98 Taurus Won't Start After Flood

[rezz]

Alright we had some bad rains last week and my neighbors car was flooded! Anyhow it started fine the past 2 days for him and then today he said he went out to start it and nothing?

So I went over to check it out, first I checked the battery and it was completely dead until I unhooked it then the battery read full charge. So I made sure both the Neg/Pos were clean and checked both wires everything checked out. Hooked the battery back up and absolutely no juice at all.

My guess at this point is the starter solenoid since there is no power anywhere in the passenger compartment. I checked all the fuses but there are a few relay's that got soaked also in the passenger compartment.

He said his windows did not work since the flood so my guess the relay for the p/w is bad also. There is a relay for Acc in the same fuse box under the steering column also that I have no idea without a shop manual of knowing how much it controls?

Before I go replacing a solenoid based on a hunch what do you guy's think? If it is not the starter solenoid my next hunch would be the ignition switch?

[shorod]

The starter solenoid will have no effect on the cabin accessories. Also, if the battery actually is good and connecting the battery cables causes it to read zero, there would be a HUGE short circuit and the battery cables would be getting VERY warm and probably melting. It sounds like there is probably a slow current drain in the car and what you are measuring with the battery disconnected is a surface charge on the battery. If you put a load on the battery, it has so little capacity that it reads essentially nothing.

Have you tried charging the battery at very low current?

Does your friend not have insurance on this car? If the car's been flooded, he or she is in for a lot of issues down the road. It's difficult to bring a modern car back to reliable after it's been flooded.

-Rod

[rezz]

Originally Posted by shorod

The starter solenoid will have no effect on the cabin accessories. Also, if the battery actually is good and connecting the battery cables causes it to read zero, there would be a HUGE short circuit and the battery cables would be getting VERY warm and probably melting. It sounds like there is probably a slow current drain in the car and what you are measuring with the battery disconnected is a surface charge on the battery. If you put a load on the battery, it has so little capacity that it reads essentially nothing.

Have you tried charging the battery at very low current?

Does your friend not have insurance on this car? If the car's been flooded, he or she is in for a lot of issues down the road. It's difficult to bring a modern car back to reliable after it's been flooded.

-Rod

Tried both charging and jumper cables and nothing, not even the accessories work, no headlights nothing. The battery charger say's the battery is charged? And they only have minimum coverage on the vehicle.

The continuity of the battery cables tested fine. You wouldn't have a wiring diagram of this vehicle lying around would you? I really feel bad for my neighbour and don't mind at least trying to fix this.

[tempfixit]

Originally Posted by rezz

Tried both charging and jumper cables and nothing, not even the accessories work, no headlights nothing. The battery charger say's the battery is charged? And they only have minimum coverage on the vehicle.

The continuity of the battery cables tested fine. You wouldn't have a wiring diagram of this vehicle lying around would you? I really feel bad for my neighbour and don't mind at least trying to fix this.

Have you had the battery tested??? Sounds like a dead short in the battery to me.

[rezz]

Originally Posted by tempfixit

Have you had the battery tested??? Sounds like a dead short in the battery to me.

Tried jumping the car and there is no juice to anything at all. Almost like the battery cables are not even connected

[shorod]

I do have a wiring diagram for the car. Send me a Private Message with the system diagrams you are most concerned with along with an e-mail address for you and I'll send you the PDFs. I may not be able to get the PDFs generated until Thursday though.

-Rod