2002 Ford Taurus will not start--ideas?

[Lipox1]

Yesterday, the car would not start. The dome lights, headlights, and instrument panel lights illuminate, but there was no sound—not even a click. A friend of ours tried to give us a jump start. After a minute of the cables being connected, I turned the ignition key, and I heard one click. After 10 minutes, I turned the ignition key and it clicked maybe 3 times, but still the engine never got cranking. The battery itself shows no signs of corrosion on the terminals, and it is relatively new (3 months old). The battery connectors are not detectable corroded either. We tried to use a batter conditioner/maintainer, which charges car batteries from a wall electrical outlet. After 4 hours, the battery conditioner said the battery was fully charged. However, the car still would not start—just one click, and then nothing.

Some potentially useful information:
The car in question is a 2002 Ford Taurus.
We live in Massachusetts, and thus far we have had a very cold winter.
We drive our car about 5 days per week on average.
We replaced our battery last Summer. The old battery could be jumped, but starts got progressively harder. It didn’t just “die.”
We took a road trip two months ago. We noticed that whenever we stopped for gas and restarted, the car would start normally, but would struggle to stay idling once the engine started. The check engine light came on and stayed on for several hours. Since then, occasionally, the car has seemed to struggle at idle, although it does fine at highway speeds.

Any advice anyone has would be greatly appreciated.

[maxwedge]

Make sure all the cable connections are clean and tight. If ok sounds like possible starter relay or starter.:

[haiderk]

Originally Posted by maxwedge

Make sure all the cable connections are clean and tight. If ok sounds like possible starter relay or starter.:

Agreed.
Your battery is fine. If you jump start the car you don't need a battery. Since you can't jump start it, it will be starter motor connections or the motor itself.
As for your idling issue, I assume its related. Alternator maybe?
But as was said earlier, check your connections and relays.

[dharris973303]

plenty of posabilities in the start sytem.

anti theft?
key ignition? big keychain?
ignition relay?
loose starter wire?

in oreder of easiness....

does it have antitheft? is the anti-theft light on and does it go out?

2. is there a starter relay, is there at least one more of the same raly there? swap em

3. key loose, does wigling the ignition cylinder change anything?

4. IS IT IN PARK OR NEUTRAL? could be the p/n switch on the tranny.

5. get under the car and grab the starter wire, is it loose? is the secondary trigger wire there? is it loose?

6. starter may be bad, if you have jumper cables and a little confidence, try jumping the starter directly from the batery.

mind you all theese are tests to confirm the problem, nothing has been bought yet.

[Lipox1]

Thank you all for your replies.
It was a broken starter. After the temperature warmed up a bit, the car started, but it did so with a great deal of hesitation. It drove fine and started fine another 10 times or so. And then, right in the RMV parking lot (lo, the irony!), it died. We had it towed to a mechanic, and they ascertained that the starter needed to be replaced.

[haiderk]

The starter should not affect idle. That is an unrelated and possibly unresolved issue that should be looked at. Good luck with it, see what the mechanic says.