Help!! Battery Cables Bad

[famcrown]

my car is a 1990 CV 5.0 SW.

I opened doors and the lights went on & headlights also turned on, BUT,

WHEN I turned key nothing happened; no sound, clock did not go on, blinkers didn't work. Now my battery cables must have been spliced many times over years and changed up and I was planning on changing them as they were loose.

However, THERE are bout 3 wires coming out of positive and 3 from negative.

How many cables are supposed to attach to Positive & where do they go and the same for the negative side.

[pstrbrc]

my car is a 1990 CV 5.0 SW.

I opened doors and the lights went on & headlights also turned on, BUT,

WHEN I turned key nothing happened; no sound, clock did not go on, blinkers didn't work. Now my battery cables must have been spliced many times over years and changed up and I was planning on changing them as they were loose.

Loose? Like, the terminal clamps never tighten completely down on the terminals? You can always rotate them?

However, THERE are bout 3 wires coming out of positive and 3 from negative.

Do you mean there are three wires coming out of each of the battery terminal clamps? If your's is anything like mine, you should have ONE primary wire going from your + terminal to the central lug on the starting solenoid, which acts as a power block. This is intended to be the place that all of the electrical sub-systems get their power. I think mine originally had three wires, but you can stack others on there, you just need to use a 5/16" ring connector, and make sure the circuit is fuse-protected. I've got an electric cooling fan and the headlights relayed, so I have a couple of extra ring connectors on the starter solenoid central lug.
The - battery terminal clamp should have one heavy wire going down to the engine block, and 1 lighter wire (kinda looks like 16 gauge to me) that is the ground for the fuel injection. All other ground wires should terminate on the body, chassis, or engine block.

My guess is, you've got a ground problem.

[famcrown]

thank you for the info , howvr its too technical for me.

anyway , I did the following. Put 1) red cable that goes from passerger side of car wall to battery , I guess that is the stater solenoid central lug. 2) put long thinck cable from under block to battery. I left out the third cable as it never went anywhere. (it just went from battery then dead ended 10 inches later.

PROBLEM IS THE SAME. I open doors and lights go on and stay on . BUT WHEN I TURN KEY NOTHING HAPPENS. NOTHING. CLOCK doesn't go on, NO SOUND.

I left the negative cable the same way it was for last 10 years.
any ideas.

(NOTE: THE RED wire and long black cable from engine block might be touching as clamped them down on to a connector on POSITIVE and they were right next to eachother). I dont mean to be confusing but before I parked my car, it worked)

[marquisman]

you might have a bad ignition switch or bad fuse link at the solenoid.

[famcrown]

my car is a 1990 crown victoria 5.0 V8 STATION WAGON

Details: wire from + battery terminal was loose and not grounded properly( parts were showing)
I fixed this since. HOWEVER..........


Symptoms: nothing happens when I turn key. Nothing goes on , no clock, no fuel pump. NOTHING. ONLY interior lights/headlights and locks work ( well they also work without key.)

MAYBE i blew a fuse or relay or cirucit breaker BECAUSE OF BAD BATTERY CONNTECTION.

I TRIED TO REPLACE A 25AMP CIRCUIT BREAKER AND IT WORKED FOR A SECOND ( clock , fuel pump went on) THEN CLICKED AND SHUT OFF.

I tested the 25amp breaker and it was fine.. So I AM STUMPED.

[gadget73]

Sounds like the connections at the starter relay are crusty. Pull all of those wires, wirebrush the ends, and put them back on.

[famcrown]

just checked with someone who installed auto start on my car ( ye forgot to mention that) and he concluded that.....

he concluded that there was no power to ignition wires... ( i guess they are yellow) ..

the amp I played around with was an 8.25AMP ( a rectangular silver piece) ... when I swaped... nd turned key , fuel pump, clock, flashers, turned on for 2 sec and then shut off.

is there an ignition relay something. what might cause there to be no power to ignition wires. ( when I switched that breaker(8.25amp circuit breaker) it worked for 2 sec.????

[famcrown]

1 is the starter & soleoid separate 1990 crown vic

2 where is the starter in 1990 crown vic

[1990LTD]

if your car was made after february of 1990, you have a starter with a solenoid on it AND a solenoid on the fender. prior to 02/90 it was just on the fender, then in preparation for the 92+ aero body cars they switched to a gear reduction starter that had a solenoid on it, but the fender mounted one remained (probably so they didn't have to re-engineer a car that was being given a makeover in two years anyway). AFAIK, after the 1992 overhaul, there is no fender mounted solenoid - just on the starter.


so, basically, if your car is a box and was made after february of 1990, it has two solenoids. check the door jamb sticker for the production date if the sticker is still intact


your starter is under the passenger side of your car (think - it grabs the flywheel and spins it, and the flywheel is between the engine and transmission) held in with a couple of bolts.

[gadget73]

A failed solenoid will not cause the fuel pump and other devices not to work. The worst it can do is make the car not crank over.

The relay on the fender, do you have a whole bunch of wires on one side, and one wire on the other large terminal? If not, its hooked up wrong. The battery cable and 50 other things should go to one side, and the wire down to the starter should be the only thing on the other side.

[famcrown]

OK . I want to thank everyone for their help. It was greatly appreciated and used.

I don't know exactly what was problem, but I noticed one wire on soleniod had a cut in it and
far down the - battery cables,- they had been spliced years ago and I guess tape and time took its toll. So I fixed those and it started up again.