99 Escort just won't start

My 99 Escort will not start. The radio and lights come on but that's about it. There's nothing else light a starter going click, click. Can you please advice.

If the starter is not even making a click or attempting to turn...

Check that no fuses have blown.
Make sure you are in P, N, or have your clutch all the way in.
Have your battery tested... you may have voltage to operate the lights but not enough amps to turn the starter... it happens.
If you have the know how, disconnect the wiring from your ignition switch and attempt to hotwire... if it works then your ignition is bad.
Have your starter tested for faults.

If the starter is not even making a click or attempting to turn...

Check that no fuses have blown.
Make sure you are in P, N, or have your clutch all the way in.
Have your battery tested... you may have voltage to operate the lights but not enough amps to turn the starter... it happens.
If you have the know how, disconnect the wiring from your ignition switch and attempt to hotwire... if it works then your ignition is bad.
Have your starter tested for faults.

hotwire? is this easy? a couple months ago my key woudlnt turn the ignition. after fiddling with it for a few minutes it started working, and never had trouble since. i figured it was a bit of sand in there or similar, but would love to know which wires to cross if i get stuck in the future..

i guess i could dig through the manual for wiring diagrams, but if you know and it's easy?..

It is easy if you understand the wiring of the ignition... otherwise you risk frying something. Just unplug the wiring from the ignition and use some jumpers to make the connections. If you don't know what you are connecting, don't do it.

If not a weak battery, you may have corroded battery terminals or other power supply and ground connections that have corroded, gotten dirty or loose. Work your way from the battery to the starter and to the engine block ground. You could also test to see if the ignition switch is getting power to the starter solenoid that is mounted on the side of the starter. You need to measure 12v on the smallest wire to the starter when the key is turned to start. Often this wire is red or red and black. Unfortunately, you can get 12v to the large red, positive wire from the battery at the starter, but it may have such a poor connection that it won't be able to do any more than give you a click, click like you did, this being a false positive for a good connection to the starter. Sometimes the connection itself at the starter is the problem. On two 95 Fords I have, both have given me starter problems because the ignition wire had a poor connection at the starter. It has a spade connection that I needed to clean and tighten.

I'm confused now... did the starter "click" or not?

There's nothing else light a starter going click, click.

Hmm, you might be right MM22. If "light" is "like," there may be no click, click.

I think irregardless, when some of the stuff comes on, but the starter doesn't even click, still indicates most of what I said in my previous post. Just how dim are the inside dome and courtesy lights? How about the headlights? If you try starting the car with the headlights on, what happens? If they cut off or nearly, that would be a bad connection. Can you measure the battery voltage before and while starting? It should be 12+volts first and not go much below 8.5 volts. If you don't hear the starter engage and the voltage goes way down, it's your battery. If the voltage doesn't particularly change, say not even down to 11.5v, then it's connection problem. Check for voltage to the starter when turning on the ignition switch. No voltage, then bad ig sw or transmission switch. Try in neutral instead of park. Try jiggling shifter. Try hot wiring the starter ignition/solenoid wire where you connect to it at the starter solenoid and then tap the wire on the positive battery post.

the car is almost ten years old and usually need the battery terminals and the ground connections cleaned at both ends. if this is not the problem, it's still a good thing to do. Eventually the connections will fail.