Pesky t-bird ignition problems

I have a '89 t-bird with v-6 automatic trans.

Last month the car stopped working and a ford diagnostic scope revealed worn out spark plugs and a bad starter.

Last WEEK the dumb car died again. When I turn the key I hear a pronounced *click* under the hood but nothing else.

According to the ol' chiltons manual my problem can traced to only a few culprits:

1) Dead or worn out battery 2) Torn, loose or ground out wiring

The battery is fresh and charged. I repaired a small tear in a wire that broke open its casing.

I am begining to think that my shoddy battery cables ought to be replaced because of their age, wear and tear and the fact that they're oily

It's been raining furiously lately and I haven't had a chance to look under the car for connection problems at the starter teriminal. My question is ....are there other reasons why the car won't start that I don't know about?

Reply to
frank wight
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You are sure that your battery is fully charged?

Dirty or bad battery cables, and the battery terminals, can cause a lot of problems, exactly like the ones you describe. All these connections and terminals need to be clean and firmly attached.

Fords also use a firewall mounted starter solenoid in the cabling to the starter. If that solenoid is bad, it can click but fail to couple enough power to the starter to spin it up.

After that, you are down to the starter itself and the cable connections to it.

Luckily, all this is pretty easy to troubleshoot and repair.

Reply to
<HLS

Just a guess that you would have taken care of a loose or corroded battery connection problem at the battery terminals before you wrote this question. A Simple test for this the condition you described: When you turn on the lights and attempt an engine start the lights will dim some but should not go out. Attempt a jump-start with a good set of jumper cables (not the cheapy-cheap kind), if the engine turns over, it needs a new battery. If the starter will not turn the engine over while set up for a jump-start your problem is in the wiring, relay or solenoid.

Reply to
JoeFields

Thanks for the information so far.

I wonder what a firewall-cellinoid looks like? I guess I'll have to ask the parts store guy show me since I don't have a T-bird repair guide...I've been getting my general information offa a Oldsmobile guide.

Reply to
frank wight

Just follow the main battery cable and clean both ends. The far end of the positive cable will be the starter solenoid. They are cheap to replace and famous for having dirty connections causing your symptoms.

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail >
Reply to
Mike Romain

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