Tested my motorcycle solenoid on my cars 12 v and should not of. Car will not turnover. Lights, power inside, etc. Battery is fine 12.4 V but no continuity. Checked any related fuses relating to ignition. Could it be one of those enclosed fuses like solenoid.
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What fuse did I blow - 1999 Ford Contour SVT
- Thread starter Mr Bill
- Start date
cclngthr
CEG'er
Might have blown out the starter solenoid. If you have power to the lights, and all accessories, that could be it. If you don't have power to anything, it sounds like the main fuse blew, which is a large 100 amp fuse in the underhood fuse block.
Well its, not the starter. Removed and tested at two Oreilly stores. No wires fried. Reinstalled. Either the battery which reads 12.4 v is messed up or there is an intermittant short,fuse link. The starter once in a while clicks. I checked continuity and sometimes its there sometimes not (cable to cable).
The battery may have some cells that have gone high resistance, at 4 years old, this wouldn't surprise me. Did you check the battery voltage at the terminals while you tried to crank?
Batteries that live with underhood temperature swings rarely make it to 5 years anymore it seems, put it in the trunk and it will last damn near forever.
Batteries that live with underhood temperature swings rarely make it to 5 years anymore it seems, put it in the trunk and it will last damn near forever.
I learned a long time ago it's not the cold that kills these batteries so much nowadays but the heat since the engine are so compact. That insulation in the battery is not so much for the cold but the heat. Good comment.
Since the mid-90's, I've seen some factory battery trays with shrouds that have a "cold air intake" tube to the front of the vehicle, it is the heat. We had a 96 Mercury Tracer LTS with a fresh air intake battery shroud.
The Mazda Miata came from the factory with the battery in the trunk and it's not unusual for Miatas to get 8 to 12 years from a battery.
Sears checke dthe battery twice and said it charged up quickly and showed me the data but have not looked at it. Oreillys tested the battery twice. The one thing I can't explain is why does it click after sitting overnight then no more clicks. Could the starter relay be bad and work in
I've had batteries tested by AutoZone and even the Ford dealer and still had bad batteries. These quick charge/load tests don't let the battery rest long enough before loading them often don't find weak cells. I have a battery hygrometer which measures the specific gravity of the acid/water mix in the cells and I've condemned several batteries with this tool when quick tests at Autozone and others said the battery was fine. Cell chemistry tests will find bad/weak cells very quickly and reliably.
You have a voltmeter? Read the battery voltage right on the battery posts while someone else is cranking the engine. You can also use this method to look for bad cables and connections in the heavy wiring between the battery and starter. The symptoms you're describing point to a high resistance cell in the battery or a connection between battery and starter or battery and ground that is going high resistance when it sees cranking current.
You have a voltmeter? Read the battery voltage right on the battery posts while someone else is cranking the engine. You can also use this method to look for bad cables and connections in the heavy wiring between the battery and starter. The symptoms you're describing point to a high resistance cell in the battery or a connection between battery and starter or battery and ground that is going high resistance when it sees cranking current.
Looked at the starter relay and was going to test per you tube example with 12 v source. First upon opening, observed a capacitor covering slightly blown apart (in middle of relay and hard to fully see). Also tested later and no conductivity based upon the diagram that some have on the side cover. Going to buy a new one.
Starter relay replaced but still an issue. I then then watched a you tube video on how to isolate starter problems. It is either an ignition switch relay or clutch relay for stick shifts. I looked at the fuse box under the dash pulled the ignition relay and noticed very heavy burn marks. No voltage coming in. In the process of cleaning up the contacts by taking apart the fuse box( in layers). The contacts look OK and some plastic melted which I have to fix.. Putting back together tonight. Could some of the wires into the box which are many have some damage and should look for that also. All other replays and fuses not blown or burn marks. The only burn marks so far are the ignition switch. It appears when I shorted my battery the ignition switch blades heated up and melted the plastic around it. A neighbor relay melted slightly but works.
After much trial and error but learning how to test relays, test for drop voltages, checking conductivity and examining wires here is the problem.
The positive and negative cables which are insulated but tied together like in a line melted together in a small section. Once I removed the plastic ties they would not come apart. A little heating and they separated with some wire exposed but cables intact. Will get used ones some time but taped up and car starts.
Currently charging battery fully since it was low after testing and will check on alternator/charging system to see if any other wires were impacted.
Lesson learned - Just because you have conductivity or 0.0 ohms resistance does not mean your wires are good. Just a small amount of resistance which will not be detected from a regular ohm meter may indicate a bad wire.
The positive and negative cables which are insulated but tied together like in a line melted together in a small section. Once I removed the plastic ties they would not come apart. A little heating and they separated with some wire exposed but cables intact. Will get used ones some time but taped up and car starts.
Currently charging battery fully since it was low after testing and will check on alternator/charging system to see if any other wires were impacted.
Lesson learned - Just because you have conductivity or 0.0 ohms resistance does not mean your wires are good. Just a small amount of resistance which will not be detected from a regular ohm meter may indicate a bad wire.