Starting Problems 01 Windstar

[Kevster324]

My wife went out to start her 2001 Windstar this morning. When she did, all she got was a click. This happened twice. ON the 3rd try, the van started fine, and has started good all day. Any ideas? Also, the anti-theft alarm goes off sometimes when the doors are opened. Could this be related? Should the anti-theft light on the dash be flashing (only when car is off)?

[wiswind]

Several things can cause this.
1. Electrical connections, Start with the battery connections, remove, clean, tighten. Also, the connections at the starter can become corroded and cause a poor connection.
2. Transmission Range Sensor (TRS) can cause this as it prevents the vehicle from starting when in gear. With foot on brake, try shifting into neutral and starting, and back into Park if that does not work.
This is not a high failure mode for the TRS, but still possible.
3. Can be a issue with the starter, but check the connections as above first.

[LeSabre97mint]

Originally Posted by wiswind

Several things can cause this.
1. Electrical connections, Start with the battery connections, remove, clean, tighten. Also, the connections at the starter can become corroded and cause a poor connection.
2. Transmission Range Sensor (TRS) can cause this as it prevents the vehicle from starting when in gear. With foot on brake, try shifting into neutral and starting, and back into Park if that does not work.
This is not a high failure mode for the TRS, but still possible.
3. Can be a issue with the starter, but check the connections as above first.

Like wiswind said...check the first items he mentioned. He's got you on the right path.

How many miles on your 2000? Do you do a lot of short trips? The starter has a solenoid on it that the points get burnt after a while and do not make contact to run the starter. To check this out, if you can while it’s in the “click” mode, open the hood and listen. If the noise is coming from the starter, it’s highly likely the solenoid on the starter is the problem.

Regards

Dan

[Kevster324]

Van has 65,000 miles on it and it does make many short trips.

[Kevster324]

Turned out to only be a dead battery. Thanks for the input, guys!