Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Stranded

Hi everyone..Im a newbie here. Although I have been visiting for quite some time. I have picked up a lot of usefull information off these forums from the knowledgable people that post here.
I recently purchased a champagne 97 contour LX loaded with leather, sunroof, power everything. Pretty low kilometers..under 70,000. Everything was going well until yesterday when I was visiting a mall about 40kms away from home. I returned to the car after shopping ..approx 30 minutes.. turned the key and nothing except for a click under the passengerside dash. Power windows work. Lights work..dash etc But car will not turn over. Anyways I got a tow to the local Ford dealer today. I was just wondering if anyone else on these forums has had this problem and what am I in for on monday when I visit Ford.
Hope someone can help
Thanks

Possible causes of a "No crank" situation include:

PATS fault (Module or Key)
Ignition switch fault
Clutch interlock fault (if manual)
Neutral Safety Switch fault (Automatic)
Starter relay or solenoid
Starter
Cabling

Did you try using a spare key to see if that would work? Those goofy PATS keys could cause this exact problem.

Is the "THEFT" light giving off a three flash code (or any other) when you try to start the car?

Steve

Thanks for responding. As for the PATS key. Car only came with one key and keyless entry thingy. Im thinking its gotta do something with the solenoid or the clutch as you mentioned. Buddy from Ford is going to call me tonight with the diagnosis. Funny thing was when I got to the dealer this afternoon they were pushin in another lx. Whatever it is I hope its covered under the ESP. Crossing Fingers.

Ford called. Summin to do with an aftermarket alarm .. never new I had one... tripping the starting mechanism.