Car won't start

[sur_real1]

I'm sitting at the brown bear carwash waiting for a tow. The car won't even turn over. I started it after washing the car, moved it from the wash bay to the outside to detail, and now the car won't turn over or even attempt to turn over.

Checked all fuses and relays and they are good. Battery is good and everything is getting power. Only thing I can think of is the clutch neutral switch.

Thoughts?

 

[330mach1]

take the pig tail off the sensor and use a paper clip to connect the circuit and see if it starts

 

[Gallows]

Did you wash the engine bay?

 

[sur_real1]

Well, now I'm home and I can describe in more detail as typing on the blackberry is not fun nor easy...

I drove the car into the wash bay, washed the "outside" of the car. Never got the engine bay dirty. Went to start the car, put the clutch in, and there was a delay from turning the key to the engine starting. This had me curious, so I pulled out and proceeded to detail the car. Once I was done, I went to start the car. No dice.

Troubleshooting steps performed:

- Checked the fuel cut off in the trunk, switch was in correct position.
- Checked all fuses, fuses were good.
- Checked battery, battery is good.
- Put the tuner on it to reflash back to stock and then back to the custom tune, no change.

So, after many hours of sitting here, I called the tow truck (which took another 1.5 hours). Next, I thought it might be the neutral switch under the dash.

Steps to troubleshoot the neutral switch:

- Turned the key over without the clutch engaged to see what the car would do.
- Turned the key over with the clutch engaged to see if the car did the same thing. Of which it did.
- Climbed under car to make sure it was not physically broken.
- Engaged it with my hand and then tried to turn the car over, no dice.

I will attempt to go out there and cross a wire in the connector to see if that doesn't get it started. Any other ideas would be awesome.

Thanks!

 

[Gallows]

Is the PATS light flashing? If you have another key see if the car will start with it. Other then that you tried everything else that I can think of.

 

[sur_real1]

The PATS light isn't flashing. The car just sits there and does exactly what it is supposed to do without the running part. No codes either. I'm going outside now to see if I can cross the lines that run to the neutral switch.

 

[Wildcard]

Check this connector



It can cause problems like the one that you are explaining. It is on the rightside of the battery, right next to the fuse box. Open it up and clean it. Put it back on and see if the car starts. If it does, and it happens again you may need to replace the connector.

 

[sur_real1]

What is that connector?

 

[BlownShift]

if you think it may be the neutral switch, push or kick the clutch pedal down hard and try to start it...... on the switch, there is a small rectangular clearish box... pull it back towards the gray switch.. pull hard and it will move...pull it an inch or so.. next time you push the pedal down, it will move back out to where it needs to be

 

[sur_real1]

if you think it may be the neutral switch, push or kick the clutch pedal down hard and try to start it...... on the switch, there is a small rectangular clearish box... pull it back towards the gray switch.. pull hard and it will move...pull it an inch or so.. next time you push the pedal down, it will move back out to where it needs to be

Yep, that looks like the baby. I did pull down on that square and had someone turn the key and I didn't get anything. It didnt' seem stuck, it was free flowing in and out.

 

[BlownShift]

Yep, that looks like the baby. I did pull down on that square and had someone turn the key and I didn't get anything. It didnt' seem stuck, it was free flowing in and out.

the adjustable rectangular piece presses against the plunger(switch) when you depress the pedal so make sure you depress the actual switch if you're testing it that way.. but you really need to pull the connector off and short it with a piece of wire to take the switch out of equation so you're not guessing on a bad switch or not...

 

[THEhamBone]

Obvious question, but did you check the fuses under the dash and under the hood? You could swap a few relays around in the underhood fuse panel and see if that makes any difference. Use a meter to check the wire connection shown above beside the underhood fuse box. When you hit the key, it should have 12+ on it.. thats the solenoid wire for the starter. Your starter could of took a dump on ya, but its not likely without any warning signs. Check the ground wire going to the block. It on the driverside, kinda behind the lower hose house. You can use a screwdriver and jump across the terminals on the starter to check and see if the starter is bad or if its a wiring/ fuse problem. It sounds like the ignition or engine relay/or fuse is bad. Jump the started terminals, if it bumps the motor over, then its a wiring prob.

 

[soccerman002]

Have any luck yet?

 

[Chris _Scott]

I just made a post similar in the sn95 section...so I'll just copy/paste

I've had to deal with this on several occasions.

For me it would click, but not turn the motor over, then I was just jiggle some wires and after maybe 5-10 minutes she would finally start and not give me issues again.

Then on the occasions where everything I try doesn't work [and I'll visually check all the grounds to make sure they are clean and tight] a good push start to get it going[ I <3 weight reduction], and then once I drive it around to go where I need to she will start right up with no issue.

damn moody ass car...

I know it won't 'fix' the issue..but from my experience, a good push start and driving it around for a little bit and then after that she will start up every time with no issue.

But I would check your grounds...the connectors going to the start and from the chasis to the engine block [to the driver side motor mount]..make sure they aren't corroded or knocked loose at all.

 

[sur_real1]

I've checked all the fuses. Fuel pump is turning on, everything is doing what it is supposed to be doing. I know the "click, click" noise you guys are talking about. This is not happening and would tell me that there was a battery or ground issue. I've ordered a new neutral switch and it will be here today. I'll just swap it in and see what happens. If that doesn't fix it, I'll take it to my buddy's shop.

 

[K2AHollywood]

Check your CSP sensor. This same issue just happened to me and my connector was shot

 

[sur_real1]

Check your CSP sensor. This same issue just happened to me and my connector was shot

CSP? As in the camshaft position sensor?

 

[Michael Mendez]

couldnt the starter be the problem

 

[sur_real1]

*Update*

Alright, I'm absolutely fed up and pissed. Here is what I've done so far:

-checked all fuses with a multimeter and they are fine.
-checked all relays by swapping them around and making sure other components work, and they all are fine.
-checked starter and solonoid, starter fires up when you manually cross the connections.
-checked the pink and white wire going to the starter from the relay with the key turned to start... NO POWER
-checked the starter/solonoid ground, this is fine.
-checked to make sure that the neutral safety switch was properly shorted, and this was fine. I even bought a new neutral safety switch and manually held it down to start the car and NO START.
-checked the power coming from the ignition switch (white/Pink wire going to number 6 fuse) NO POWER

The last step was a clear indication that it should be the ignition switch. Well, I bought one from schucks and one from Ford and neither solved my problem.

So, here is another question... Can it be installed incorrectly? I just noticed in my manual that I should have the power disconnected during this process, but I had the battery connected. Would it be possible to damage the ignition switch during installation?

Any ideas and help would really be appreciated!

 

[THEhamBone]

Unless you hooked it up wrong, crossed terminals that werent supposed to have power or some shit like that, then you should be fine. Every direction with any part will tell you to disconnect the battery, usually not needed, and in a wiring install they are just making sure you dont cross any wires and blow a fuse/relay or something like that.

Im kinda stumped on your problem though. When you turn the ignition on, everything acts fine, it just wont engage the starter when you turn the ignition over right?

Are you positive there are no blown fuses? you checked both sides of the fuse with a the multimeter right? If the fuse is blown, one side will still show power, while it wont transfer the power over to the other post because of the blow fused link between. I would pull all the fuses, one by one, triple check them, and wiggle when you put them back in, just to ensure a great connection. Ford fuse boxes do some funny things from time to time.. Do this under the dash and under the hood just to be safe. It cant hurt.

Im not sure what a "starter ground" is.. starter doesnt have a ground wire running to it.. just a big power wire, and a small ignition wire for the solenoid. The starter and solenoid both ground through the engine block. The block should have a few grounds, the main ground (biggest) is on the passenger side of the motor, to the motor mount. One of the motor mount bolts is a stud with a nut for the ground wire.

When you turn the key over to start, does the radio and such kinda go dead and start back over once you release? or does it all just stay the same?