I have a Lincoln Town Car that I got for free. How I got it is a long story that involves a schizophrenic woman, a car theft, a Baptist preacher, and the police. I don't remember the exact year, but I'm pretty sure it's a
1991. I know it has the 4.6.Anyway, when the car was stolen, the starter worked fine. I'm not sure how it was stolen, or even if it was. It may be that the police towed the nutty woman's car away because it was illegally parked and she thought it had been stolen. I do know that it was temporarily impounded because there are police markings on the windshield and a bar code sticker on the door. There is no sign of any steering column damage or tampering to the ignition system, which makes me doubt the part about the theft, unless the woman left the keys in the car.
Fast forward: Now the car won't turn over. I can put the cables to it, and everything powers up. If I turn the key and I can hear a relay click, but the starter doesn't engage or turn over the engine. The jumper cables are 2 gauge and stout enough to jump a bulldozer, so I know that's not the problem.
I'm not sure that the relay I hear is the starter solenoid. There is a classic Ford starter solenoid on the fender well right behind the battery, but the wiring to it is like 18 gage or so; far too small to be going to the starter. I haven't seen another starter solenoid, so I assume that the actual one is on the starter itself.
Any ideas?
CJB