[richardp]

My daughter "18 years old" just purchased her first car - a 1996 Mustang, 6 cylnder, automatic - 2 weeks ago. The car ran just fine for 1 week. Then it would no longer start. Plenty of electricity - lights, radio, etc... Tried jump starting it anyway with no luck. No noise from the starter at all. Let it set for a day and then it started right up. I did push in on the stick to make sure it was in park "automatic trans". 3 days later - same thing, only this time we could not get it started. Plenty of electrity, but no noise from the starter. So I replaced the starter. And the car started right up. 24 hours later, once again it would not start. Waited a while and tried the spare key and it started up. Do these cars have some kind of security/antitheft kill switch in them? Should I replace the relay maybe? I read something about a "Transmission Range (TR) sensor" as well. Which I can't figure out where that is. Anyway - I'm new to Ford and Mustangs, so I would apprecriate any mechanical advise. I am a wanna be mechanic. I do brakes and little things like that. If I have to I'll take it to a mechanic, but I was trying to save my daugther some money.

Thanks,
Richard

[ITLRUN]

I don't know about the TR sensor, but the anti-theft module is located behind the left panel inside the trunk. Have you checked connections, on the starter solenoid? It may be something, as simple as a loose connection being that it happens intermittently, Mike. SCT Tuner.

[shinerstang]

See if it will start in neutral......

[jakksincorpse]

might be your battery cables. i had the same problem. it'd start up fine one day then the next it would crash. i'd have a full battery as well. it would usually start up with a 72v charge from a battery charger but after a while that roasted my starter solenoid an i had to buy a new one.

i'd get a volt meter to see if the wires to starter are getting juice. i think they are like 10 bucks at walmart. if it starts again. put it on accessory and check the + wire an it should be fine from there. but if it happens again. just put it on accesory once more and you shouldnt be getting juice.

as for the starter making no noise mine did that too. see if its turning (making noise) then the electricity is flowing to the starter just fine, its not gripping correctly tho, which the alternative would be your flywheel is broken. if it just makes a click and there is no noise then a relay inside your fusebox sensed a problem in the wires and dropped that magnet so no electricity is flowing to your starter

theres nothing wrong with your car, this just basically means you have corroded wires or hook ups which is highly likely seeing that the starter and the wires are 6-8 inches from the ground. i'd jack it up and take off the starter. its held by 2 bolts. the bottom bolt holds the negative wire and the top bolt just holds the starter. the power wires are screwed onto the starter.

loosen the bottom one first. then the top. most people will say you gotta take off your fuel rail to get to it but from the front of the frame there is a open hole that you can reach it with, get a socket wrench and alot of extenders lol.

bring your starter into autozone, they'll do a free battery/ starter check, if they find a problem they'll tell you.

good luck d00d.

[richardp]

Thanks for everyone's input. I guess the car is ok. I took it to the shop and they can't find anything wrong, plus the car has been starting up fine everyday. Maybe's it's just my 18 year old daughter...... LOL

[shinerstang]

Originally Posted by richardp

Thanks for everyone's input. I guess the car is ok. I took it to the shop and they can't find anything wrong, plus the car has been starting up fine everyday. Maybe's it's just my 18 year old daughter...... LOL

Yep.......

[green4money00]

[quote=jakksincorpse;1610175]might be your battery cables. i had the same problem. it'd start up fine one day then the next it would crash. i'd have a full battery as well. it would usually start up with a 72v charge from a battery charger but after a while that roasted my starter solenoid an i had to buy a new one.

72v huh....... why not just hook up out to the outlet in your house

[Silver J]

Originally Posted by green4money00

72v huh....... why not just hook up out to the outlet in your house

So you noticed that too, huh? I was wondering what he meant... (could be a typo, though, since the 7 is above the 1 on the number pad... )

[green4money00]

Originally Posted by Silver J

So you noticed that too, huh? I was wondering what he meant... (could be a typo, though, since the 7 is above the 1 on the number pad... )

...judging by everything else he has ever posted on this forum, i doubt it.