No power to dash, lights, ignition doors widows radio.. No crank. Dead

Tiny
CNKFOREVER
  • MEMBER
  • 1998 FORD ESCORT
  • 4 CYL
  • 2WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 130,000 MILES
Car needed jumping. A couple days later needed jumping again. . Randomly would start. Or not. Somet jumps would be dead first 3-5 times trying the ignition before cranking. Always started when it cranked. Changed battery. Worked for about 3 days. Same business. Then driving home. Went dead in middle of road. Put in park. Pushed into parking lot. Put in park. Tow truck couldn't get it to neutral, even with jump battery. Replaced corroded terminals. Took the battery to autozone. Said it was 100% carged and good and that my 4 year old alternator was probably not the problem either. Came hime put battery back in, Started it and worked. For a few more times. Oil, topped off coolant. Jiggled the spark cables to see they were down because the idle sounded like a rocker was loose kind of sound. Went to start it Dead again. No power. Just a click when I turn the key I have the ignition switch out ready to replace it. At 269 dollars I want some professional to give me some advice as to if I am on the right track. Or should I be looking at something else.
Friday, October 17th, 2014 AT 7:24 PM

6 Replies

Tiny
SATURNTECH9
  • MECHANIC
  • 30,869 POSTS
If your alternator is brand new or 4yrs old I would be testing it to see if its good. Then if it tests good I would check for a parasitic draw. But you said the battery went dead while you were driving down the road?If so then sounds like a charging issue.
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Friday, December 14th, 2018 AT 9:35 AM
Tiny
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Thats what we originally thought. Even with the tow service not able to jump it or get it out of park. We thought is was dead. When testing the battery. It was 100% charged and good and had not been the battery or terminals at all. I was told it must have been a problem from the battery to the dash.
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Friday, December 14th, 2018 AT 9:35 AM
Tiny
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How do you test an alternator when you turn the key and no power seems to exist? No cranking or lights or anything?
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Friday, December 14th, 2018 AT 9:35 AM
Tiny
SATURNTECH9
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You can't test the alternator when the engine isnt running. So when it wont crank do you have dash lights etc?Also do you have a multi meter to do some testing?
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Friday, December 14th, 2018 AT 9:35 AM
Tiny
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Well changed the battery terminals. Still didn't work. Changed the ignition switch. Yikes! The switch assembly was 269$. Still didn't work started messing withe the cables on the positive terminal cause the light probe showed no current off the positive terminal. Tightened up the cables and. Walla it worked. I'm not sure I needed the ignition switch but it's already in there. Bad battery connection was my suspect after all that. Thanks for your info.
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Friday, December 14th, 2018 AT 9:35 AM
Tiny
SATURNTECH9
  • MECHANIC
  • 30,869 POSTS
I thought you said you replaced the corroded terminals in your first post. Glad to hear you got it fixed though thats what we like to hear.
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Friday, December 14th, 2018 AT 9:35 AM

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