Hello everyone!

I have a 93 Taurus which will not start.

When I turn the key, the starter will not engage and there is no noise at all coming from the engine.

The lights inside the car ad outside work fine, so I am assuming the battery has power. When I try to jump the car, it gets the same result of simply silence.

Could this be the starter or something electrical, like a coil or something?

Thanks everyone!

 

the battery terminal, the positive, also has a bluish white powdery substance around it also.

 

I would clean the battery cable terminals, but since you have power to everything and the lights are OK, I would say starter/start solenoid/ and or connections leading to them. Not the coil.

It could also be something in the ignition switch. You would need to get down to the solenoid to check that out.

Hope this helps,

Bob

 

Is the selenoid for the ignition inside the ingition switch deeper in the steering column?

Come to think of it, a few times the key has had issues releasing from the ignition a few times...could this be a symptom of the ignition problem?

 

No the solenoid (if remote)/relay we're talking about would usually be mounted on the fender well or in that vicinity. The engine you have would determine the configuration of the starter/starter circuit.

Here is an Autozone link for the location of relays/solenoids.

http://www.autozone.com/az/cds/en_us...rInfoPages.htm

Your problem removing the key may or may not be involved. If it indicated a problem with the contacts, yes, but if it was something inside the cylinder - probably not.

When you've located the starter relay devices, check the current in and out when you key the ignition switch. That will tell you if the ignition switch is working.

Anytime you have a problem with a starter, first clean off all the connections, then make sure the battery is charged and in good shape. That usually takes care of 75 % of starter problems. Then it goes to relays/solenoids/starter itself, then ignition switch and its circuit.

Hope this helps,

Bob

 

i have a tool called the gt-11 voltage detector but have no idea how to use it on the taurus to test the circuit. any ideas?

 

Forget the gizmo; first clean the battery terminals and your cable ends at the battery, the engine and chassis grounds, and at the starter (if you can access it). THe gizmo won't read any voltage if the cables aren't making good contact with the battery terminals.

 

I cleaned the terminals Sunday and checked the wires to make sure there wasn't any damage to them. The wiring inside the hood looks ok to my untrained eye. I got underneath the car and the wires going into the starter along with their connections seem to appear to be in working shape.

I am not sure how to read a current, however. I cannot get it anywhere whithout towing it and am relying on the voltage tester but it does nothing if I put it up to the battery terminals, including using it my other car which works fine by simply touching either battery terminal...

 

If you touch the positive terminal with the positive probe of the voltage tester and the neg to the neg and you get zero volts (assuming tester is set to measure about 15 volts DC ) then I'd say the battery is toast. If the tester works on another car fine, then that would seal the deal for me. The question is then why did the battery die? Is it time (2+ years old?) or is charging system not working (don't want to kill your new battery and end up in the same situation).