No start, no crank, but click from fender relay - 1989 Town Car

[89LincolnTWNcar]

Hey guys I have a no start no crank on my 89' Towncar, I tried to start it in Neutral the other day and ever since it will not start.

I have tested the battery, cleaned and checked the terminals and cables, pulled and bench tested the starter and starter mounted solenoid (I upgraded to the newer style starter from a 1991 Crown Victoria), Ohm'd out the starter motor main power wire and the solenoid trigger wire, and finally replaced the fender mounted relay. Still just get a loud "click" at the relay on the fender but the starter will not move. The "click" tells me the "s" terminal is working from the ignition switch (which was replaced in 2016).

Any ideas?

[VicCrownVic]

Issue with the small wire going to the starter?
When I replaced the original starter on The Ice Car ('91 MGM) the new starter came with a new end for that small wire. The original end for the small wire was a spade connector that tended corrode and the wire itself would even corrode a few inches up. The replacement end is a ring terminal that is bolted on, better connection means less likely to corrode like stock, but not impossible.
If the bench test of the starter was successful, I would look at the small wire going to the starter first. Although you mentioned checking terminals and cables already, so might not be that.

[sly]

Check to see if you have voltage on the down side of the fender solenoid when triggered. Could just be bad new part.

[friskyfrankie]

Is the Starter Solenoid Relay OEM or an aftermarket. I've found some of the aftermarket ones to be quirky but I'm sure others have found that to not be the case.

[gadget73]

bridge the fat terminals on the fender relay and see if it spins. if it does, the relay is junk. If nothing happens you probably don't have signal down to the starter, or the starter itself is a dud. If bridging the terminals gets a click from the starter but no rotation, you have power to the solenoid on the starter but either its bad and not passing current, the starter is junk, or the fat cable that carries power to the starter isn't doing that.

[89LincolnTWNcar]

bridge the fat terminals on the fender relay and see if it spins. if it does, the relay is junk. If nothing happens you probably don't have signal down to the starter, or the starter itself is a dud. If bridging the terminals gets a click from the starter but no rotation, you have power to the solenoid on the starter but either its bad and not passing current, the starter is junk, or the fat cable that carries power to the starter isn't doing that.

I bridged the terminals on the fender relay with a screwdriver and got nothing... I only ohm'd out the big and small starter wires I need to do a voltage drop test and see if the solenoid and the starter itself are getting 12V next. When I bench tested the starter it was fine but that could be coincidence...

[sly]

Bad wire somewhere. Check that your engine block ground is good.

[gadget73]

if it does nothing, not even a clunk like its trying to crank but doesn't have the oomph I'll say is a bad connection on the small wire. If the solenoid down at the starter doesn't get pulled it won't do anything. If you have high resistance cables it will at least try, but it will either not actually spin or spin very slowly like a weak battery.

[89LincolnTWNcar]

Bad wire somewhere. Check that your engine block ground is good.

I did have to disconnect that recently when I did the timing cover re-seal, so I'll double check that too.

[89LincolnTWNcar]

if it does nothing, not even a clunk like its trying to crank but doesn't have the oomph I'll say is a bad connection on the small wire. If the solenoid down at the starter doesn't get pulled it won't do anything. If you have high resistance cables it will at least try, but it will either not actually spin or spin very slowly like a weak battery.

I used a 16-18ga wire for that application... I wonder if it's too small or got burnt up by the exhaust. Resistance on it is 0.2ohm but I'll report back after I recheck everything.

[gadget73]

it doesn't pull all that much, 16 should be fine.

[89LincolnTWNcar]

OK so a few months later... I got a brand new starter in and it fired right up and drove fine for a few days. Now it is back to doing exactly what it was doing: go to start and I hear the relay clunk but nothing else. I installed a brand new Motorcraft fender solenoid and nothing. I only put the new solenoid on because it had longer studs for all the ring terminals I have on the hot side. Battery is from 2017 but it was charged and all the lights come on OK, I did boost it as well with my Jump N Carry lead acid battery jumper as well. Now I have a relay freaking out on the drivers side fender near the washer tank/coolant overflow. Isn't there another starter relay over there?
measured voltage drop from negative (-) battery terminal to hot side of fender solenoid and saw a 12 volt drop to around 0.4
im going to go ahead and get a new battery since this one is suspect, it's been sitting around for years and even though it takes a charge, the positive post is a tiny bit loose and its 5.5 years old.

EDIT: I fixed the no start by replacing the positive battery cable. After I lubed it up with some dielectric grease, I saw that even when the nut was completely tight it spun... so new cable went on and she starts fine now. KISS

[sly]

I've had so many terminals fail on me, that's the first thing I check.

[gadget73]

I put a brand new solenoid on mine, it was bad right out of the box. First time I cranked it the starter stayed engaged. NOS Motorcraft, not even a new one. The one on the car randomly worked or didn't. Ended up stealing the used one off the wrecked Mark VII.

[89LincolnTWNcar]

I put a brand new solenoid on mine, it was bad right out of the box. First time I cranked it the starter stayed engaged. NOS Motorcraft, not even a new one. The one on the car randomly worked or didn't. Ended up stealing the used one off the wrecked Mark VII.

Thats always fun... I've heard of retrofitting a diesel glow plug relay in place of the fender relay because they are supposed to be more heavy duty. I had a BWD HD for years and it was alright until the big old style starter started to go out and was welding the contacts. I haven't had that problem since going to the gear reduction starter, supposedly it pulls less current?