gtpcoupe

hey, just picked up a 94 gt and its having problems. it ran fine when i brought it home. but first off it would sometimes start and sometimes wouldnt. couldnt figure it out so i figured id swap the battery. when i did this and got the new battery in there things went haywire. the alternator started sparking and smoking, the battery cables got really hot. i quickly yanked the cable off, i found out the positive cable was ragged and was grounding out on the frame. i fixed the cable and replaced the alternator that i fried. the car fired right after that. at first the car ran real rough like it was loaded up and running rich, then it smoothed out and ran great. it ran good for 10 minutes then i shut it off. i went to start it up again and it wouldnt start just turned over. i noticed if i tried to start it in neutral it wouldnt even turn over(neutral safety switch???) then i looked at the negative battery cable and its rusted bad and mounted to the header. so i put a new cable end on it and mounted it under the tortion bar across the motor. now the car will not even turn over nor will anything electrical come on when i hit the igniton key. im thinking its the ignition key gone bad when i fried everthing else. also i replaced all the fuses i blew. any suggestions on this guys? im new to fords and have done everthing i can think of that doesnt cost alot. id appreciate any help, thanks

gtnateam

i would mount the ground cable on the block somewher like in the front with your power steering pump somewher and you might have fried your sillanoid so you might try that and see what that does.....

BLK89GT

first off that sucks bro sorry to read it! i think your best bet is to get out the multimeter and start testing the grounds! ie. bat, alt, and the block.
try cleaning all conections.
then start checking for power where it has to be.
but before that drink a six pack cause your in for a long night!
put a case on ice

Mthd11

Its probably that ground cable... had that issue with my 2.3t. The wire was all frayed, so i cut it shorter, used a gold plated round car stereo terminal and bolted it up to the bottom of the p/s pump. Definatly make sure that the ground is doing its job. Dont forget to clean the surface your grounding too. Also before you do this you could also have someone wiggle the ground cable, where its bolted to and then turn the key on, you should at least see the lights or ding come on, if not it could be the ignition switch, or more likely a fuse, or fusible link... GL with this..

gtpcoupe

you guys were right on. i found the ground for the starter and it didnt even have a terminal on it, just a splayed wire bolted to the roll bar. its still mounted on the roll bar but i sanded the paint of it to give it a good connection. would you guys still mount it on the block? i took the car for a spin down the road and it did ok until i needed my headlights. the lights staid on for a couple minutes than started flickering wildley. i forgot to sand down the paint on the other ground from the battery. so im sure thats the problem. thanks for the help guys, hope i iron out everything tomm.

Mthd11

Starter ground? or + wire coming from the solenoid on drivers side, if its the same kind of starter as a 2.3, 3 bolt holes, nice and heavy, 1 terminal on it then thats the + wire, that should have somekind of fitting on the end. and the lights are probably from the bad battery ground or a ground in general

gtpcoupe

both were bad. the cable going to the starter and the positive cable from the battery were not grounded properly. i still need to sand the paint off the roll bar were the positive cable is. i pretty sure thats why the light problem is happening. it sucked having to drive home with the dam lights flicking on and off like i was doing it on purpose and people were like WTF.

mjr46

first off the starter grounds through the case to the block !!!and your whole prob is you are not placing the ground in the spot it was meant to be and that's on the block..so if you got it antwhere else move it to it's correct location and that is on the little ear that sticks out on the front lower right of the block beside the timing cover..and after that sounds like the block to firewall ground strap may be missing which bolts to the back of the right rear of the lower intake stud and up to the firewall...fix all these and your electrical woes will be solved hopefully