Host of electrical problems(Battery&Ignition)

94GTStang · Sep 18, 2006

Well, I found the fusible link. Course it was in plain sight, but it was well hidden under the plastic stuff. Either way, I'm hitting up the auto store to get a nice new one and some better wires

94GTStang · Sep 18, 2006

Update:

The fusible link was quite well constructed from Ford. Taking it apart, I found out it was just two pieces of 12 gauge link heat shrinked to the larger cable. I remade one of those again and that seemed to fix the charging issue. Now the battery reads a healthy 13.5 from the 12ish it was reading before.

However, the car still doesn't start with just the key. I'm at an end point trying to figure out why that is the case. Could my ignition switch I replaced not be any good? I'm thinking it's not the case though.

Any thoughts?

HISSIN50 · Sep 18, 2006

Check to see if you have Cranking voltage at the ignition switch when the lock cylinder is turned to crank.

I'd check everything inside your push button wiring (everything that you circumvented). The main places are the above-mentioned ignition switch and at the MLPS (check for cranking voltage into and out of the MLPS - I assume they work like a normal NSS, but if not, someone please correct me).

ANd nice work on the alternator wiring. At some point when you're bored, you might want to replace that crappy alt cable altogether.

Good luck.

94GTStang · Sep 18, 2006

HISSIN50 said:
Check to see if you have Cranking voltage at the ignition switch when the lock cylinder is turned to crank.

I'd check everything inside your push button wiring (everything that you circumvented). The main places are the above-mentioned ignition switch and at the MLPS (check for cranking voltage into and out of the MLPS - I assume they work like a normal NSS, but if not, someone please correct me).

ANd nice work on the alternator wiring. At some point when you're bored, you might want to replace that crappy alt cable altogether.

Good luck.

I took my multi tester and checked out the wiring under the dash. The big pink wire didn't read until I turned the switch. The funny thing is that nothing seems to happen at all when the switch is turned. All the lights come on, but nothing even attempts to click.

Thanks for your help with the link. I think I was looking for something completly different. The link I cut out was looking quite worn and corroded which I'm sure didn't conduct very well. I do however want to get a metal coupler that will fit around both that alt. cable and the two fusible links. But for now, it's doing excellent.

HISSIN50 · Sep 19, 2006

Did you check the underhood fuses? There's one for the starter relay IIRC.

I'd have to dig out a manual and trace wires to see what color the crank wire is (on a fox it's pink with a tracer of some sort, but I doubt they kept the colors the same). I like your diagnostics thinking:
If you don't even have an output signal from the ignition switch, that tells ya right there where the issue is.

If you ever redo the alternator cable, you can get all you need from the parts store. Get a generic 4 AWG starter cable, and in the battery terminal section they have lugs that fit the 4 AWG cable. I chose to use a 150 amp ANL fuse (as I did on my fox 3G alt conversion. The fuse is a proven method that works well, and I keep a spare fuse in the glove box. Easier to deal with than a fusible link).
I'd note that 4 AWG stereo cable works better (finer strands, which I like, and the cable is more mallable and looks nicer). That and lugs, the fuse and fuse holder are all available from Parts Express if you desire to buy online (I've done it both ways).

Good luck.
Good luck.

94GTStang · Sep 19, 2006

Thanks for all the help and I will probably get a new Alt. cable in the future. I think I have extra stero cable from my sub somewhere.

Perhaps my ignition switch did go bad or it was bad out of the box. I will try replacing it to see what it does. Perhaps that is the missing link

94 Cobra 5.0 · Sep 19, 2006

i have been dealing with the same exact problem that you were having. after all was said and done i ended up replacing the pos and neg wire to the starter, battery, alt, starter, checked the ignition switch. i ran through everything that there was in the charging and starting circuit and still my car would not start. i started to get pissed and started playing around with my ground wire. i took a 12 gauge jumper wire off the stock location on the timing cover and ran it to the starter and havent had a problem since with starting the car. i would try that and see if thats your problem. i just assumed that the ground was good since i had it in the stock location but seems that i was mistaken. might be worth looking into.

94GTStang · Sep 19, 2006

94 Cobra 5.0 said:
i have been dealing with the same exact problem that you were having. after all was said and done i ended up replacing the pos and neg wire to the starter, battery, alt, starter, checked the ignition switch. i ran through everything that there was in the charging and starting circuit and still my car would not start. i started to get pissed and started playing around with my ground wire. i took a 12 gauge jumper wire off the stock location on the timing cover and ran it to the starter and havent had a problem since with starting the car. i would try that and see if thats your problem. i just assumed that the ground was good since i had it in the stock location but seems that i was mistaken. might be worth looking into.

Glad to hear I am not the only one pulling my hair out. I just got back from replacing the ignition switch again to see if maybe mine was bad and still no go. However, I did manage to reset my idle and cleaned the IAC

I had replaced the negative cable once before, but I will go ahead and find a new ground. Maybe that might be all that was wrong to begin with

94 Cobra 5.0 · Sep 19, 2006

just play around with that ground cause i spent the better part of a month trying to figure this out because of the hours i work, and i finally just hooked the neg right to the starter and it fired right up.

94GTStang · Sep 20, 2006

94 Cobra 5.0 said:
just play around with that ground cause i spent the better part of a month trying to figure this out because of the hours i work, and i finally just hooked the neg right to the starter and it fired right up.

Cool... I don't think my negative will reach that far so I will just have to get a longer cable. What attachment point did you use on the starter?

94 Cobra 5.0 · Sep 20, 2006

all i did was take a length of 12 gauge wire from the grounding point on the timing cover with a eyelet and ran that down to the lower bolt on the starter since thats the one that has the o2 sensor harness on it and the extra nut. just connect the wire with eyelets to the 2 points and if that was the problem it should be solved.

94GTStang · Sep 20, 2006

94 Cobra 5.0 said:
all i did was take a length of 12 gauge wire from the grounding point on the timing cover with a eyelet and ran that down to the lower bolt on the starter since thats the one that has the o2 sensor harness on it and the extra nut. just connect the wire with eyelets to the 2 points and if that was the problem it should be solved.

kick ass. That's what I was thinking of doing (combining the two wires together) but I was unsure about the contact point on the starter. Thanks for the help! I'll look into that when I get some more free time!

94GTStang · Sep 21, 2006

well....

I tried that this morning and still no go...

I think I will either a) deal with the fact or b) take it to an auto electical place.

Thanks for everyone's help! :SNSign:

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