No life whatsoever - Electrical problem?

[kaligula]

Hi All,

Just picked up a very cheap Ford Escort LX Wagon, 1.9 (I think). Drove OK for a few weeks, but over the past couple of days I've had some trouble where sometimes when starting, the radio and everything would come on after turning the key one place, but then when turning again to start everything just dies (no starting noises at all, just electric just suddenly gone). Switch off and on again and radio comes back but turn again to start and dies again.

Always started after a few tries at that but this morning the electric just died and didn't come back no matter what I did.

I'd like to fix this myself if possible, but don't have any real idea of what needs fixing, any ideas anyone?

[mightymoose_22]

First thing, test your battery and see that you have enough power. Turn on your headlights and wipers to see if they will operate normally, and turn the key with them on. If the lights are dim and wipers are incredibly slow... you need a new battery (or maybe just a charge).
It could also be that your alternator is bad and has failed to recharge the battery.
Try using jumper cables to get it started. If it fires up, that confirms you either have a battery or alternator problem. If it does not start, then you have a wiring problem, possibly the ignition switch.

You will just need to do a little trouble shooting and come back with the results.

[kaligula]

I can tell you that since I tried to start it the power has been totally non existant, not just dim lights and slow wipers but nothing at all. And it seemed fine just before I turned the key.

I'll try and jump start it when I get home tonight and let you know the result then.

Thanks

[kaligula]

Got and checked the battery and noticed one of the contacts was loose, played around with it a bit and came back on fine.

Sorry to waste your time

[denisond3]

Its not a waste of time. Lots of us read these forums to see what kinds of problems we might be having next week or next month. With Escorts I am always suspicious about the battery connections. Not just the ends of the cables where they clamp onto the battery posts, but the other ends of the cables. The ground wires on my 92 Escort were getting corroded. The bad ground was causing the temp gauge to read too high. I put on new ground cables for each circuit, and soldered them together where they first connect to the body of the car. Now the temp gauge behaves itself.

[finnscooter58]

hello all new to this so .. i have kinda the same problem no power. on 93 escort wagon 1.9 auto.. have new battery. nice and clean and tight..i turn the key and nothing not even a click..any help would be great.thanks for your time

[denisond3]

My first thought is that you have a bad ignition switch - the electrical part, not the part the key goes into. Its not a rare failure on an Escort, and the electrical part of the switch isnt too expensive to buy, and try out. After removing the bottom half of the steering column clamshell, you can unplug the connectors from the ignition switch (two connectors, one of them with heavy current contacts), and use a screwdriver to turn the new switch.
If its not this, I would then suspect you have bad connections on the main fuse (100amp) in the black box next to the battery. That 100amp fuse is held in by two small bolts, and the connections can get 'melted' and not work reliably.