Mercury Grand Marquis issues

[2002_lincolnLS]

So I know this is not a Lincoln, however I am just trying to help a friend out.

He has a 2000 Mercury Grand Marquis which has the 4.6.

It will not start, this is a no crank no start. Below is what we have checked.

• 
  Battery good
  Relays for fuel, starter swapped with mine - no change
  PATS light is not blinking, everything electrical seems to work but no starter click

I put my volt meter on the solenoid positive wire, and a ground and had my friend bump the key, nothing.

I am not overly familiar with the car, so I am not sure what else to look at.

It worked fine one day then the next he went to leave the house and nothing.

Any help would be appreciated, luckily he has another car for the time being.

 

[joegr]

So, it you turn the key to run and temporarily jumper 12V to the control terminal (small wire) of the solenoid, will it start and run?

 

[2002_lincolnLS]

I didn't try that but I will, didn't know if that was a good idea or not with modern car electronics.

 

[msgtusmc]

Bad starter, replace. Remove starter take to Autozone or Advance Auto they can check it free. Pepboys will also.

 

[cmack]

bad starter or does he have any transmission issues. Try moving the shifter through the gears

 

[2002_lincolnLS]

Cmack no transmission issues before the no star I did try starting in neutral and park to see if the neutral safety switch was goofed

 

[joegr]

Cmack no transmission issues before the no star I did try starting in neutral and park to see if the neutral safety switch was goofed

I did have the shift linkage get loose on one of my Grand Marquis once. It would be worth checking that.

 

[2002_lincolnLS]

I can take a look, seemed firm, but worth looking at

 

[stumpie]

If there's no 12V at the solenoid positive when the key is turned, it seems like it would be an ignition switch issue, assuming all fuses and relays are good..

 

[MooJohn]

Does the PATS light do anything at all? You should get something out of it just to indicate that the system is working. If you never get any blink out of it the system could be dead and that could result in no start just as if it was triggered and blinking rapidly.

 

[milehighmikey]

I had a 2003 Marauder that did this once. It turned out that the start wire somehow lost its connection within a harness/plug transition. I lost track of the connection and ended up wiring a jumper path from where the signal was good to the other side of the connector that lost it. It was painful from under the car with no lift, but it got done and never acted up again. This all resulted from my son detailing the engine compartment and spraying it down after some minor degreasing work.

 

[2002_lincolnLS]

double post

 

[2002_lincolnLS]

Does the PATS light do anything at all? You should get something out of it just to indicate that the system is working. If you never get any blink out of it the system could be dead and that could result in no start just as if it was triggered and blinking rapidly.

I had a 2003 Marauder that did this once. It turned out that the start wire somehow lost its connection within a harness/plug transition. I lost track of the connection and ended up wiring a jumper path from where the signal was good to the other side of the connector that lost it. It was painful from under the car with no lift, but it got done and never acted up again. This all resulted from my son detailing the engine compartment and spraying it down after some minor degreasing work.

The pats light blinks then when you try to start the car it does turn off. It doesn't blink any consistent code or anything.

I am assuming it is something to do with the power wire to the solenoid.

 

[joegr]

double post

It should be steady when you turn the key on, then go off while starting the car. If it is rapidly flashing with the key on, there is indeed a PATS problem. However, it is normal for it to blink slowly all the time that the key is off. [Warning: this is from my memory of a few years back only.]

 

[2002_lincolnLS]

that is the behavior Joe, it will blink when he key is off, then stop when you turn the ignition.