Car won't start - ignition switch? Help appreciated.

[Ptatohed]

Hi guys. My car stopped starting (won't turn over) a few weeks ago. I was out and couldn't start the car. I tried over and over and finally got it. I drove it straight home.... where it now sits.

The closest I came to fixing it was when I took out the ignition switch, cleaned the connections with alcohol and put it back in. I started the car three more times after that! But then it stopped starting again. I bought a new ignition switch from AutoZone and installed it last night but the car still won't start.

Any other ideas? I really appreciate it guys. Thanks.

- Josh

 

[SHOZ123]

Is the juice always getting to the small wire on the starter solenoid when the key is turned to start?

 

[laxmax327]

do you hear a clicking when you turn the key? if you do then your ignition is fine and its your starter. but if you dont, i would look into the switch under the clutch pedal. that prevents the car from starting if the clutch isnt fully in. check into that, and if thats fine, then use a voltmeter on the wire into the solenoid to be sure if there is power or not going there.

 

[projectSHO89]

Started solenoid voltage goes from the ignition switch to either the clutch interlock (MTX) or the neutral safety switch (ATX) to the solenoid's small terminal.

Open circuit somewhere.

Steve

 

[PODinUT]

I don't know if this will help you but I had the same problem with my 94. It turned out to be the CAM shaft sensor.

 

[Ptatohed]

Guys, I really appreciate the help. I took out the starter, per your comments, and brought it to 2 AutoZones and 2 Kraegans. It failed at 3 and passed at 1!!! How do you explain that? I always like multiple opinions so I cruised around town getting it tested. If it had failed on the third test, I would have bought a new starter but it passed. Arrgh.
When I was taking it out, I noticed the starter and the electrical connections were just completely smothered in oil/grease. I will try to clean everything really well and try my old starter one more time.

 

[projectSHO89]

No one suggested pulling the starter.

All the suggestions were to check to see if it was getting power first...

However, since it's out and it has failed bench test, I'd replace it unless you really like the practice ..

Steve

 

[Ptatohed]

)

No one suggested pulling the starter.

All the suggestions were to check to see if it was getting power first...

However, since it's out and it has failed bench test, I'd replace it unless you really like the practice ..

Steve

True, but I figured it couldn't hurt to remove it and test it. I brought it to one more AutoZone yesterday and it passed! So last night I stuck it back in - still no luck. :/

 

[DVJ38]

If it fails 3 times and passes twice I would replace it. It might be the reason why it only starts sometimes.

 

[Ptatohed]

When I installed the new ignition switch I broke the clip for the skinny black wire so I just left it uninstalled. I believe that is only for the warning chime, correct?

 

[Ptatohed]

)

Well, it's been exactly a year. Thanks again guys for all the help a year ago. I am embarrassed to say that I have just let the SHO sit there for a year without even looking at it.

Anyway, I went ahead and bought a new starter ($140, non-returnable). That didn't solve the problem. But I recently spent an evening looking at everything very carefully (something I could have done earlier and without buying a new starter ). I figured my ignition switch and automatic P/N safety switch were fine because my starter relay clicks when I attempt to start the car. But, at the starter, my signal terminal does not get power. When I use a jump strap coming from the starter positive terminal and press it up against the signal terminal, I can get the car to start. So, is it the starter relay (even though it clicks when I start the car) or is it the signal wire from the relay to the starter signal terminal?

Thanks so much. I appreciate the help.

 

[smokin joe]

cam or crank position sensor

 

[Ptatohed]

cam or crank position sensor

Did you not read post #11?

 

[hawkeye18]

I say it's the MAF. Seriously though, if it makes you feel any better, I'm going through the exact same thing. The car will occasionally decide it wants to start, sometimes it just clicks and does nothing. *click*. *click*. *click*. I've replaced the starter (ugh), ignition cylinder, and ignition switch. Same thing; it still sometimes works. I suppose I'll try the relay meself. I hope your thingy works!

 

[Ptatohed]

I say it's the MAF. Seriously though, if it makes you feel any better, I'm going through the exact same thing. The car will occasionally decide it wants to start, sometimes it just clicks and does nothing. *click*. *click*. *click*. I've replaced the starter (ugh), ignition cylinder, and ignition switch. Same thing; it still sometimes works. I suppose I'll try the relay meself. I hope your thingy works!

Hawkeye, it may be our relays (although why do they click during attempted starts?). I went to look at a '91 SHO Plus that was in the AutoTrader. The guy thought he had a gem. He was comparing it to new cars $20,000+ and saying how much better his car was (his was thrashed too). He didn't understand why he wasn't getting his asking price of $4600 (wouldn't budge). Anyway, the point of my story is he said that in 1/20 starts, he would have to get out of his car, take off his shoe and hit his relay a few times, get back in and wa-la, the car would start. In the gen 1 sticks, the relay was on the driver side strut tower, on my 2nd gen. auto., it is up near the driver side headlight/radiator. Is this relay something you can simply buy at AutoZone? Probably not. :I

 

[projectSHO89]

There is no separate starter relay on a Gen II ATX. It is an integral part of the starter assembly.

Seriously, you need to check the output of the Range sensor switch (MLPS) on the tranny...

Steve

 

[PODinUT]

Well, it's been exactly a year. Thanks again guys for all the help a year ago. I am embarrassed to say that I have just let the SHO sit there for a year without even looking at it.

Anyway, I went ahead and bought a new starter ($140, non-returnable). That didn't solve the problem. But I recently spent an evening looking at everything very carefully (something I could have done earlier and without buying a new starter ). I figured my ignition switch and automatic P/N safety switch were fine because my starter relay clicks when I attempt to start the car. But, at the starter, my signal terminal does not get power. When I use a jump strap coming from the starter positive terminal and press it up against the signal terminal, I can get the car to start. So, is it the starter relay (even though it clicks when I start the car) or is it the signal wire from the relay to the starter signal terminal?

Thanks so much. I appreciate the help

In your posting a year ago when you installed the new ignition switch and you broke a wire, you may have also broken or damaged the wire to the starter. Check this. Get the wiring diagram from this site (SHO FORUM) and procede testing with a test light from the ignition switch in the start position down through the whole circuit, finishing at the starter. See where you have power and where you don't. As a quick reference jump your clutch safety switch with a wire and see if that makes it start. If so it's your clutch switch.

 

[Off Road SHO]

Just because you hear a click when you turn the key to the "start" position doesn't mean that the solenoid is doing its entire job. Its "job" is to take the 12 volts that it receives from the clutch interlock switch (if your car is an MTX) or the MLPS (Manual Lever Position Switch if it's an ATX) and completely close a large capacity switch that connects the positive battery cable to the starter's windings.

The 12 volts that the solenoid gets must get back to battery ground (the -, negative side) in order for the solenoid to work. It gets back to the battery through the frame of the starter that is bolted to the engine/tranny with two or 3 bolts, one of them being a stud bolt. The negative battery cable grounds the starter, engine and tranny by being attached to this stud bolt. The connections must be clean and tight.

Or you could just keep replacing things.

Tom

 

[hawkeye18]

Well, there was a development today in my no-start scenario. I went to AAP and bought another relay, put it in, still no start. So it's not the relay, ignition switch or lock assembly, starter, or cables. I go, "what if it's the MLPS? How do I test for that?"

Then, genius struck.

After recovering from the pain, I decided to hold the switch in the "start" position and shift the shifter through its gears to see if I could get it to start (ATX here). I have the key in start and I move the gear **** through drive... nothing... back into park... and as soon as it hits park the car turns on. I turn the car back off. I rinse. I lather. I repeat. Sure as ****, the car starts after running the shifter through its gears.

So now I know it's my MLPS that's acting up. Looking through the manual, I see here that in order to replace the MLPS, I need an "MLPS alignment tool". It looks like a credit card with a little smiley-face chunk cut out of it. Do I really need this fagnabled tool? If I do decide to replace it, where in the **** do I get one? I'm guessing junkyard? Only problem is, you pretty much have to get at it from under the car, not easy at a junkyard. Any tips?...

 

[Off Road SHO]

You get to it from up top, leaning over the left fender. The mount is adjustable so that when the lever is in park, so is the MLPS, and therefore the tranny. Make sure the mounting bolts haven't just loosened up, allowing the sensor to misinterpret the lever's position. Get a new one. That same MLPS is probably used in sixteen other Fords, if I know Ford.

Tom

Well, there was a development today in my no-start scenario. I went to AAP and bought another relay, put it in, still no start. So it's not the relay, ignition switch or lock assembly, starter, or cables. I go, "what if it's the MLPS? How do I test for that?"

Then, genius struck.

After recovering from the pain, I decided to hold the switch in the "start" position and shift the shifter through its gears to see if I could get it to start (ATX here). I have the key in start and I move the gear **** through drive... nothing... back into park... and as soon as it hits park the car turns on. I turn the car back off. I rinse. I lather. I repeat. Sure as ****, the car starts after running the shifter through its gears.

So now I know it's my MLPS that's acting up. Looking through the manual, I see here that in order to replace the MLPS, I need an "MLPS alignment tool". It looks like a credit card with a little smiley-face chunk cut out of it. Do I really need this fagnabled tool? If I do decide to replace it, where in the **** do I get one? I'm guessing junkyard? Only problem is, you pretty much have to get at it from under the car, not easy at a junkyard. Any tips?...