92 Sable won't start, batt & fuses good...

[swampsucka]

Hello all,
I became the owner of a 92 Mercury Sable LE (3.8, auto, power everthing) last year. I have had no problems out of it until recently. It has been idiling a little rough lately (probably due to the cold weather??? ), but has never just "died" during warm up.

Two days ago, I started the car, went back inside to grab my phone, and when I came out the car was not running. No biggie, right? I got in and turned the key to the "off" position, and back to start, and nothing happened.

Now when I say "nothing", what I mean is, I had no headlights, no instrument cluster, no horn, radio, dome lights, door chime, etc.....

There wasn't any smell of burned wire insulator, no plume of smoke out of the engine compartment. The battery is fully charged (12.36 V).
No blown fuses to speak of (unless there is a fusible link that I missed). All of the fuses in the distrubution block and fuse panel are good.

I have checked through all of the Mercury Sable & Ford Taurus posts, and was unable to find any info. My Dad said something about a Fuel Pump Shutoff reset switch - but would that disable everything? The Dealership is the last resort, but still an option.

Any Ideas?

Thanks,
Chuck

[roguefive]

This one comes from my wife who owned a '91. This may not be your problem but who knows. She had similar problems and found it to be the ignition switch. She tried wiggleing the shifter and the key and got it to work. Hope this helps.

[swampsucka]

Well, I found that the problem was a bad connection at the distribution block (that infernal mass of fuses mounted on the drivers side of the firewall, I may be calling it by the wrong name, but ...a turd by any other name ... 'nuff said).

Thanks for the help!