98 contour, will crank but won't fire

[outlaw7532]

I'm kind of lost. I understand I'm looking for a short. I also have a ohm meter. I need to place a piece of wire on each fuse in the fuse box or I need to follow the wires coming from each fuse to where it meets a terminal and check there?

[rhandwor]

You are checking the wire from the fuse to whatever it is supplying. One test checks the wire isn't broken or bleeding off somewhere some where. The other checks for a wire going to ground. Also touch the one wire and put the meter on other wires next to it to check for two wires touching.
It has to be unplugged on both ends and a diagram is needed to check for splices.
I found two wires touching on my sons Toyota Supra. My Ford had wires with insulation coming off and a broken wire. On the Toyota I slit some small vacuum hose and covered the wire where it touched and taped it up.

[outlaw7532]

Well my plan is to completely take the harness out and start there or would it be easier to just check it in the car? I have another vehicle and 4 day vacation so I should have plenty of time either way.

[rhandwor]

Its easier to work on when its on a big table with room to work. It takes time to R&R the harness. You will have to use your own judgement. Hopefully you will find the problem. I had a Mazda 929 that had a problem in the wires between the distributor and computer. I couldn't find what it was but run a new section of shielded pair wiring which fixed the problem. Once I knew where the problem this was the easiest fix. Any wiring in a wiring shield has to be repaired with a shielded wire or the vehicle won't run correctly.

[outlaw7532]

Well I took the harness out and only found one wire with broken insulation. It was right under the fuse box. I took it back to the dealer. I will keep everybody posted.

[outlaw7532]

So the dealer said the fuse box is bad now. What are the chances of that?

[rhandwor]

I would assume you would have fixed it yourself if you went to the trouble to pull the harness. If you used your fingers and wiggled the wire to see if it is broken you would know.
The labor to replace a wire would be about one hour shop time. R & R the fuse box install a new one is worth more.
You did save yourself some future problems by finding the problem.

[outlaw7532]

I had to take it back to the dealer because I couldn't trace the wire. They said the computer is getting power going out but there is a problem with a relay under the dash that isn't putting the power to the rest of the car. They are tracing it now.

[outlaw7532]

The new diagnosis with the car is that the anti theft system is bad. Either the key with the computer chip is bad or the system is not allowing the car to start. That really doesnt make sense though because I don't see how the car would die while driving if the system was bad. Anybody have other ideas?

[outlaw7532]

Well they finally found the problem! I took it to another Ford place. The junction box? is corroded and some of the wires aren't touching to the electrical connections. Labor to diagnose it the first time, labor to install, part #F5RZ14A067AA, and diagnose after install runs $485. Part should be here tomorrow and hopefully everything gets fixed.

[outlaw7532]

Well the fuse box under the hood didn't fix the problem. There is still a short in the wiring harness.

[rhandwor]

I would really complain that you paid the money you expect the car to run.
The more you complain they will press the mechanic to fix the problem. Go to the dealership owner.

[outlaw7532]

Wow, it's finally fixed. Here's the whole story by the tech. The harness was shorting out so it burned the computer, which shorted the computer, the underhood fuse box was shorted because of the broken relay points inside it, and there were about 20 other wires that were not a complete wire anymore. So long story short. The computer, engine fuse box, repair the broken wires, and with labor was just shy of $1300. I also did a prevenative maintenance and just replaced the cps sensor and fuel pump before I took it there. I let them keep it awhile and it's $89 an hour at Ford to look at it. I didn't rush the service manager and he helped me out alot and put an experienced tech on it after the other one failed out. Anyway, my $3000 beater car turned out to be more than expected but it runs now and hopefully it stays that way.

[rhandwor]

I'm glad they fixed the problem for you even though it was expensive.

[outlaw7532]

WOW. Ok the car runs good now. In the process of making it run, Ford broke the trim piece that goes over the seatbelt, the fuel gauge works right when it wants to, and the steering is messed up. I think somebody didn't put something back in place. I have to turn the wheel almost halfway left to go straight and when I push the gas any bit at all it pulls hard right but the wheel doesn't move. Once you get off the gas, it goes back straight. When it hits bumps in the road, sounds like running over railroad tracks. Never did that before.