Electrical problem. Car is in the shop.

[timfromme]

Drove to the toys r us here for xmas shopping. After shopping, I started my Marauder, put her in gear, then she quit. Tried to start, no starter noise, no fuel pump noise, no dinging noise, no dash lights, no radio lights, nothin. Only the heater control panel lit up. Overhead lights work when opening and closing the door. Tried to start her again several times. Same, dead, no nothing. Had no choice but have her towed to the Ford dealership. Fuses? Relay? Fusible link? Short somewhere? Unknown. Ford charging me $140 up front just to look at her. Will post and let you know what they found.

[Blk Mamba]

mine had a similar problem, about a yr. ago, it turned out to be a pinched wire, in the large wire bundle, between the cam cover, and the firewall, $470 later all fixed.

[timfromme]

Another thing I noticed is that the ignition key had to be in the start position to be able to move the shift lever when she died. Shift lever button could not be depressed in the ignition run position. ???? Key cylinder messed up??? Hope its an easy and cheap fix when the techs look at it.

[Mr. Man]

Ever wonder why stuff can't crap out in the driveway and just make life just a wee bit easier.
Keep us posted.

[timfromme]

Wish she did just crap out in my town; Noooo, had to crap out several miles away in another town. $48 to tow it a few feet. Toys R Us was under a mile to the Ford dealership. Shoot was able to see the Ford sign where I was. Gonna call them 7:00 am sharp to see whats up. Would troubleshoot the problem myself, but its freakin below zero right now where I live. Why do cars breakdown in the winter time? And this problem had nothing to do with the weather??? Why didn't she quit running when it was warm out? My Silver Birch is named Sassy B*tch for a reason I guess. My girlfriend named her that, and she (the Marauder, not GF) has been a B*tch lately.

[B.C. Bake]

I know, I am getting funny air bag light issues with mine, and it's costing me $$$, but at least it's running. Keep us posted on your problems, could be us?:censor:

[bawazir]

sorry to hear that, hopfully is a small thing, keep us updated

[Mr. Man]

My Silver Birch is named Sassy B*tch for a reason I guess. My girlfriend named her that, and she (the Marauder, not GF) has been a B*tch lately.
You'll be glad you qualified this ^^^^^should you GF ever read this post ;)

[jabird56]

This was my problem back in JUL 08, look at Posts #32 and #34:

http://www.mercurymarauder.net/forums/showthread.php?t=45367&highlight=wiring

[timfromme]

Ok, so far I was charged for $140 from the Ford dealer to replace the 50 amp ignition fuse. F1.112 was blown. They could not find the problem why the fuse blown. Drove the car maybe 7 miles to have winter tires put on. Fuse blown again. This is what happens when the fuse blows. Start car, foot on brake, Shift to reverse, foot off brake, push on gas pedal, fuse blows. that was the first time. Actually didn't even give it gas. Second time, I was in drive, give gas and fuse blows. Towed back to Ford dealer, pissed off, told them that they need to find whats causing the fuse to blow and told them I'm not paying for the second tow charge.

[timfromme]

Where can I find an electrical diagram of our cars? I'll just troubleshoot it myself if I have too.

[timfromme]

Still in the shop. Fuse finally blown on them when trying to start the car. Still waiting on what they found. Probably wont get car back for several days. :-( Said it could be anywhere in the wiring.

[RF Overlord]

tim, fuse F1.112 feeds the ignition switch. From there, of course, the circuit branches out, but each of those legs has its own lower-value fuse, so if the problem were there, one of those other fuses would have blown. It's got to be in the wiring harness from the Battery Junction Box to the ignition switch or to the Central Junction Box, where the other branch circuits begin.

[Pat]

From what I'm reading I'll bet it's the ignition switch itself.

[Spectragod]

From what I'm reading I'll bet it's the ignition switch itself.

Ding ding ding, I'll double up on that bet, seen a bunch go bad. And as an added bonus, it's easy to change.

[4play]

maybe she's tired of all the abuse you put her through and she just want's to die.

[timfromme]

Yes, My car has been through alot. I think its the switch too cause the tech said none of the other sub fuses went, just the main 50 amp ignition fuse. Gonna call them at 7:00 am sharp monday morning. A Marauder repair manual is now on my christmas list.

[Blackened300a]

In my Mark 8, where the wires came in, the previous owner bolted the clutch pedal and pinched the harness which caused the dead short and popped the main fuse. Im thinking its the harness behind the head thats causing the issue and popping the fuse on your Marauder. You said it would run, then as soon as you stepped on the brake and put it in gear it would die. The engine would torque a little when putting it in gear and it may rub the bare wire and cause the short. ITs common for our cars and the techs probably feel like eliminating all the easy options before pulling things apart to look.

[timfromme]

Ford dealer replaced the blown fuse again and finally the fuse blew at Ford. They did some checks replaced the fuse and could not make it blow again. Told them to go ahead and replace the ignition switch and do an oil change. Ford charged me $380 on top of the $140 that they already have got. Should have eaten the larger towing bill and have the car towed back to my home and troubleshoot it myself. Never again am I having Ford touch my car. Car is making weird knocking noises when starting now and the ignition key dosent snap all the way back to the run postion after I got the car back. Grrrrr. **** Ford. I'll check these problems myself.

(Okay, maybe not Ford itself, But that Ford dealership.)

[MENINBLK]

Another thing I noticed is that the ignition key had to be in the start position to be able to move the shift lever when she died. Shift lever button could not be depressed in the ignition run position. ???? Key cylinder messed up??? Hope its an easy and cheap fix when the techs look at it.

Ignition switch needs to be replaced and adjusted.