No Start! HELP PLEASE?

blkstng

New Member
Mar 26, 2010
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I have a 2003 GT, so i have been having this no start problem for a while its wierd cause it kinda just does it when it wants other times it fires right up and runs perefect! All this started after swapping throttle bodies and plenums but i dont think its related? When this happens i turn the key all the way and there is no fire the starter doesnt engage or turn over. so i check it by jumpering it from the solenoid control wire to the power and it started, so from there i checked my ignition relays for continuity and to make sure they clicked by putting power to them with a battery and they are good to, after that i checked my clutch pedal position sensor for continuity which is really hard to get at when depressed it is supposed to make continuity so i just shorted out the two leads on the other end of the connector to simulate the sensor making continuity to see if it would start and if it did then it would have been that sensor but it didnt start so after that i took out the ignition switch and checked all positions on that for continuity and they were all good. Now i have no idea what to do or check im going to go through it all again and check it again but im not sure what else to do if someone else on here has had experience with problems like this it would be great to hear from you or if you have good ideas or suggestions for me PLEASE let me know PM me or whatever, and fill me in cause this is a real nuisance problem thanks!
 
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my battery terminals are fine thats like the first thing checked off my list. this is not a battery problem i think it is either some kinda of bad wiring problem or a faulty component but i have no clue thanks for your help tho if you have any other ideas im open to anyting and everything
 
Check the battery terminal cables for corrosion inside the insulation (ohms) and check the connections to the starter.

Also, actually grab and pull up on the battery cables, they may look fine but be quite loose actually. This was the problem when my car had the same exact behavior as you are describing, loose terminal connections.
 
im going to give it a try another thing im going to do is look at the cables inside the insulation i think im going to follow back all cables that have to do with my starter and ignition system to make sure all connectionc are good and there is no corrosion or short somewhere by the way i dred doing this haha it is tedious and a bitch! haha let me know if anything else comes to mind that i can check or test thank you
 
I have checked and tested all my fuses and relays in the under hood box i pulled my ignition switch and checked it for continuity and it was reinstalled it and the SOB started right up i dont thnk it has nothing to do wiith the switch seeing how it is an intermitten problem.

Does anyone know anything about the anti theft controller module?
 
It is NOT a anti-theft (PATS) problem.

The 1996-1998 disables the starter. When tripped you get a NO-crank

The 1999-2004 disables the fuel system. When tripped you get a crank with NO start.

Further, what is the theft light doing. If it goes off after a 3 second "prove out", then PATS is working and has correctly read and accepted your key code.

Isn't your symption no-crank?
 
k so after installing my ignition switch and seeing it start i drove it for like 5 10 min let it sit for a few hours came home and had a no start again just for ****s i went under the hood and reefed on the power and ground cables pretty good and it started i was like wtf so let it run a little bit turn it off go get some dinner come home and have a no start again so i try reefing on the cables again cause it worked before but this time it didnt work? so now im pretty much down to following cables back and looking for ground issues or bad connections OR i can bring it to Ford and have them hook it up to there IDS machine and see if they get anything
 
Check fuse F2.6 (20amp) in the central junction box (CJB). Has there been any recent audio work done? Is there an aftermarket alarm system?

Inspect the engine ground strap from the left hand motor mount to the frame rail. Are the battery terminals CLEAN and TIGHT?

The starter circuit is actually fairly simple. The likely failure points are the fuse, ignition switch, clutch safety switch, and the starter solenoid itself. While it is failing we need to track back where the circuit is breaking down.

Confirm +12 volts on the starter solenoid. Put the red meter on the starter solenoid wire and the black on a known good ground. Have a buddy attempt to start. Confirm that you see +12 volts on starter solenoid. Post the results.

If you do not see +12 volts, have your buddy get on/off of the clutch pedal several times and see if that produces voltage.

Confirm again that the starter itself is good. Run a test lead from the battery positive (or use the main starter cable) to the starter solenoid and confirm that the starter will work.

For the clutch safety switch, disconnect at the body harness. Probe for +12 volts on the RD/LB wire. Confirm if +12 volts is injected into the WH/PK wire that the starter engages.

Be safe. Make sure the car is in neutral and the wheels blocked.

Yes you could take it to Ford. But anyone that is able to take out an ignition switch has the skills to fix this for themself.

OBTW, I have tried to figure out what "reefing" a cable means. So far, an absolute blank.
 
Yes reefing pulled/yanked very hard, today im going to go through and test it all again i have done the jumper test before and made sure my starter was good i did not read it for voltage though on the Pink/White wire i am going to today also i will check the voltage at the clutch pedal position sensor but i am starting to think it is bad wiring or a coroded or bad connection somewhere, is it possible for my starter solenoid to be going bad and just working intermittanly?

first thing i did this morning was look at some of the wiring to my starter and the solenoid i simply wiggled the whit/pink wire on the solenoid i believe it the control wire but anyways i did that and it started so now im waiting a while to go back out and see if it starts i would like to read voltage from it but if it starts i have a feeling i would see the voltage i want to see and what i want to know is what the voltage is when it doesnt start
 
so i just had someone help me start the cafr while i was reading a voltage on my starter solenoid wire the whit/pink i took my postive lead to the wire and my negative to my tranny as ground when my buddy truned the key i got about 9v at the white/pink
 
Assuming that you got a good connection and an accurate reading, the reasons I can think of to read +9 volts at the starter solenoid would be the solenoid is drawing too much current. Or your battery is weak.

Even if the wiring were bad, +9 volts is enough to pull up the solenoid.

Previsous posts stated that the battery is good and the cables are clean and tight.

Suggest consider replacing the starter.
 
Since it has already been mentioned to check your battery cables for corrosion, and that they are clean and tight, we can only assume that these things have been done and the problem is still there. You have checked it right?

If you need more confirmation of the diagnosis, disconnect the starter solenoid wire. Disconnect the positive battery terminal. Measure the resistance of the circuit between the solenoid wire and battery positive cable. You will need to have the clutch pedal in and the key in start while testing. Post the results.

Next measure the resistance back to ground from the starter case to battery negative. Post the results.

If you need even more confirmation. Install an amp meter in series with the solenoid circuit. Measure the amps while starting.

However, If it were my car I would be thrilled. I would much rather replace the starter than trace down an intermittent wiring problem.

Consider how the starter solenoid works. If there truely were +9 volts at the solenoid AND the starter was not actively cranking, there is no other rational explaination than a bad starter.
 
I think i forgot to mention this, while working on it yesterday i found that the white/pink solenoid wire had a strong connection to the solenoid but i wiggled the wire and bent the clip a little which bent pretty easy then my car started after that i read the voltage and is when i seen i had 9v (when someone started it) so the conclusion that my starter solenoid is bad would be a good diagnosis?

I am still going to do the resistance test just to assure myself though.
 
so yesterday i measured for resisteance between the white/pink and ground and got nothing then i measured between the white/pink and the power on the starter with the clutch pushed down and the key turned over and got nothing
 
You did not perform the measurements correctly. If there were any resistance between the WH/PK wire and GROUND, the fuse would blow.

The test is to measure the resistance of the WH/PK wire between the Starter solenoid AND the battery positive.

The next test was to measure the resistance between the starter case and battery negative.
 
by taking my multi meter probe to the white/pink and one to the starter power, wouldnt that be the same thing as the battery positive?

and by putting the probe of my meter to the starter case and just any known ground wouldnt that be the same as my battery negative?

considering the case is grounded anyway?

my battery was disconected to