May have some bad news for you. Our 1998 Mercury Mystique LS Duratec ATX did the same thing, at about 45K. You turn the key it clicks and clicks, but no start. It only took ten seconds of cranking to start the car at first. It got worse fast. We took the car into the dealer, and they replaced the starter the solenoid, and some wiring. Didn't fix the problem. Finally we found a TSB, and I took it to the dealer. The dealer took a look at the gear the starter turns to start the engine. It was totally warped, thus the no start, and the click. They replaced the gear, however, it took them four days. (They had to drop the tranny, and the front sub-frame to replace it.) Bottom line, the starter was ruined by continual abuse, the gear was shot, and the bill $2300.00, however the dealer talked to Ford, and Ford paid $2050.00 on the bill, and all of the first bill. They wouldn't pay for the second starter. I was rather pleased with this, more so because the car was 9K over the warranty.
I really hope this is not your problem, cause it's a pain to get fixed, it costs a lot. Plus the dealer won't want to do it, and they'll most likely pretend no TSB exists for this problem. Take my advice, do some internet searching and take the TSB to them.
Never mind the search, here's a copy of the TSB.
Make : MERCURY Model : MYSTIQUE Year : 1998
Service Bulletin Num : 6906 Date of Bulletin: SEP 01, 1999
Component: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:STARTER ASSEMBLY
Summary Description:
EXHIBITING A STARTER GRINDING NOISE AND / OR LACK OF STARTER DRIVE ENGAGEMENT. *TT
Last edited by red99sesport; 12/04/03 03:43 AM.
--Looking for Commodore stuff (Drives, Units, Amiga, games, etc)If anyone has any of this laying around and wants it gone, lemme know