Resurrecting a 1995 3.2ATX - Having a Ground/Vacuum Issue

[Kevin Burton]

I bought a 1995 3.2L ATX from a neighbor in July 2017. The car belonged to an elderly woman who had passed and had sat for about a year. I drove the car around for a few days to figure out what it needed. I came to the conclusion it needed Valve Cover Gaskets.

I managed to remove the Intake in August 2017, but due to things coming up I didn't have time to work on the car for almost a year and it sat until now. I tried to get it back together exactly how I had taken it apart but due to the lapse in time I think I need some guidance to make sure I did everything correctly.

Fast-forward to the past few weeks. I did Valve Cover Gaskets, new plugs, and wires. I did new gaskets on the intake manifold and started putting the entire car back together. I got the intake on, and buttoned up almost everything. I have two issues preventing me from starting the car to check for leaks.

1.) When I turn the Key Nothing Happens. Car has a fresh battery. I don't even get the dash to light up which leads me to believe I have screwed up somewhere along the way with ground wires. The Main Ground Cable on the battery looks to be in good shape. The Ground to the PS Shock Tower Looks to be in good shape. The Ground into the harness looks okay as far as I can chase it. I noticed when I did a second look that I forgot the ground strap that is mounted on the firewall PS by the PCM. I tried mounting it on the cast brace for the intake manifold, underneath the metal bracket that holds several connectors in place. The Holder, Ground Strap, Intake Brace are fastened to the Intake manifold in that order, from top to bottom. Is this correct? Is there anything else that typically gets moved when pulling a manifold that I may have missed?

Additionally, I believe I have my ducks in a row with vacuum lines, but there is a ~1/4" Hose Fitting on the top of the throttle Body facing towards the front of the car, I do not have a hose for it and do not see one, does anyone know what this typically connects to? I'd imagine I'll have a nasty vacuum leak when/if I finally do get this thing running.


Thanks in advance.

 

[luigisho]

you got a pic? The ones that come to mind either run to the front valve cover or is a coolant line that T's into a connecting hose to the bottom of the radiator

 

[Kevin Burton]

you got a pic? The ones that come to mind either run to the front valve cover or is a coolant line that T's into a connecting hose to the bottom of the radiator

I have the hose connected to the front valve cover. I think you're talking about a coolant line that T's into a connecting Hose at the bottom of the radiator perhaps?

 

[luigisho]

http://www.alfitz.com/SHO_Engine_Book.pdf

Look at manual page 115 for the throttle body. I would prefer better actual pics. looking at the way mine is routed, I have to recheck mine vs what the manual has as a quick look earlier under my hood doesn't jive with the manual. I haven't spend alot of time under the hood of this car since I bought it with really low miles but I should not assume that a prior owner didn't monkey around in there

 

[zoomlater]

I took a look at my 94 ATX and there is a single ground lug tied to the passenger side strut tower, two ground lugs tied to the engine firewall on the passenger side, and some ground/wires on the driver side fender. The bottom two fasteners on the DIS are grounds as well so make sure those are tight. Clean all your grounds, battery terminals and make sure they are secured to the starter as well. There is supposed to be another ground somewhere in the valley (under the intake) but I have never had to touch that one.

There are three more grounds that I noticed, one is on the passenger side behind the battery. The other two are on the driver side radiator support (next to the ABS unit). In your picture, there are two fasteners by your glove, if you compare it to the craigslist car engine photo, you can see there are two ground wires going there. If you were able to run the car before without those connected, then you probably don't need them to start the car. I am just trying to point out all the ground wires in the engine bay that I can see.

 

[zoomlater]

on page 103, you can see the hose connected to the front valve cover
take a look of the picture of the engine in this ad, does that show the hose

https://seattle.craigslist.org/skc/cto/d/1994-ford-taurus-sho/6609272973.html

 

[luigisho]

That hose by the IAB looks like it runs like mine down to a t and to the lower radiator

 

[sperold]

The ground strap from the intake cross over pipe to the stud on the firewall is vitally important. Snoop around on this forum for threads dealing with that. Don't relocate that one.

Did you take the intake apart when you removed it?

Did you remove the DIS module from the cross over pipe? One of those small retaining bolts is a ground for the module.

You have the harness re-attached on the DIS module adequately.

Monkey around with the shifter and make sure you are in park or neutral.

Your most important job now is to get it to roll over, you can chase a vacuum leak when you get it running.

Do you have battery cables with fused-on ends on the end that clamps to the battery, If you have a replacement end, take it apart and wire brush everything,

There are 2 small 10 amp fuses in your engine compartment fuse box that run a lot of vital things, check them out for peace of mind.

The secondary wire on your battery positive cable can break where it enters the wiring loom, have a look at that too.

 

[rubydist]

It is true that the ground strap to the intake manifold is vitally important, but that will not prevent the engine from cranking over.

The no-crank symptom is from one of these: bad starter, bad solenoid, bad connection to starter or solenoid, bad connection at battery, bad key switch, blown fuse on the start signal line. Check those first for the no-crank situation. Once you get it to crank, you can move on to why it might not actually start.