1996 LX 5 speed.

Which is is the more common failure: The starter solenoid or the starter itself?

Starting became erratic... all the lock-out switches check good. Battery cables and grounds test good. Pretty much boils down to the starter/solenoid.

Why Ford changed from their tried-and-true remote solenoid starter system to solenoids on the starters is beyond me. Electrical components tend to work best when kept in dry areas.... not near the road. My '91 with the solenoid on the fender well has yet to have a starter failure and it has over 300,000 miles on it.

Thanks for your input.

It has been equal for me, but that's across all pieces of equipment/vehicles I own. On your car, what sounds do you get? What voltage do get at the battery when trying to start it? Is your battery strong? Let's assume it is, then you should get a good sharp click from the starter selonoid when trying to start it. If not, then it's probably the solenoid. If you do, but the starter does nothing or strains and you get a low voltage reading on the battery, ummm 9 volts or lower. Most likely much lower than 9 if the starter is struggling. Either way, you will need to replace something, so pull the whole thing and have it tested, and hopefully you won't need the whole thing replaced. To do the test by yourself, you could run a hot wire down to the starter and touch it on the terminal of the smallest wire. That should engage the solenoid and then the starter. If you engage the solenoid long enough, you will draw enough current in the wire of the defective part to possibly make the wire warm to very hot, indicating the defective part. With some of my equipment, the selonoid would no longer make contact for the starter to get power.

Any chance your problem is related to a faulty ignition switch? Those things cause some crazy symptoms sometimes.

No.

It has been equal for me, but that's across all pieces of equipment/vehicles I own. On your car, what sounds do you get? What voltage do get at the battery when trying to start it? Is your battery strong? Let's assume it is, then you should get a good sharp click from the starter selonoid when trying to start it. If not, then it's probably the solenoid. If you do, but the starter does nothing or strains and you get a low voltage reading on the battery, ummm 9 volts or lower. Most likely much lower than 9 if the starter is struggling. Either way, you will need to replace something, so pull the whole thing and have it tested, and hopefully you won't need the whole thing replaced. To do the test by yourself, you could run a hot wire down to the starter and touch it on the terminal of the smallest wire. That should engage the solenoid and then the starter. If you engage the solenoid long enough, you will draw enough current in the wire of the defective part to possibly make the wire warm to very hot, indicating the defective part. With some of my equipment, the selonoid would no longer make contact for the starter to get power.

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Pretty much confirms my test results and conclusion that the solenoid is the culprit. Thanks!

I replaced a starter where the solenoid was probably the actual culprit. I could run a wire from the actuator terminal on the solenoid, to the positive terminal on the battery - and it would always crank the engine. Using the ignition switch it was taking more than one or two tries, and getting worse. I opened up the starter to have a look, and found the brushes were worn to about 3/16th"! On some starters (like Saturn SL2's) you can replace the brushes; but on the Escort starter the brushes were spotwelded to the other connections. I wasnt able to open up the solenoid to check it out. On some solenoids (like mopars) you can braze new copper onto the contacts inside the solenoid and go on using them.
So I put on a rebuilt starter.

Thanks all for the info. Believe I'll replace both the starter and solenoid so as to not have to worry about when the old part will fail. Now if the weather would just get better so I can do it.