no start condition persists....

[89LincolnTWNcar]

SO I found out some things and replaced some things and this is where I am.
-Starter tested OK
-Old alternator was indeed BAD
-New 3G alternator is GOOD
-Ignition switch replaced
-Battery is 2 months old
-Loose ground in O2 harness re-attached

The battery is now drained for some reason, so I jumped it and everything lit up properly and seems great. Then when I try to start her up I hear NOTHING. There is a little pop noise but nothing else. Any ideas?

[Pesty351]

Bad batt. connections/ground, shorted out hot wire.

[Wray-Wray]

timing off for sum odd reason maybe....no power to the coil.....any starvation of fuel???

[91waggin]

Wray-wray....he said it starts fine off of a jump. Timing is obviously not the issue here, and power must be getting to the coil otherwise it wouldn't run at all, even off a jump.

Just to remove another variable from the picture, find some way of making sure the battery's good. My favorite way to do that is just take it back to where you bought it and claim it failed and have it replaced under warranty. Or you can have it tested. Whatever--just make sure it didn't randomly crap out on you. New batteries do fail sometimes.

Since it starts fine off of a jump, it sure sounds like the alternator isn't charging. Did you fuse the 3g charging wire? Make sure that fuse didn't blow.

[88grandmarq]

have you charged the battery?

once you get the car started, make sure the alternator is charging. if its not charging at 13.5v or more. it will drain the battery in a hurry.

[Freshmeat]

I'm with them. Do you know the age of the battery cables? I had start problems in my Cherokee a few years back and replacing the battery cables had it smoking for a week straight because it was getting so much more fire through the ignition it as burning shit out of the motor.

My vote is on bad battery or bad cables. Like 88grandmarq said- put it on a charger and have it tested. New batteries can go bad; that's why they have warranties. If your alternator was bad, the battery may be DEAD as a result of that.

[89LincolnTWNcar]

Update...The battery is GOOD, and the alternator charges 13.5V at least. My problem now is that I get nothing no matter what I do. There is no power to anything no matter where I put the key. Even when I try to jump the car there is no power. What kind of fuses are related to this and is there a main relay that could have died somewhere? Pictures of my 3G wiring included just to make sure I did it right. Also of pic of my starter relay, hoping its ok to put the 175 amp fuse right on that positive terminal..The BLACK wire is the 3g alternator charge wire.




Brand new Positive and Negative battery cables.....

[Glen]

Was there a black and orange wire on the starter solenoid before you changed to the 3G? It would have come from the old 2g alt. and ran around the front of the car to the solenoid. When I changed to a 3g I took that one off and nothing happened when I turned the key, I put it back on and it started fine.

[89LincolnTWNcar]

Was there a black and orange wire on the starter solenoid before you changed to the 3G? It would have come from the old 2g alt. and ran around the front of the car to the solenoid. When I changed to a 3g I took that one off and nothing happened when I turned the key, I put it back on and it started fine.

yeah there was a black and red wire and a yellow wire that were fused into one and on the starter solenoid, but I removed them because I didn't have them hooked up on the other side of the engine anymore. That must be it...damnit I cut them off too so now I need to re- connect them? anyone know why these wires matter?

[Freshmeat]

I was about to post about those. They have something to do with your ignition power. When my 2G harness lit up I had no ignition power until those were repaired.

Hopefully that's all it is!

[91waggin]

That's why I left them hooked up to the starter solenoid when I did my 3g swap. I figured there might be something left. Hopefully you didn't delete the entire harness.

Say, where did you get the 175A fuse with the Ford emblem?

[gadget73]

Say, where did you get the 175A fuse with the Ford emblem?

Magic 8 ball says: Ford Taurus.

[Lincolnmania]

+2

[91waggin]

Nifty. Looks exactly like the one I got from Shucks, but it has a Ford emblem. Kewl.

[89LincolnTWNcar]

GOT HER RUNNING!!!!!! 3G swap is GOOD! Battery turned out to be completely fried, as in 0 on the multimeter. Re- attached those wires I took off and she runs. Scared me when I put the negative battery terminal on though - a HUGE arch shot off it and splattered some of the metal on the terminal. I guess thats from the increased gauge wires I am now using, more current flowing, yada yada (correct me if you think something is wrong here). So for now, Anabelle is doing well. Thanks again to everyone for their help, I couldn't have done it without ya'll!