1999 ford contour se 2.5L V6 DOHC engine died while driving now won't crank or start ......

435

Asked by Kidd1214 Mar 24, 2013 at 11:25 PM about the 1999 Ford Contour 4 Dr SE Sedan

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

Well I can tell you it's not the battery. I turn on the key to the start position and the dash lights come on and then go
off like normal. And I doubt it's the alternator cause the engine just suddenly died and I still have plenty of battery
juice. I'm thinking it's in the ignition cause the engine was running but died no noise when it died just went off and
wouldn't crank or start or anything after that. I can listen to the radio just fine but it just does nothing at all when the
key is turned to try and turn the engine back on. IDK what could cause the engine to just die and then the starter not
to work after . Any help would be a blessing...

9 Answers

check the ground cable to the chassis, this one could be clobbered up, also the 1/0 battery cable to the engine...your starter needs to pull 300 ccamps thru that- right now it may have fresh + but the negative needs to be cleaned free of corrosion to make a solid ground to the chassis (where the components are) and to the engine, the socdolager of the team!

the ground connection can become "brown" with time and corrosion...galvonic action happens all the time, I could swear I just put that battery in three weeks ago, and now it has a blue afro of corrosion.

galvonics are a trip...I mentioned it's like giving a few eyedroplets of whiskey to a raging alcoholic, just can't do the job, wants to but Shut Down, or into safety mode with ye~

1 people found this helpful.
20

Check the large 20 amp fuse in the underhood fuse box. That fuse powers the starter solenoid and the ignition relay. If it goes, the relay kicks off (so the engine dies) and there's no power to the solenoid so it won't crank over either.

1 people found this helpful.
20

The wiring harness running down the left side under the carpet was pinched under the rear seat, causing an intermittent short that blew the fuse whenever weight was put on the seat. We replaced the wire and routed it carefully to avoid future problems. Two weeks ago the car suddenly died again, with symptoms mirroring a failed fuel pump. The fuel pump connections are accessible through an access panel under the rear seat. On investigation, the fuel pump was not getting power. We traced that to an open circuit from the fuel pump controller module in the trunk to the pump. We replaced that wire and the car is running again.

1 people found this helpful.

It sounds funny but i had same problem.Put tin foil on your battery cable then get jump start.You may just have a lose connection.I had full power for lights ect. but nothing when turned key over did this and it worked.

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