eblade

The Effect here makes no sense from the Cause, so I'm lost :D

My gf has a 1995 Taurus.
Saturday afternoon, she stopped at a store, went to restart the car, and no power. The ground wire on the battery had managed to vibrate itself loose.

I come by that evening, jam the wire onto the terminal to get a connection, start it up just fine, drive it home. It is dark outside, so I leave it till morning.

Sunday rolls around, I unscrew the battery cable terminal, put the wire back in there, jam it back down so tight it is NOT going anywhere, re-tighten terminal to battery. Power looks good.

Turn key, starter spins, engine cranks, but does not start.

I figure, from the known symptoms, we've got one of two problems. No fuel, no spark. I don't mess with spark plugs, so I figure I'll test the fuel. Tongiht, I find the fuel pressure test connection. Open it up, use a screwdriver to push down the little notch in there, get a very small trickle of fuel, and that's it. No more gas comes out.

So, I -think- then that i've narrowed it down to lack of fuel. Honestly, I'm much more familiar with GM and Mopar products, having never personally owned a Ford before. In all of my 90's-ish GM products, holding that notch would generate a small stream of fuel, until I let it go. So, I'm assuming that it works similarly in the Ford.

One thing I should mention, is that about 3-4 months ago, a local mechanic shop replaced the fuel filter and did a spark plug change on it.

(1) What could possibly have happened to have caused this? I completely don't understand how it could've been running fine except for the ground wire on Saturday, and on Sunday it's totally hosed.

(2) What do I test next, and how?

Your help is greatly appreciated! :D

thefonz

It could be alot of things. On some of the Fords, there is a small ground wire coming off of the neg terminal. If this wire does not have a good connection. Also, with any vehicle you need to have good clean connections and tight. Pos. and neg. Other possibilities to name a few.... Fuel pump relay, inertia switch,fuses or fusible links, fuel pump, fuel filter, fuel pressure regulator.

eblade

so, is my theory on the testing the fuel correct, then, that with the key on, if i push on the valve, i should get a small stream of fuel instead of a very small trickle?

also, it was the smaller ground wire that had come out of the battery terminal, which caused absolutely nothing to function .. although the larger wire was left connected, without the smaller wire hooked up nothing happened at all.

thefonz

Yep, you should get a strong stream of fuel. The fuel injected Fords need like 35 psi to run.

eblade

well, good to know. Now to figure out what part is failing, and/or how it came to fail.

Any suggestions on where to look first? Looking at this engine is like someone speaking French to me, some of the words sound the same, but that's about it :D

SHOZ123

You can force the fuel pump on using the data link connector. Ground the connector marked fuel pump with the key on.



Also make sure the roll over switch in the trunk isn't triggered.

eblade

Hm. Where is this switch located?

Data link connector hiding behind glove box, as i've read?

SHOZ123

Data link connector is under the hood on the passenger side along the firewall.

Fuel pump switch is in the trunk on the drivers side behind the lining.

eblade

alright, found fuel pump switch, there's a big hole in the lining that has a big sticker identifying it under it.. switch was already pushed in, i tried pushing it, and it didn't go anywhere..

next break from work, i'll head out and see if i can find that data connector

eblade

Alright, Good news (I think): Found connector, shorted terminal, relay goes "click!" gas pump goes "whirrr!" i hit the test spot, and i get a majestic spray of gasoline reminiscient of the Fountains at Ceasars.

Bad news: Still not starting, don't know where to go from here. I guess this means however that I can eliminate the Pump and the Filter from the list of potential issues?