Unidentified wire and car won't start unless it is touching the battery!

[godzilla1961]

I recently posted about this issue and got zero replies so I figured a picture might help. I bought this car because the former owner had moved and lost his storage. If I could get the car that day he would essentially sell it to me for little more than scrap. I sent a tow guy to pick up the car from the owner's friend. 1995 Lincoln Mark VIII, 98K miles. He told me it had recently started to do the won't shut off thing so I knew it was either the ignition module or the actuator.I had a line on a used steering column just in case so I was good to go. However, he also told me that when the former owner bought the car, there was a previously installed antitheft type wiring harness in the back seat and a "blue wire" that was bundled with the wires feeding into the EDIS 8 module had been "attached to something in the engine compartment fuse box" and when the car didn't shut off the former owner would just detach this blue wire and re-attach it when he wanted to start the car. He had no idea whether this blue wire had, at some time , been part of the anti-theft wiring in the back seat. When I got the car home, I could nnot find a powered fuse spot in the fuse box to attach it to, but I noticed that when I wired in an extending wire and touched the wire to the battery, i would hear the fans turn on and the car could be started. Without the blue wire touching the battery, the engine just spins and spins but does not start. Unless I can figure out what this wire is and where it actually is supposed to go, my fallback position at this point is to install and inline fuse on the wire and then install a toggle switch in the cabin...when I want to go I flip the switch and start the car. I can't just leave the wire touching the battery because the fans won't stop running and the battery will be drained. I don't like to "rig" stuff like this unless I have no other choice . So...if anyone can look at these pictures and give me some advice as to whether the blue wire is part of the OEM wiring and where it might be intended to go I would appreciate it...in fact, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. My local Ford dealer is absolutely clueless. THANKS! Damien

 

[Bangster]

That wire is the power from the VCRM to things like the ICM (this piece), injectors, MAF, VCRM, EVAP, transmission, etc. I made a PDF of the PCM section of the EVTM that shows the red wire goes to a number of things:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0bTn9JB2ny7SWlvVXA2N3lhSjA/view?usp=sharing

Here is the VCRM, showing what fuses an wires it uses. The power to it is from the EEC fuse, the relay is energized by the ignition coil power.

Here is the connector for the VCRM:

Here is the connector you show on the ICM:

And this shows what pins from the PCM it should be getting power from, and the splice it comes from:

Not sure if that helps, would take some leg work to see if all things powered by the VCRM red wire are dead in run or start, or just the ICM, to figure out if there is a problem with the VCRM wiring, or if they specifically targeted the ICM with a relay or other manner to disable the car with the alarm.

 

[Bangster]

Personally I would first check those two fuses, then if I had the constant power to pin 6 of the VCRM, switched (in run or start) at pin 17, and if in run or start 12v out of pin 7. If I did, then I would look for splice s123 (which should be near the ICM that the blue wire is hotwiring) and see if it has been monkeyed around with.

 

[Necrosan]

Looks like there was an aftermarket security system installed in that car at one point.
That blue wire I would imagine is aftermarket and ran from the location in your picture to the 'brain' of the 3rd party security system, likely to disable starting the car until the system was disarmed.

PS - Have you pulled off the electrical tape & seen how/where the blue where is attached? Is there continuity on that red wire still or is it cut and one going to blue, other not connected? Or is there a different connection entirely?
Your fix may be as simple as splicing that red wire back together if the former is true.