1996 lincoln towncar wont start, clicks...

[andrewdishman]

1996 lincoln towncar wont start intermittently. Started doing this yesterday, was troubleshooting and my friend jumped the starter to check it and he said it was good. i messed w a few fuses\wires and it started up fine. drove today with no problem, parked and it wont start again... same bs as yesterday... turn key and all u get is a clicking sound from the inside sounds like under the glovebox in the dash... i have read a few forums and am going to keep troubleshooting... ANY suggestions???

[Blue)(Fusion]

Sounds to me like a weak/dead battery.

If you jump start it, does it work without issue?

[andrewdishman]

sorry 4got that brand new battery and 1 month old alternater... battery was my 1st guess too

[andrewdishman]

going to do this: 1 tap the starter and check the small wire to it.... 2.... check starter relay switch, which i need to locate, 3 check/replace starter solenoid 4 replace starter sound like a good plan????

[olopezm]

Are your battery connections clean and tight? These can cause some problems.

[andrewdishman]

yes the terminals r n good shape, but it gets CRAZY NOW!!! I went out today and it started first turn NO PROBLEM... ran some errands and got back home no problem, shut it off let it sit for 15 seconds and started up fine, repeated same process and CLICK NO START... No clue wtf could be going on, no one touched anything between the times it started and when it didnt... i think my car is possessed!!!

[Scrapper]

Originally Posted by andrewdishman

yes the terminals r n good shape, but it gets CRAZY NOW!!! I went out today and it started first turn NO PROBLEM... ran some errands and got back home no problem, shut it off let it sit for 15 seconds and started up fine, repeated same process and CLICK NO START... No clue wtf could be going on, no one touched anything between the times it started and when it didnt... i think my car is possessed!!!

i would take starter of and take to autozone or if you got a battery charger you can check it.

[andrewdishman]

may try that. im going to have a mechanic look at it Monday. hopefully its something cheap and easy.

[JDM 180SX]

Sounds like the starter motor
I done one on a lincoln towncar recently,common enough problem

[andrewdishman]

would that iet it start intermittently???

[olopezm]

Your starter could have a "dead spot". As Scrapper said take it off and get it tested at autozone.

The starter could also be out of alignment too (very unlikely since it was working fine). Ask an assistant to turn the key and see if when the clicking is heard you can listen to a spinning motor (the starter running free) on the outside...

Oscar.

[cowboyway]

I have something simular to what you are having. A few months ago the battery light would be on everytime we start the car but no problems. Then there were times that the car was completely dead, had to get a jump and started fine and no more problems if started again within 12 hours. Over about three weeks time it has gotten to the point that is having to be jumped everytime and some times won't start even with a jump. Also during this time things started to stop working, the back power window, then the front window (both on same side) and then the radio. these are the things that have already been done in Oct 2011. Drive belt tensionpully and belts replaced, alternator replaced, battery system checked at that time and was fine. The battery was just left at a battery place to have it checked out. He said that it was 10 volts and I checked back with him 2 hours later it was up to 12 volts. Can some one tell me what they think is going on?

[olopezm]

If the battery was at 10 volts, it's either bad or you have a current draw overnight. How old is it?. I had a bad battery and the car would start fine, but electrical gremlins would appear while driving (headlights would go out intermittently).

What's the condition of the battery terminals and clamps? Do you have a digital multimeter and know how to use it? You could try measuring resistance along the battery cables to see if they have a resistance of less than 5 ohms. Anything higher than that will create problems.

Oscar.