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Car won't start after replacing water pump

RichW

New CEG'er
Joined
Nov 3, 2003
Messages
9
My car is a 1999 Contour SE, V6, 60,000 miles, ATX.

Last 3 weekends, I have been trying to replace the impeller of my old water pump with a metal one. Just preventative maintenance. The car was running fine. Took out the battery to get some room to work. After removing the old impeller (white, still in good shape), I ran into a great deal of trouble cleaning off the old gasket material. Ended up removing the entire water pump so I could clean it up on the workbench, but because the hose clamps were so inaccessible, I ended up sawing one of the hoses off to remove the entire water pump. What a mess, bad decision, but this is not the problem.

Anyway, when I finally got things back together, and hooked the battery back up, the car wouldn’t start. Dead. Starter wouldn’t crank. (I have had alternator problems in the past, but the engine has never given me any problems, and the car has always started on the first try.)

I have done something seriously wrong, but I can’t figure out what I might have done or what I need to do to fix it. Looking for some ideas. I do not want to tow it to the dealership.

Here’s what I can tell you. The symptoms are a little different each time I connect the battery and try to start it, but basically here is what I see.
1) The starter does not turn over at all. Ever.
2) The LED on the dashboard (PATS light?) almost always is flashing continuously.
3) The front amber turn lights flash slowly on and off.
4) Once in a while, some of the indicator lights come on briefly, but usually they do not.
5) Once, I heard a continuous chattering noise coming from the dashboard. Went away after I disconnected the battery again.
6) I’ve tried both of my keys, but neither works.
7) I’ve checked all of the smaller fuses in the fuse box but I haven’t found any blown. Some of the bigger fuses, I don’t know what to look at, so I don’t know if those are blown or not.
8) My battery charger indicates the battery is fully charged, and the starting system was working fine before the water pump replacement.

The only really irregular thing I did was that, that first weekend, I had the water pump out but had to move the car to close the garage door. The car was in Park and wouldn’t move, so I reconnected the battery and turned the key to get the car out of park. I was following the CEG HOWTO and had performed this step as part of the water pump replacement: “If you have an ATX, remove the plug and cable from the top of the tranny and set it out of the way to keep it dry.” I don’t know if this is important, but I am sure I forgot to reconnect this when I re-connected the battery. Maybe this is my problem, I don’t know. But I believe this is when I started to see the problem.

I have disconnected my battery countless times in the past and never had any problems like this.
I have read some of the threads dealing with PATS, but I just don’t see the connection between what I did and how PATS might have been disabled.

Any ideas?

Thanks.
 
My car is a 1999 Contour SE, V6, 60,000 miles, ATX.

Anyway, when I finally got things back together, and hooked the battery back up, the car wouldn’t start. Dead. Starter wouldn’t crank. (I have had alternator problems in the past, but the engine has never given me any problems, and the car has always started on the first try.)

I have done something seriously wrong, but I can’t figure out what I might have done or what I need to do to fix it. Looking for some ideas. I do not want to tow it to the dealership.

Here’s what I can tell you. The symptoms are a little different each time I connect the battery and try to start it, but basically here is what I see.
1) The starter does not turn over at all. Ever.
2) The LED on the dashboard (PATS light?) almost always is flashing continuously.
3) The front amber turn lights flash slowly on and off.
4) Once in a while, some of the indicator lights come on briefly, but usually they do not.
5) Once, I heard a continuous chattering noise coming from the dashboard. Went away after I disconnected the battery again.
6) I’ve tried both of my keys, but neither works.
7) I’ve checked all of the smaller fuses in the fuse box but I haven’t found any blown. Some of the bigger fuses, I don’t know what to look at, so I don’t know if those are blown or not.
8) My battery charger indicates the battery is fully charged, and the starting system was working fine before the water pump replacement.

I have disconnected my battery countless times in the past and never had any problems like this.
I have read some of the threads dealing with PATS, but I just don’t see the connection between what I did and how PATS might have been disabled.

Any ideas?

Thanks.
First, how old is the battery? If original, it could be the problem. Second, what do you mean almost always regarding the PATS light? It should flash at a certain rate all the time. Third, are these lights slowly flashing on their own or are you operating the turn signal indicator? If not, could be a short circuit somewhere. Fourth, by some of the indicator lights coming on, in what context is this? When you turn the key or when the car is just sitting or? Fifth, the chattering didn't have anything to do with when you tried starting the engine? Sixth wouldn't (shouldn't) make any difference. Seventh, probably not relevant until more info is given. Eighth, again, how old is the battery? You could have lost a cell in those three weeks merely by coincidence. These cars (maybe most) do funny things when the battery is failing. You may also want to look at the plates that go on the battery terminals along with the battery cable ends to make sure none of the auxiliary wires came adrift.
Karl
 
This sounds typical of a dead/dying/low voltage battery, I've been through two batteries on my 99 SVT and suffice to say the car acts like it has a mind of it's own when a battery is on it's last leg. I would save yourself the grief and try a known good battery, since you removed the battery it may have taken it's last bump before giving up on ya.

It's also been common for CEGers to get their battery tested and it passes with 'flying colors' only to end up replacing the battery as the final solution.

You may also want to try about 2000 CCA to jump the car and see if she starts , drive for an 30 odd minutes above 2000 rpm (IIRC full charge on the alt kicks in at 1500 rpm) or so on the highway and see if it holds a charge.

good luck!
 
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I know that after 3 or so weeks my Optima Red top got down to around 10 volts with the car just sitting, so that is running pats, the clock and an alarm ...

you really should go more then two weeks without running the car or charging the battery
 
I'd say battery as well. I think it's a Motorcraft BXT40R. I have had batteries say "charged" on my Exide charger and try starting, nothing, or clicking relay noise, even if the headlights and radio work. My Mystique had a low battery once, and the wipers turned on mysteriously. A clue: if you have tried starting your car and no luck, recharge battery and it says it's charged very soon after you connect the charger.
 
I JUST replaced a two year old Optima Red Top, it was only putting out THREE AMPS, but read 12v, dead cell perhaps? :p Too bad for me I couldn't find the receipt. :( :(

The Contour seems like love eating batteries.

good luck! :)
 
Thanks, everyone. Seems, the consensus is that it's my battery - somehow I never would have guessed that because it was working so well. Well, I don't mind buying a new one. The current battery is not original - I just checked - I bought it 3 1/2 years ago. That's older than I thought.

Just in case anyone's interested, here are answers to some of the questions posted, FYI.
1) That PATS LED almost always was blinking so fast it looked like it was on continuously. Never blinked out any codes.
2) When the front turn signals flashed, it was both sides, almost like some kind of warning signal.
3) Those indicator lights that once in a while came on only came on when I turned the key, and I don't think they stayed on very long.
4) That chattering inside the car started when I connected the battery and was not related to turning the key.

Well, it will take me a few days to buy a battery but I'll post the results.
 
if you can spend the extra money on a Motorcraft battery, yes it maybe alitte bit more but most people have very good luck with them, they have a 18 month warrenty and just about every one my family has had in their cars lasts near 7 years
 
Well, bought a new battery and installed it.

Car started right up. That was the problem. I guess that seemed obvious to everyone but me.

Well, hopefully, I learned a lesson here. The battery in my 2003 Ranger is exactly 4 years old, so as soon as I get the Contour on the road again, the truck's getting a new battery too.
 
Make sure the wiring is on the battery good. You could also have some bad wiring as well.

I would have checked that too, for some odd reason I see a lot of duratecs with serious battery cable corrosion
 
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