores sell the switches for $13-$15.

Saleen0679 was nice enough to dig this up for us awhile back: Replace a 1979-1993 Ignition Switch Assembly