No crank no start

Sly2965

New Member
May 19, 2019
9
0
1
Alabama
Hello everyone. My issue is my 2002 v6 automatic wont crank. I can hear the solenoid kick out the start gear. If I put my hand on the starter and have someone turn the key, I can also feel it kick out, but does not turn over. First thing I did was remove the starter and have it tested. They said it tested good, but I bought a new one anyway. Installed it and it did the same thing. I have 12 volts at the starter and a good ground. I had the battery tested next and it was also good. Then I replaced the starter relay in the fuse box under the hood. No change. There is a white wire with a pink stripe on the starter that runs up by the battery before it goes into a large wire loom. It has what I call a useable link without the fuse by the battery. When holding the key in the start position it has 10.5 volts on both sides of the link. I'm assuming it should carry 12 volts which make me think it's the ignition. Anyone else ever had this problem?. Thanks for reading. P S. I checked the large 40 Amp fuse in the fuse box under the hood and it's also good
 
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If there is 12 volts at the starter solenoid this can't be an ignition switch. Why? Because the power for the solenoid comes from the starter relay.

My vote. The starter is working but the motor has some "issue" where it is unable to turn the motor over. Have you attempted to bar the motor by hand?

If the motor can be turned by hand, then it will be necessary to perform some voltage drop tests.

Howto perform charging system voltage drop test
 
Then IMO you need to study the voltage drop testing methods given in the "howto" link. The thing that trip up most people is they don't understand how the method works. They think there's an error in the method because the leads of the VOM are put on the same polarity (negative to negative or positive to positive) of the circuit path to test. The purpose of the test is to determine IF there is excessive voltage drop and WHERE the voltage drop is occurring.

I also find that many people discount the importance of ensuring that high current electrical connections are:
  • scrupulously clean. Down to bright and shinny real metal.
  • corrosion free.
  • Mechanically strong and tight.
If this were my car before I started performing a bunch of tests I would start by checking and cleaning all of the visible high current electrical connections that the main starter positive power passes through.

There is more than one way to perform a voltage drop test. I suggest starting out be measuring the voltage at the battery before cranking and while cranking. Perform this same test at the starter using the main positive terminal of the starter and the CASE of the starter. What you are looking to see is what is the voltage at the starter itself while it's attempting to crank.
 
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Ok the car is running. Only took a week and a half. Lol. I bought this car for my daughter 2 months ago and this site has helped me a couple of times already, and for that I say THANKYOU. It has those aftermarket battery cable clamps. I took them apart and cleaned the cables. I even stripped back some of the coating on the positive and negative cables and cleaned that too. As you can see in the pic I removed the two ground wires in the bottom of the pic and cleaned everything. Put it all back together and presto, it started. Stangnet is definitely top notch in my book. Thanks again.
 

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