Hate to ask again....crown vic help needed once again....

[rusty ol ranger]

Going on 2 months now trying to get this steaming turd fixed...

A mechanic buddy of mines been pissing with it in his spare time....

Weve replaced intake, maf, fuel pump, filter, and plugs/coils.

99 civilian.

I think we got the original issue figured out...where it was bogging down in the cold.

Now....its got the battery light flickering, a knocking from the bellhousing (im thinking it maybe related....funny i know but youll see why in a minute), idleing high, and it bogs out for a second when put in gear...we also have no refrence voltage at the TPS...

Yesterday i put plugs/coils in it. Fired it up and everything seemed good. I then heard a "pop"...twice...sounded like a starter bendix. After the pops i noticed the engine kinda drop RPM for a minute then come back.

I shut it off and when the engine stopped spinning i heard another....fainter pop. Same noise...just quieter.

Started it again...no problem. As i was sitting there letting it warm up and idle while topping off coolant i heard the knocking noise.....faint at first but getting louder. My first thought was "shit rod" so i shut it off.

Poked around a bit and fired it back up...normal...but knocking. Dropped in in gear noise got much quieter but didnt really have a rythm and definantly coming from bellhousing area. This is when i noticed the battery light faintly flickering....volt gauge was normal. I went to check the battery with my meter and i could get no ground off the battery....or anywhere. I turned on lights, heat, no change. However for some odd reason my lowbeam headlights started working....

Now what im getting at is...could an electrical issue...im guessing a ground....be making the starter do weird shit? Or the starter doing weird shit causing the electric issues?

Anyone know where any of this is grounded?

Could it be a PCM issue?

The vic forums arent much help...i even borrowed my wifes FB and posted in a group....got nothing of value.

So i turn back to my oldest internet friends here.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Bad grounds can cause a ton of different issues. The main grounds off the battery are the first things I replace at suspicion of an electrical problem ever since I had a problem with the Choptop years ago. Doesn’t always fix the problem, but at least I know that isn’t a problem for sure.

I wouldn’t be surprised if they can suffer the same capacitor problems in the ECM as well, might be worth a look.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Bad grounds can cause a ton of different issues. The main grounds off the battery are the first things I replace at suspicion of an electrical problem ever since I had a problem with the Choptop years ago. Doesn’t always fix the problem, but at least I know that isn’t a problem for sure.

I wouldn’t be surprised if they can suffer the same capacitor problems in the ECM as well, might be worth a look.

I managed to dig up a diagram on that charm site.

Theres a wrapped cluster of wires that runs over by the #4 cylinder that i had to manipulate a bit to get that coil pack out...plus however much it got jostled around while the intake got changed...

Looks like the main starter lead from the battery as well as a negative wire from the battery are both wrapped togther in that harness...thats going to be first place i look.

 

[bobbywalter]

you suspect random starter engagement?

 

[Curious Hound]

I would definitely check grounds and battery connections. Make sure starter connectiins are tight and can't short to each other.

As far as grounds, Of course there should be a good-sized ground from the starter or really close to the starter back to the battery. Might be another from engine block to body sheet metal, similar the one on Rangers that goes from rear if engine to firewall.

Check alternator connections.

What engine? 4.6l?

 

[bobbywalter]

not gonna run without a ground....sure as fawk wont crank. might be oxidized on the exterior or your meter probe is shitty or something.


bad ground dont have shit to do with controlling the starter. that is power to the relay side.


the noise could be cracked flexplate or loose torque converter nut wandering around playing plinko...


why did your replace the parts on the list?

 

[Snoranger]

One thing we seen on our older 4.6 and 5.4s is corrosion between the engine and trans. It will rust jack the block spacer plate enough that the converter studs will just hit the plate and make a light knocking sound.
We just pull the starter or inspection cover (depending on the year, vehicle, etc) and grind the tips of the studs down a little.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

you suspect random starter engagement?

Yes....i know thats strange. But its just a hunch at this point. I know its unlikely compared to say, a busted flywheel but its just very strange it started when the electrical issues started...ill know more in a few days. However it did start fine everytime...so im not sure.

I would definitely check grounds and battery connections. Make sure starter connectiins are tight and can't short to each other.

As far as grounds, Of course there should be a good-sized ground from the starter or really close to the starter back to the battery. Might be another from engine block to body sheet metal, similar the one on Rangers that goes from rear if engine to firewall.

Check alternator connections.

What engine? 4.6l?

I found a list of all the major grounds, one on the pass side fender, one from back of engine to firewall, thebig one that actually does ground down around the starter to the engine, another one that grounds the PCM, and then 3 under the passenger side kick panel. Im will run through all of them. Yes its a 4.6.

not gonna run without a ground....sure as fawk wont crank. might be oxidized on the exterior or your meter probe is shitty or something.


bad ground dont have shit to do with controlling the starter. that is power to the relay side.


the noise could be cracked flexplate or loose torque converter nut wandering around playing plinko...


why did your replace the parts on the list?

Initally i was having an issue with it bogging down in the cold. As he dug into it he found the intake cracked in a few different places....thought it might of been vacuum so we changed that...a few of the plugs were obviously lean as well and went with the cylinders that the cracks went with. Went to pick it up and made it about 4mi before it basically totally quit, brought it back seen it was dropping to like 10psi fuel pressure when you would rev it, that prompted the fuel pump/sock, changed filter too but that was about new already. Plugs were just shot, and some of the coil packs were corroded from coolant intrusion thanks to the manifold. So i replaced all 8 of those...motorcraft plugs and coils.

The MAF i wasnt real sure about but hes a much better mechanic then me and i wasnt going to argue...so we swapped that out.

The engine seems to run frickin great now. Besides the fact it acts like it wants to stall if you put it in gear...which is why if my starter theory is wrong and its not electical causing it im kinda thinking it maybe the torque converter...although the rattle got way quieter in gear...but it also dropped RPM.

One thing we seen on our older 4.6 and 5.4s is corrosion between the engine and trans. It will rust jack the block spacer plate enough that the converter studs will just hit the plate and make a light knocking sound.
We just pull the starter or inspection cover (depending on the year, vehicle, etc) and grind the tips of the studs down a little.

Im going to yank the cover on tuesday when i get up there...thats a strange thing but a good thing to check.