Hi, I was helping my friend with his 86 mustang. It originally had the 4 cylinder, but it now has a built 302 from a 1980 F-150. The problem is that it will not turn over when you turn the key to start. It just makes a clicking noise in the solinoid. We put in a new battery, a new starter, a new wire from the solinoid to the started and finally a new solinoid. If you short the terminals on the solinoid it will crank, but with the key it will not. If you disconnect the key ignition it will not click, so it seems to be getting the signal to start, it just will not actually turn over. We are running out of ideas, other than the new solinoid might be bad or that the wires to the key might not be working properly. Any ideas?

Thanks

 

I had the same problem with mine. I replaced the cable from the solenoid to the battery and it started up.

 

Check the neutral safety switch on the transmission.

 

You say the selinoid clicks, but does not cause the engine to turn over. You also state thet it will turn over if you jump the two contacts. Which two contacts are you jumping? The two main cables or the small wire to the hot side cable? The small wire activates the selinoid and the hot cable provides power, and the other cable carries power to the starter. If you jump power to the small wire connection, it should be the same as turning the key. This should enable the selenoid and pull the contacts closed and provide power to the starter. If the selenoid is clicking I would assume that that either one of two things is happening, one the selenoid is not making contact, or two the cable is deffective. However, this depends on your battery being good and hot. Also, are all battery connections good, or have the ends been replaced with new aftermarket clamps for the posts.
If replaced, take appart and clean both cable and clamp where contact is made. If you have access to a multimeter, start by checking voltage drops at the selenoid. One other thing, ford made a starter with a built in selenoid function. The fields of the starter pulled down an arm which in turn did two things. It egaged the bendix and made contact for the starter armature. Not one of fords better ideas, as with weak fields or weak battery these tended to not work properly. My guess would be the selenoid as the culprit. I don't think the selenoid would click if the trans switch was the problem. However, I am not an expert on starting systems. Good Luck

 

 

Thanks for posting. We put another new solinoid in and everything works now. We must have had it hooked up wrong.
Thanks again