*Video* My SHO Won't Start. Won't Crank, Just Clicks

[SHO_ROLLER_2]

I was going to start at the relay and go to the starter from there. The wires are tight and clean on the battery. The battery itself is only about 4-5 months old.

Any input on anything else I should check?

:thankyou:

 

[mrecoolgar]

Remove the battery connections.
Clean both terminals and reinstall with dielectric grease.
Or just remove and reinstall the battery connections.
Sounds simplistic but it's happened to me more than once.

 

[SHOclass]

Most likely your starter is shot, try tapping the end of it with some sort of metal object (hammer or wrench) and see if it starts after that. If this is the case (it may not start but sometimes it works) then your starter has gone bad and will no longer properly spin.
If its not your starter then its possible that it is your Alternator but if your alt was bad you would see a loss of power in your car very quickly, like lights dimming and doors locking or unlocking slowly, as you would be soley running off of battery power.

I'm saying all of this, because I have experienced a similar situation in my car. One time it was the starter and the other time it was the Alternator.

 

[jmpSHO]

If all your connections are clean and tight and you have a fully charged battery then most likely the starter is bad. Remove the starter and have it tested.

 

[Joe_SHO]

Try push starting it.

 

[TYSHO]

The soleniod right there infront of your strut tower on the drivers side. You can put the key in the run position and jump the two big post with a screwdriver, and your engine will be running and telling you to go pick up a new solenoid from the autostore.

Edit: Gen 1 starters do not go out very often. Mine has never failed except for the time I wasn't paying attention and hooked my battery cables on the wrong post. Gen 2 starters fail very often and the majority of the time it's the solenoid built on the starter which a Gen 1 does not have, as it is placed on the fender well seperately. The jump method is a good way to test the solenoid.

 

[ShadetreeSHOguy]

The soleniod right there infront of your strut tower on the drivers side. You can put the key in the run position and jump the two big post with a screwdriver, and your engine will be running and telling you to go pick up a new solenoid from the autostore.

Edit: Gen 1 starters do not go out very often. Mine has never failed except for the time I wasn't paying attention and hooked my battery cables on the wrong post. Gen 2 starters fail very often and the majority of the time it's the solenoid built on the starter which a Gen 1 does not have, as it is placed on the fender well seperately. The jump method is a good way to test the solenoid.

TYSHO hey man, how's it hangin!

 

[TYSHO]

TYSHO hey man, how's it hangin!

Pretty long! haha jk :laugh_ti:

Man, I am doing pretty good. Hope things are going well with you!

 

[SHO_ROLLER_2]

The soleniod right there infront of your strut tower on the drivers side. You can put the key in the run position and jump the two big post with a screwdriver, and your engine will be running and telling you to go pick up a new solenoid from the autostore.

Edit: Gen 1 starters do not go out very often. Mine has never failed except for the time I wasn't paying attention and hooked my battery cables on the wrong post. Gen 2 starters fail very often and the majority of the time it's the solenoid built on the starter which a Gen 1 does not have, as it is placed on the fender well seperately. The jump method is a good way to test the solenoid.

I jumped it and it started. I tried to restart but I get the "click" again. I picked up a new solenoid and will be putting it on first thing in the morning. I'll let you guys know how it goes.

Thanks for the help!!

 

[SHO_ROLLER_2]

Wasn't the solenoid....

I removed the starter and it is CAKED in oil from a leaky oil pan gasket. I think it's the original to boot! It says Ford on it and for the life of me, in the 8yrs we've owned it, I can't remember if the starter was ever done. And if it was, I doubt we would have paid the extra money for a Ford part.

Anyway, taking it up to Advanced later today to have it tested. I hope it's bad because I wouldn't know where to go from here. Going to clean all the contacts in the mean time.................

 

[zblackbeast]

Its the started.. Mine was doing the same thing.. I replaced the started and problem solved.

 

[SHO_ROLLER_2]

Urgent!

Alright, I had the starter checked and it's fine.

So, I kept the new solenoid and went back to the house. I used cleaner on ALL of the contacts at the starter, battery, and solenoid. Hooked everything back up and NOTHING!!

I have NO power ANYWHERE in the car. The solenoid is getting power. It seems it's not LEAVING the solenoid to the rest of the car.

Anything else I should look into? Tomorrow I'm going back to Advanced to change out the relay (I can't say solenoid ANYMORE!).

Any other input would be very welcome.


Thanks

 

[rubydist]

The hot wire goes to the big fuse box on the driver's side firewall. Check that input connection and check to see if any of those fuses are bad. Somewhere there you have either a bad connection or a bad fuse.

 

[SHO_ROLLER_2]

The hot wire goes to the big fuse box on the driver's side firewall. Check that input connection and check to see if any of those fuses are bad. Somewhere there you have either a bad connection or a bad fuse.

Hmmm, thanks. I'll check the fuses again, but, I didn't find anything odd earlier.

Would dropping the solenoid cause it to have a problem?? They dropped it on the way up to the counter but told me it was fine. They don't break from being dropped.............

 

[Mrhappytuzi]

Hmm it could? them solenoids are cheap as **** anyway and for owning my 90 for 5 years I have actually gone through quite a bit of them.

 

[rubydist]

Are you sure you have the solenoid wired up correctly?

 

[SHO_ROLLER_2]

Are you sure you have the solenoid wired up correctly?

That's what I'm starting to wonder. Anyone care to post a pic or explain the wiring??




UPDATE: Well, after ruby mentioned the wiring, I though about it. I had the small wires running on the same post as the STARTER!! No wonder my car was dead.


After re-wiring, all is well and the car fires right up!! Gotta love how it takes me two days to fix a $15 part!!

Thanks to everyone for the help!!

 

[TYSHO]

So, you replaced the solenoid and left a wire out which made you pull the starter when you didn't have to? I bet that was fun!

 

[SHO_ROLLER_2]

So, you replaced the solenoid and left a wire out which made you pull the starter when you didn't have to? I bet that was fun!

Yep, pretty much.


The oil pan gasket had been leaking though, so all that needed to be cleaned anyway.

 

[jmpSHO]

Yep, pretty much.


The oil pan gasket had been leaking though, so all that needed to be cleaned anyway.

Or you could fix the leak