Guys, I'm trying to help my elderly neighbor.
His 1999 Windstar has 220k on it.
I had to tow it home for him the other day.
He said it was acting like the ignition was failing, and then it finally died.
We put it on the charger and it now reads 12.7V resting. (not that the battery was dead)

He has no power at all. No interior lights, no door chime, no radio, no windows, no headlights, not even a click when the key is turned.

It has a recent alternator, and that is not backfeeding.
I was able to crawl under the front and jumper across to the trigger of the starter solenoid and it seems to crank fine.
I checked the grounds for resistance with my ohmmeter and they seem tight and fine.
I checked for voltage at the power distribution panel next to the battery and there are no blown fuses, plenty of current present.

Any idea what has failed?
Before I start ripping the dash apart I figured I'd ask here.
I'm a pretty much regular in the 80-86 and 87-96 forums, but don't know anything about the idiosyncrasy's of these minivans.

Thanks for any help or advice you may have to offer.

 

This is the Aerostar forum, but we will give it a shot....

That alone points to the battery ground not grounding or your positive is not connecting because the headlight circuit is always hot. I believe there is an fuse-able link right before the alternator that might have blown that could be causing the issue.

 

our Aerostars are the Ford van version of the Ranger PU much like the E series vans were/are the van version of the F150/F250 PUs
year versions almost same for engines/trannies/much of the electrical.

the Winstar, different beast---think Taurus
engine/tranny/electrical.

going to need an electrical service manual with the wiring diagrams, Ford OEM manual CD off ebay on online, Autozone on their website has the basic diagrams

 

Thank you 96_4wdr for pointing out my error.
I understand now where I should be looking.

Sorry too if my thread title is misleading. There is power, just not making it to the interior.

I don't think I'm going to bother buying the $14 EVTM. By the time it gets here Ed might have passed.

 

if you have power at the engine compartment but not in the interior:

yesterday I disconnected one of the two large wiring plugs which connect to a firewall thru-connector in order to take a picture of a firewall grommet. I noticed all electrical power to the interior was gone, zero nada, nothing. (I was playing a Miami Sound Machine tape and when the plug was disconnected the tape went off and the courtesy lights too).

you can see the plug (it's red) in the picture below. The plug is tightened in place by a 10mm bolt. If the Windstar has similar "plugs", that's where power goes to the interior. Might as well check those large plugs to see if they are in place. Just a wild guess since I am not familiar with the Windstar.

 

Jose, that looks like the plug for the EEC that you disconnected. The harness for power going into the interior has more of a round appearance. But if the EEC harness is the only way your interior is getting power or ground, then something is wrong with your wiring.

Also, it's very dangerous to be taking apart electrical connections in your car when the battery is still connected. You can accidentally short a connector pin and fry something, like the EEC.

 

battery was disconnected