2000 Gt starting problem

Cpotts13 · Sep 9, 2012

Alright guys this one is a big ut oh...

PROBLEM
- Car will not crank, all the electronics work

So today i went to my local Firestone to get my alignment done, the guy that did it was a factory trained ford mechanic. So i asked him about the third starter bolt, he took a look at it and removed it free of charge in like 1 minute. Being that that one bolt was the only thing stopping me from swapping motor mounts, i was excited. Get home and pull it onto the ramps to get started. first off i removed the starter, then removed all the nuts and bolts from the passenger side motor mount, sweet. moved to the driver side got all the bolts off except ONE. the bottom bolt by the oil filter that has the red and black wire grounded to it wouldn't budge.. it seemed like the wires fused to the underside of the bolt.. so every time i loosened the bolt it would twist the wire.. okay well crap. after a good hour trying to get it to budge i determined if i continued i would cause more damage then I would fix. TIME TO REASSEMBLE. Defeated as i was all the bolts and hard ware to the old motor mounts went back together fine. When it came down to the starter i had an issue... It seems that the last person to take the starter off threaded the bolts wrong, which stripped the threads on the transmission housing where the starter mounts @!$&^*^%@(#, But i managed it get it threaded enough and the other bolt threaded fine, i left the top bolt off for obvious reasons... Re attached the two wires to the starter, plugged the battery up and BAM car wont start, wont even crank... wtf.

SYMTOMS
-Fuel pump primes
-PATS system disarms
-all electronics work
-fuses arent blown (to the best of my knowledge)
-Fuel cutoff switch hasnt been thrown

Any ideas or suggestions. I do not think those wires that kinda got mangled on the driverside motor mount bolt mentioned above would cause it to not start..

My theory is something over by the starter is not right.. But what could it be? the two red wires are secured.. is there any sort of grounding wire that attached to the motor mount bolt above it? I will mess with it tomorrow when i am not pissed at it...

Suggestions welcomed..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScAE9MpmM94

KillNThrill24 · Sep 9, 2012

not gonna gaurantee anything but i would try tapping on the starter lightly with a hammer or something but not too much. sometimes it helps with starter issues. otherwise i would follow the lines and make sure everything is connected. if it worked before but doesnt now would indicate to me that either something is hooked up incorrectly or disconnected completely. not having 1 bolt in probably isnt going to cause the starter to not work. i would make damned sure you have the other 2 in nice and tight tho

g36 monkey · Sep 9, 2012

I'd lean towards a grounding issue

Cpotts13 · Sep 9, 2012

I will check it out tomorrow. Thanks for all the tips. Ill keep y'all informed.

ttocs · Sep 10, 2012

agreed I would check thea grounds. did you disconnect the motors ground over on the passenger side, or is it possible it has rotted out or become disconnected while you were working on it.

Have you checked for voltage on the starter wire, at the coil, or checked to see if the chassis of the starter has continuity to ground? Start simple and check all your fuses while you are at it. If it was locked up it might have popped the fuse.

Cpotts13 · Sep 10, 2012

ttocs said:
agreed I would check thea grounds. did you disconnect the motors ground over on the passenger side, or is it possible it has rotted out or become disconnected while you were working on it.

Have you checked for voltage on the starter wire, at the coil, or checked to see if the chassis of the starter has continuity to ground? Start simple and check all your fuses while you are at it. If it was locked up it might have popped the fuse.

Does the starter have a groundwire? As far as I know there was only two wires to disconnect and reconnect.

Can yougive me a rundown on how to check all the fuses and stuff like you mentioned please.
I really do think my buddy that assembled the starter side mount left the two wires (red andblack) that connect to it off.... not sure..

ttocs · Sep 10, 2012

pretty sure there is only the thick 8 awg wire going to the starter and it grounds itelf through the chassis since it bolts to the block. If those bolts are not on tight(or were stripped) there could be some resistance that build up to prevent it from grounding, or if the motor-chassis ground came off it would probably not start as all the starter sees is the +12v and could not complete the circuit with out being grounded to the block, and the block grounded to the chassis. You can always test this by just simple jumping a wire from the chassis to one of the starters bolts. Just to a temp ground to the mounting bolts and see if it will crank or make noise. If it does DO NOT START IT as at that point your whole motor will be grounded through that temp wire which is probably not big enough to handle the current.

Cpotts13 · Sep 10, 2012

ttocs said:
pretty sure there is only the thick 8 awg wire going to the starter and it grounds itelf through the chassis since it bolts to the block. If those bolts are not on tight(or were stripped) there could be some resistance that build up to prevent it from grounding, or if the motor-chassis ground came off it would probably not start as all the starter sees is the +12v and could not complete the circuit with out being grounded to the block, and the block grounded to the chassis. You can always test this by just simple jumping a wire from the chassis to one of the starters bolts. Just to a temp ground to the mounting bolts and see if it will crank or make noise. If it does DO NOT START IT as at that point your whole motor will be grounded through that temp wire which is probably not big enough to handle the current.

My buddy that put together my passenger side motor mount said he saw
A red wire and didn't ground it. I really think this is the problem