I was recently replacing a timing belt on my 87 Ford Escort. I was first told by my father-in-law that taking the oil pan off would give us access to the timing belt. This turned out not to be true, but he removed the oil pan himself and had to take off the starter to get to it. I was off at work during all this, and wasn't aware of all that he did. It worked fine for a while, and then it started whirring when I would try to start it. I would try again, sometimes it would start, sometimes not. I was able to push start it, so I checked the starter. The power wire was loose, so I tightened it and it seemed to work a couple times. Then the problem popped up again. I would wiggle the wire and all would seem to be fine. Yesterday it failed to start again. I looked a little closer and noticed that the ground cable from the battery was actually disconnected. From what I can figure, this ground cable was laying on top of the other cable and wherever it was, it happened to be getting a good connection. Sometimes the shaking of the engine would move it away from it's contact and at other times, wiggling the wire it was on top of would make the connection complete. I am unable to find the point where it is making a good connection and was wondering if anybody could tell me where this cable attaches to. Currently there is only a power cable running to the starter. The mounting bracket on the starter has a bolt, I thought that it connected there, but no luck.
- posted
17 years ago