The ole no start sheninagins

Hello! Hopefully its okay to post this thread here and I very much appreciate any input. I'm stumped.. Run down of the car.
1988 notchback 5.0 5 speed. Originally a SD car but previous owners have converted to mass air. B303 cam, shortys, H pipe, pypes violator mufflers, battery relocated to trunk, explorer intake, tremec 3550 trans, 3:73s, some suspension upgrades.
What's going on? The guy who built it plugged the o2 sensors and had a bbk SSI intake on it. The intake is junk so I put the explorer on, some pink top injectors. I have put a new o2 sensor harness and o2 sensors on it. It sounded great, but occasionally died.. Three weeks ago I went to start it like always.. And I got NOTHING. No clicks other than the relays. So thru a new solonoid on it.. No change. New starter (which was needed) and still no change.. Ignition switch right?? Switched it, no change.. Fuel pump turns on, relays click but replaced them anyways.. All of them. Lights work. Everything works just no power to starter. Tried jumping the solonoid and still no power to starter.. It will roll start! But that's the only way it will run! I had my wife turn the key and I squeezed the connecotr onto the new ignition switch and eurika!!! Starter!! Connector was cracked and had melted areas.. So I bought a new connector.. Pinned it. New wires, I installed the "correct" way with soder, and made 100% sure it was wired correctly. I've checked it with ford schematic a few times just to be 100% sure. Still no power to starter. So.. I check ALL my grounds.. They are ALL good. Cleaned. Sanded. Shiny. All great grounds. Now mind you i drove this car for months just occasionally died. All charging system check out great. I jack up the passenger side of the car and remove all the seats and carpet. No power to starter still.. I'm trying to crank the car and notice my ebrake is smoking!! So i checked the wire going to the ebrake amd its just fine. Then out of no where... Car turns over when I crank it just for grins. I was so happy I could scream.. I lowered the car back down. Buttoned all my dash interior pieces back up from under the column. Go to start it.. Nothing. Just relay clicks, zero power to starter.
If you've stayed with me this far, thank you for your time. I truly appreciate it. Ive read A LOT of forums on here that are similar.. But not quite the same. Any help is appreciated! Thank you and god bless
 
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I’m still with you. You said it occasionally died a while ago. Now it won’t start at all. But when you jacked it up, something changed and it started. If it were me, I would go through every connection along the way, and make sure they are all good and tight. The occasional, to not at all, pull the interior out and it starts, back together and it doesn’t, sure points to something loose somewhere, occasionally making the connection.

Are you checking voltage along the way with a DVM?
 
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Sounds like you have a ground strap problem. Get a cable from the local parts store and run it from the power steering bracket stud to the sway bar mount below the battery. Never hurts to have more grounds. Make sure to clean both ends of the ground cable from the battery to the engine or body of the car. A weak ground will cause your symptoms.
 
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Rear mounted battery ground wiring. Follow this plan and you will have zero
ground problems.


One 1 gauge or 1/0 gauge wire from battery negative post to a clean shiny spot on the chassis near the battery. Use a 5/16” bolt and bolt it down to make the rear ground. Use a 1 gauge or 1/0 gauge wire from the rear ground bolt to a clean shiny spot on the block.

One 4 gauge wire from the block where you connected the battery ground wire to the chassis ground where the battery was mounted up front. Use a 5/16” bolt and bolt down the 4 gauge engine to chassis ground, make sure that it the metal around the bolt is clean & shiny. This is the alternator power ground.

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The computer has a dedicated power ground wire with a cylindrical quick connect (about 2 ½”long by 1” diameter. It comes out of the wiring harness near the ignition coil & starter solenoid (or relay). Be sure to bolt it to the chassis ground in the same place as you bolted the alternator power ground. This is an
absolute don’t overlook it item for EFI cars

Note: The quick disconnect may have fallen victim to damage or removal by a previous owner. However, it is still of utmost importance that the black/green wires have a high quality ground..

Correct negative battery ground cable.
86-93-mustang-oem-style-ground-cable-gif.56567


Location of body and computer ground
Picture courtesy timewarped1972
ground-jpg.jpg


Crimp or even better, solder the lugs on the all the wire. The local auto stereo shop will have them if the auto parts store doesn't. Use some heat shrink tubing to cover the lugs and make things look nice.

For a battery cut off switch, see http://www.moroso.com/catalog/categorydisplay.asp?catcode=42225
is the switch http://www.moroso.com/catalog/images/74102_inst.pdf is the installation instructions.
Use the super duty switch and the following tech note to wire it and you will
be good to go.

Use the Moroso plan for the alternator wiring and you risk a fire. The 10 gauge wire they recommend is even less adequate that the stock Mustang wiring.

There is a solution, but it will require about 40' of 18 gauge green wire.

Wire the battery to the two 1/2" posts as shown in the diagram.

The alternator requires a different approach. On the small alternator plug there is a green wire. It is the sense lead that turns the regulator on when the ignition switch is in the run position. Cut the green wire and solder the 40' of green wire between the two pieces. Use some heat shrink to cover the splices. See http://fordfuelinjection.com/?p=7 for some excellent help on soldering & using heat shrink tubing.

Run the green wire back to the Moroso switch and cut off the excess wire. Try to run the green wire inside the car and protect it from getting cut or chaffed. Crimp a 18 gauge ring terminal (red is 18 gauge color code for the crimp on terminals) on each wire. Bolt one ring terminal to each of the 3/16" studs. Do not add the jumper between the 1/2" stud and the 3/16" stud as shown it the
Moroso diagram.

How it works:
The green wire is the ignition on sense feed to the regulator. It supplies a turn on signal to the regulator when the ignition switch is in the Run position. Turn the Moroso switch to off, and the sense voltage goes away, the voltage regulator shuts off and the alternator quits making power.

The fuse & wiring in the following diagram are for a 3G alternator. The stock alternator uses a dark green fuse link wire that connects to 2 black/orange wires. Always leave them connected to the starter solenoid even if you have a 3G alternator.

attachments\49809


See the following website for some help from Tmoss (diagram designer) & Stang&2Birds (website host) for help on 88-95 wiring
http://www.veryuseful.com/mustang/tech/engine/ Everyone should bookmark this site.

Ignition switch wiring

Fuel, alternator, A/C and ignition wiring

Complete computer, actuator & sensor wiring diagram for 88-91 Mass Air Mustangs

Vacuum diagram 89-93 Mustangs
 
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It simply needed more ground.. Whoever relocated the battery didn't run 1/0 from battery to engine. Starts every time now.

New issue. Or is it best to start a new thread?? Every time my car gets into closed loop it runs like garbage at idle. Sounds like it's got weak spark and like it's run on 4 cylinders. But once it's driving its got plenty of power.. But I think once it's warmed up and gets into closed loop, if I let it idle long enough I'm sure it'd die..
Thanks in advance!
 
Well.. Not new problem it's done this since I bought it.. But now that it reliably starts I can now address this issue
You guys with idle/stall problems could save a lot of time chasing your tails if you would go through the Surging Idle Checklist. Over 50 different people contributed information to it. The first two posts have all the fixes, and steps through the how to find and fix your idle problems without spending a lot of time and money. It includes how to dump the computer codes quickly and simply as one of the first steps. I continue to update it as more people post fixes or ask questions. You can post questions to that sticky and have your name and idle problem recognized. The guys with original problems and fixes get their posts added to the main fix. :D

It's free, I don't get anything for the use of it except knowing I helped a fellow Mustang enthusiast with his car. At last check, it had more than 250,000 hits, which indicates it does help fix idle problems quickly and inexpensively.
 
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Gents... This was not cut. It was broken. This is what happens when the lead content of the solder goes down and antimony goes up. The solder becomes brittle.

In your case, it was a combination of brittle solder and corrosion (you can see it in the image).

If it were me, I'd replace it with an insulated cable with nice beefy terminal ends on it. It should be soldered all the way down to the crimp, siliconed, and heat-shrinked.
 
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