My 93 will not start.
 

On my 1993 when I turn the ignition, there is nothing, no clicks, no sounds, nothing. Just lights. The check engine light does not flash and the security light does not appear. I checked the voltage when turning the key on the battery and it goes down only to 10. Battery is fine. When I turn the lights on they work, and they dont dim as I try to start. Ive tried a clean spare key and it does not work ether, and I even made sure that the VATS contact was clean. My Ford neighbor suspects its my ignition switch and that it needs to be replaced. If so where can I locate it?

On a side note, this happened once to me before 2 weeks ago. However I suspected it was moisture because when I opened the engien compartment it was all wet with morning dew, so I slammed the hood, tried again, and it worked again for a couple of times. Car has been outside and exposed to the elements for some time now so I fear that may be a factor.

Help and advice is appreciated.

check the battery cables....try and wiggle them around.....i had a fluke problem a while back, that was the same symptoms that you are describing

I agree. Sounds like a loose cable. Tighten them up. Also, check for corrosion and clean if needed.

Same problem
 

Good timing, I'm having the exact same problem with my 95 Olds 88. Twice in the last couple of weeks it has acted like it didn't want to start. When I turned the key the starter would engage briefly, then lag, then the engine would start. It sounded like a low battery.

I tested the starter, battery, and charging system using one of those hand-held testers that battery shops use. Everything checked out okay. Once last week the car refused to start after I'd just shut the engine off. I got a wrench, beat on the starter, and it fired fine for a week. Then last night, nothing. The lights don't dim, I don't hear a click. the security light comes on when I turn on the key, then goes out after a couple of seconds. I cleaned the contacts on the resistor and tried knocking on the starter and it's still dead in the water. I checked the battery terminals, cut the rubber boot off the positive cable, and didn't find any corrosion to speak of. The cables seem tight, and well, I don't think it's a cable issue since none of the lights dim when I try to turn the engine over.

Any thoughts? I'm thinking it's the starter.

Well damn that did it, I was getting ready to be all technical, broke out the voltimiter and FSM when I overlooked the obvious. Thanks for the help!

LOL.....sorry! We can delete the suggestions...start all over and make you do a bunch of technical diagnosis, if you want ;)

Glad it seemed to be a simple fix. Those are the best kind.

Woa, is this a bad starter day or something, I'm having the same problem with my 95 SLE.

When I try turning on the car, nothing happens. All the lights work and when I turn the car key all the way, I am able to shift gears. Any ideas?

Also, just last night I installed a new headunit and speakers. Would that have anything to do with it. My friend tried to jump me before I saw that the lights worked, but I used the automatic door lock to get inside the car, so I don't think it's the batteries.

Again, first insure that your battery cables (especially the positve) are tight and making good contact. Check the cables for corrosion (even under the rubber boots) and clean up if needed.

Anytime an aftermarket electrical device is installed, there is the potential to cause an issue, but I don't think a HU and speakers should cause you not to start unless some serious rewiring occured.

To install the Headunit, we unplugged the negative a few times. Is there just enough power for the nights, but not enough for the starter (and AC and headunit?)

My car is not at my house (where I am now). What would be best to bring with me back to the parking lot to try and fix it?

It is possible that the battery is weak from the install and just needs a recharge. In my car, I had a bad positve battery terminal that had been "reemed"/"chewed" out. I had all power and lights, including remote door locks, but unless the cable was making full contact, it would not start. Bring an 8mm (or adjustable wrench) and take off battery cables, inspect for corrosion (clean off with paper towels or a wire brush), reconnect (be careful not to overtighten and crush the battery post srurfaces) but make sure the "teeth" on each cable bite into the battery post surfaces.

See if it fires up.

Alright, I'll give it a shot when I drive over there. I remember saying when I kept unlplugging, this battery looks pretty dirty. I also turned on the car and drove it about 5 times before it would not crank.

Also, could it be that I'm out of gas? I remember it beeping to tell me to go get gas and I just put in $20 a few days ago.

That would explain the "not starting"....lol Hopefully a cleaning up and tightening of the cables will fix it. If not, then we need to try other things.

Well, one of the bolts was stripped, meaning that we could not get the positive off. When I went to the car, the automatic unlock would not open it.

When we tried a few jumping things, we got it to "click" once. Well, make a clicking noise, just for half a second. Also, when we have the car ready to jump, I'm hearing a clicking noise from the passenger side door. Could that be the speaker? All the lights were on during that time, but the AC controls, the headunit and the car would not start.

Get the battery cables off.. I believe you not only have cable issues..but severe corrosion that didn't manifest until now. When the cables are off..pull the plastic boots off the cable ends (they pull straight off w/o cutting)

Any corrosion on the wires etc where the crimps are?

Alright, I'll try to get everything clean when I go back there. I'm going to eat, but I'll go back to the parking lot in about an hour and a half to 2 hours. Hopefully a good corrosion cleaning will fix everything.

It looked like the battery needed charging, so it is out of the car and charging right now. Also the positive had a lot of corrosion. The positive side was only measuring 10 volts. The positive side was also pretty striped, it was a pain to get that piece off.

We did some wiring with the jumper cables from the top of the battery to the end of the screws and the car started cranking, but did not fully turn on.

I am going to go buy some new bolts for the battery connections and I cleaned the rest of it with baking soda. I hope this is all of my problems. If anyone has any suggestions what else it might be, let me know.

I miss my Bonneville already though :cry:

Sounds like you are on your way. I suspect that when the battery is fully charged and you have goosd contact with the positive cable, she will fire up.

Keep us posted.

While the battery is out...make sure you pull the boots off the ends of the battery end of the cables and look underneath. It's usually an eye opener.

You mention that one of the bolts were stripped, were the threads on the battery connector stripped as well? When I first got my car, I had pulled off the battery cable (the - side) and the part of the lead connector came out with it and it had started leaking battery acid all over the place causing corrosion :shock:

The negative bolt was stripped, but the inside looked fine. We got 2 new bolts for both the positive and negative. We are also going to give the battery a good cleaning. The inside the holes, it was not too bad.

I'll try cleaning off under the boots when I go to put the battery back in. I have no idea how old the battery is, but it has to be a few years as it is quite dirty. Maybe it is just time for a new one.

It was weird that it stopped working the day after I put in my new radio. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the radio needs to be plugged into 2 types of power, one for when the car is off and there other for when the car is on?

Most radios do use ignition and battery power. Battery is for clock/memory only and the ignition is normal power for the radio. That way the radio doesn't work unless it has ignition/accessory power.

Got amps?

No amps, just the one that is in the 6800.

I do have new 440 Watt speakers in the back along with new 180(?) Watt in the front.

Tried a million ways to clean and connect the battery, using jumper cables to connect it different ways. Then tried getting it jumped. No dice.

Then while I was measuring the voltage, came to the conclusion that it was the battery and took the one from my dad's Sunfire and threw it in my trunk. It started! So it seems we are good, going to get a new battery for my car tonight.

Thanks for the help guys!

Good to hear it is up and running.

:clap: The clean up of the battery cable terminals and other cleaning up you did was not a waste. In the long run, it probably needed it anyways.