97 Taurus Dead (not for the rookies)

97 Taurus 3.0:

When you hit the key, nothing happens. No click, no dimming domelight, no dash lights. I tested the fuse block and found that the entire lower half of the block was dead accept the BK LPS. This dead section includes the EEC IGN Coil and Starter relay. I tried the ignition switch and the neutral safety switch. Diagnostic computers do not link up because there is no power to the EEC. If I jump power to the EEC fuse, the car will start with the key, but will not turn off with the key. I imagine that there is a short somewhere or a melted fusable link (cannot find any fusable links). Has anyone ever heard of this problem or dealt with this problem before? I will greatly appreciate any feedback. Thanks

Have you looked in the under hood fuse box also? There are fuses in there that power the instrument fuse panel.

Yes, all the fuses in the underhood block are good and all the relays in there are good.

Look behind the fuse panel for any water intrusion that may be corroding the connections or a broken wire that comes inside the vehicle. I don't think there is a "magic" fix for it without getting into the wiring and looking for a break or bad corrosion. I know of no common pattern failures to point you to the area. Good luck.

Thanks, I'll need it! I am trying a new inside the car fuse block today. There seems to be power at the harness connection for those fuses which are not operational. There are at least 2 power all the time and 2 key on power at the harness, but still the fuses do not light. Seems like something inside the fuse block, but I guess it could be that another one of the wires at the harness should have power that does not at this time. I'll post how the used block turns out. keep your fingers crossed.

Good luck and let us know.

Tried the fuse box, didn't change a dang thing. Could the multifunction box possibly be causing this? It plugs directly into the back of the fuse block. I don't think it would cut power to all those fuses, but this is a FORD afterall.

OK, now I tried the multifunction box and nothing is different. Were could the power to those fuses be getting lost?

Post the fuse numbers that have lost power and I will search the wiring diagrams at shop tomorrow and will get back with you. Have you disassembled the layers of the fuse block? There are brass connections that are layered behind the fuse panel. We had one that had a wire broken inside the kick panel on drivers side. keep us informed. Don't forgot to post fuse numbers. Thanks.

The original fuse block I had taken apart and saw the layers. Instead of messing with it I did try a used fuse block. That didn't change anything. I am at home now and do not have the numbers with me. It is the bottom three rows on the block. I will post at work tommorow which numbers. This car is driving me nuts.

Actually the bottom 4 rows of fuses are out.
Bottom Row: Empty, INSTR ILLUM, LT LOW BEAM, and RT LOW BEAM
Next Row Up: SHIFT INT LOCK, BK LPS A/C (This one has power), STARTER RELAY, and RADIO MUTE
Third Row Up: ABS, EEC IGN COIL, AIR BAG ALT LPS, GAUGES WRN LPS
4th row up: AIR BAG, LIGHT OUT MOD, TURN SIGNAL, and Empty

In the under hood fuse panel there are 3 fuses that feed the ignition switch. These are fuses 1, 3, 5. Wire from fuse 1 is tan/black, wire from fuse 3 is light green/pink, wire from fuse 5 is violet. Check these wires at the ignition switch. If there is current on them at the switch, I would suspect a bas or mis adjusted switch. Lights are fed from under hood fuse 22. It is a dark blue/orange wire. If there is no current on these wires in vehicle, you will have to look for a broken wire, connection or corrosion under the hood. Good luck and if I can help any more, yell.

Thanks for the info, but something is confusing me. First of all, there are no numbers on the fuse block, so when you say fuse 1, 3, 5, and 22, I don't know which ones these are. Next, there are no wires of those colors at the ignition switch. I am not sure why. Maybe wrong scematic?
97 Ford Taurus 3.0

I looked at the 97 Taurus wiring. Look at the fuse box covers and see if fuse numbers are located in it. I will look again tomorrow at the shop. Damn, how far are you from Ky? :banghead: It sure is a lot easier with your hands on it. :disappoin

I'm in Wisconsin, there are no numbers on the cover of the inside car box.

OK, This Chilton might be worth something after all. The numbers of the fuses that are out are: 2-5 and 7-14. For some reason 6 has power. I don't think this is the best wiring schematic in here.

I have searched the wiring diagrams for each component you mentioned and do not see a common place for them to fail. I hate to say it, but it seems like you have to start tearing the harness apart and look for broken wires or corrosion on the connections. I would start at the bottom of underhoof fuse panel and go to the inside from there. It could be a lot of corrosion or wires broken under the fuse box. Wish I had it here. I can't seem to find an easy place to tell you to start looking. We had one once that had wires broken inside the left kick panel. Good luck and keep us updated on it.

The funny thing is that if you jump power to the PCM fuse, then all the others start working correctly. I have traced the wire from the PCM fuse in the inside fuse block and I traced the PCM fuse wire from the under hood block. They come together in the schematic to the PCM Relay, but in reality they come together in the Body Control Module. I am trying a BCM off another car and I will let you know what happens.

Thanks. We have a few Tauruses in our fleet and the fix might be of help in the future.

Hey Sunspot. Have you found anything? I searched a few other forums I go to and found the wiring inside left kick panel was a problem and the, believe it or not, TR(transmission range)sensor can cause this problem. Keep me informed. I am intrigued by this now. We have about 100 Tauruses in the fleet and a fix would be great. If I find anymore info, I will let you know.

I am still waiting for the guy to bring me the BCM to try. The TR sensor is located on top of the transmission, isn't it? I did try that sensor already if that is it. I will let you know what the BCM does when I get it.

That is the sensor I was talking about. Good luck and keep posted.

Here is a fix from another site that was having problems with part of the fuse panel not having power. Might be worth a look.

Well guys I have a strange problem here and I'm hoping someone
has run into this before. Basicly about 6 or 8 fuses in the
panel aren't getting power. Fuses are for the gem, radio, PW.
interior lighting. If I route power to any of the fuses all
systems including the gem come to life and work. I've checked
the ignition switch and all wires are being powered up and I
can't find any problems to the fuse panel. If I could get my
hands on a wiring schematic for those circuit life would be
good! Are there any inherent problems with these fuse blocks?
Or am I barking up the wrong tree? Spent a few hours on this
one and I really don't want to waste and more of my customers
money. All help will be greatly appreciated!

RELATED REPAIR HISTORY

Replaced TRS as mentioned in the archived for causing alot of
similar problems.

____________________________ FIX ___________________________

As I mentioned in my help request I had already tried a new
TRS(neutral safety switch), but thanks for the replies.
Special thanks to Stuart Moss, Joseph Kaschak and BSmith2684
for sending me to the drivers side inner fender. After
removing the harness cover I didn't find any broken wires. But
after a cup of coffee and a bit of time I spotted the culprit.
A 12 gauge, Tan/black wire that had fat spots in it. I yanked
on the wire and it fell apart.I dug a little deeper and found
2 more spots on the wire and ended up replacing about 3 feet
of it. All is well and my customer is very happy! Thanks guys,
you made my day!

Well, the BCM didn't do it. I feel I have exhausted anything accept going into the harness. Man, I really hate digging into harness's. Thanks for the additional info by the way. Oh, and did I mention that I hate digging into a wiring harness.

Had similar problem with 97 Taurus LX sedan. #1. had to jumper wire to ecm to start. #2 wipers would go psycho. #3 no dome lights. #4 no door locks.

I replaced the GEM module (located directly under fuse box).

thanks, but I have tried replacing that box already. This has to be the strangest car mystery of my career.

Happy Days Are Here Again!!!! I have found our needle in a haystack. I discovered a hidden section of the main harness. Leave it to Ford to run the main harness inside the fender on the drivers side. I took out the inner wheel well and found it to be all wet and muddy up in there. After peeling away some coverings and cleaning the mud off the wires, I found a fat green wire with a violet stripe with a big brown dot on it, I peeled the covering away and found there was not much left to the wire. I replaced the section of wire and everything works again. Hurray, now I can feel good charging the guy for all my time. Thanks for the help and I hope none of you ever have to find a needle in a haystack.

Glad you got it Sunspot. Sometimes you just got to cut and snip. Thanks for posting the fix.