Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Ignition electrical trouble when starting

for the past few weeks my brothers car a 95 se v6 auto has been out of commision.
The problem is I can't turn the key and get the car to start. The trouble is in the starter relay. (# 109 in the Haynes book on pg 12-27 I think that it is the grey/ white wire that runs from the ignition switch to this starter relay the # 2 wire on the relay diagram. I am able to cross the #1 and #5 wires and the car runs fine . I do not need a new relay because I have swapped them and still no go. I checked the voltage of the #2 wire gr/wt wire and I get about 3 volts when on my svt I get 0. there is some thing wrong there. I want to know where the statrer relay Diode is I can't find it? the #2 gr/wt wire I have ran an ohms meter on it and it does not run all the way through it this because of the diode?

Your help is most appreciated,
Brent Lundgren

Diode is in engine compartment fuse box.

This car ever have an alarm? Maybe the starter cut out is still there and it failed??

Seems exactly the same Problem!!

Last summer roughly from July to September.
Starting acted intermittenly . But when I
just put there for a couple of days , it
worked again.

Finally, when I traced all wires according
to Haynes Manual, I found it seems that the
Diode (located in Engine Compartment Fuse Box) maybe the cause. But when I test it
with an Ohmeter, it seems not bad with a very
small reisitance in one direction and an almost
blocking resistance in the other direction,
which is a Diode should be.
When I shortcut the Diode, everything seems OK.

btw: This "bug" costed me over $300 to get the
starter replaced, which didn't help at all.
I consulted at least 3 mechanics, they
surprisingly agreed on their judgements
of my weak starter. And finally I followed
one of them and get the starter replaced,
which they claimed, is really a challenging
job for a mechanic.

Damned Ford!!

I have already replaced the starter it fired up 2 times and then never started again. untill I found out how to hot wire it.

So there should be some resistance with the diode?

I ran the ohms meter again and got no reading. could the diode be bad also how do you get the fuse box in the engine bay out to get a look at the this diode?
the alarm side of the relay wire #1 I get 11-12 volts the same as I get out of my svt so it is not the problem.

Yeah!
I also learn a lot about starting from that,
such as hot wire it you said, and finally
almost become a start expert.

For my car, I can find that Diode from the
the fuse box whose size is like a fuse.
At first I cannot get it. When I have located
all fuses and relays according Haynes Manual,
I feel the remaining one have to be the Damned
Diode,even it is not labelled on it.

If you still cannot find it, just Hot Wire it
as you did. Now I have known how the starter
and starter solonoid work together to crank
the engine. Just connect the "+" of battery to
the suitable head of the starter,it works!

I think maybe it is FORD's new anti-theft function. Now nobody can get your car run
even if you give him the key. Only you can
get it move.

Contour 95, GL, V6, ATX