No crank. No ON. No accessory

[Black03Marauder]

Anyone have the electronics just suddenly stop working? This car has been my daily for 13 years. All the electronics on it have worked until now.

Turning the key to start/on/accessory does nothing, not even a clicking noise like a dead battery. No fuel pump noise when turned to ON either. At first, I thought the battery was dead. I took it to an autoparts place who charged it and told it wasn't dead when they got it. Put the battery back in and nothing has changed.

What I have done is I took my multimeter. Switched it to Ohms resistance and I found that I can make a circuit between everything from the positive battery terminal to ALL of the fusible links in the central junction box, that big 40 amp fuse just past the battery terminal and the link between the central junction box and the main wiring harness. I also made a circuit between the negative battery terminal and the ground with no noise. All the fuses look perfect and all the circuits had no noise, no cuts and read the same amount. Which makes me think its not the central junction box.

Now I'm thinking ignition switch. Is there a diagram on this website for ignition switch/starter relay/solenoid setup? I can't seem to find that particular aspect of wiring on those 4 wiring diagram jpgs. If it's similar to the one in the Hayne's manual, don't worry I already have the Hayne's for a Crown Vic.

Speaking Hayne's wiring diagram. What does the IG stand for in "IG FUSE LINK 50A". It's on the tip of my tongue and it's driving me nuts.

Any thoughts of what else it could be would help too. :help:

[NIGHTHAWK]

Do you have another key? Possibly a bad chip.

[justbob]

Check the battery cable to under hood fuse box connection.


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[Black03Marauder]

Do you have another key? Possibly a bad chip.I never thought of that. I can check that tomorrow. Right now its pouring with rain and I'd have to reconnect the battery in a thunderstorm.

One thought in the meantime...Will changing the ignition switch piss off the anti-theft system somehow and render all my keys useless?

[Black03Marauder]

Check the battery cable to under hood fuse box connection.


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I took my multimeter and I could make a circuit between the terminal to the fuse box to all the fuses in the box. no noise. no interference. Could make a circuit all the way from the positive battery terminal to fusible links in the underhood fusebox

Negative battery terminal also connects good to the ring terminal to the ground.

And that 40 amp fuse tested good too. Fuse and circuit to positive terminal.

[Turbov6Bryan]

Continuity check will not tell you anything if it's 1 copper strand or 100 strands in one wire. As in you could have a wire with 100 strands and 99 of them can be cut, but it will ohm out fine. Put it under a load and voltage will disappear

Please do why justbob said, then bust out your meter on volts Test each fuse on both ends ( power in power out).

Show us a picture of your battery cables, are they green with corrosion?

[Zack]

Sounds like the ignition switch or cable

[Black03Marauder]

OK. Update. I was going to wait for the rain to stop and be all safe about it, but There's a tropical storm over us

Battery's connected now. With the battery connected there are no interior dome lights, no central locking, no cigarette lighter, no power seats. The only thing that works is the PATS light on the dash

I tried the key option. It's not that. Tried both keys, still nothing. The PATS light turns solid when I take the key out, then goes out. Is that signifigant?

On to fuse box. turned the key to ON. Turned the multimeter to DC voltage and checked every fuse in the underdash fusebox and the big 40 amp just aft of the battery. Checked the terminal going into the underhood fuse box. Even checked every fuse in the underdash fusebox while I was at it. Checked both sides of all those fuses. Everything coming back with a signal on both sides. Are there any other fuse boxes besides those two? Also, if I turn the key to off, I checked a couple fuses and they read waaay higher voltages. Is that significant?

Where do I go from here?

Also, pics of my terminals(linked because huge)

http://imgur.com/Y4Ap3EA

http://imgur.com/8Qblt6Z

[Turbov6Bryan]

Ummmm so it's wayyyyy higher?

When you checked the first fuse its 12 volts right? Or do you have a dead battery?

Key off
What is battery voltage on the battery posts
What is the battery voltage on the cables

Key on
What is the battery voltage on the battery posts
What is the battery voltage on the cables

[Black03Marauder]

Found the problem, the guy at the auto parts store never charged the battery! Battery's been dead this whole time. Everything works fine now. That's what I get for trusting people, I guess.

[Turbov6Bryan]

Well glad you figured it out :)

It's impossible to load test a dead battery, so they probably just checked it for a dead short or broken cell

I'd go back and give him a knuckle sammich

[redmercy04]

Lesson learned. Now go out and buy your own battery charger or jump off box. People nowadays SMH

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[1Marauder]

OMG...

What a bonehead!