how do i test the starter?
 

everything looks good and it turns over by hand but i hook up 12v to the battery post and ground to the case and it doesn't even twitch. this is on a 95 4.0 liter engine and the starter motor is a permanent magnet motor.

Are you also providing signal (battery voltage) to trigger the starter solenoid after you have power connected to the heavy-duty posts?

-Rod

yes i did and i even hooked the power to the post on the motor and nothing happened, time for a new one.

Well, if you have good power and ground to the correct terminals and the starter motor is not running, it sounds like the starter motor may be bad. Do you hear a "clunk" noise when you apply power to the small trigger terminal? If not, the solenoid may be open. If you have a multimeter try checking the solenoid coil to make sure it is not an open circuit.

-Rod

Pull it and have it load tested at Napa or similar

i had it tested and the solenoid was bad and napa wanted way to much for the whole thing so I went online and found justalternatorsandstarters.com and for 40 bucks i can buy a complete rebuild kit with the solenoid. payday is the 3rd so i will order then.

the explorer is a 91 not a95 and i combined parts from a Windstar and the explorer and it works great.

went to hook up a battery after i installed the starter and it turned over by itself without touching the key,damn.

Not sure about the place you bought the rebuild kit for the starter. Wouldn't be the first time bad parts were sent to a customer. Id pull that starter AGAIN and have napa load test it. If it passes a bench test and operates normally id look at the ignition switch next. By any chance dose this 91' have a starter relay on the fender well under the hood? Passenger side

i didn't buy the kit yet, i'm too poor, i did find out the relay on the fender was wired wrong there is suppose to be 12v to one side and the other side is suppose to go to the solenoid terminal on the starter. hooked it up right and it works but the crappy battery doesn't help. now i just need to replace the ign locking cylinder without the keys.

had the starter tested and it works fine just no power getting to the ign switch. where does it get it's power from. my old switch was real loose so i changed it but no power to it.

The oldest Ford factory service manual set I have only goes back to 1992 and I'm unsure what changed on the Explorer between 1991 and 1992. I see that BBB Industries does list the 1991 Explorer in their free wiring diagrams section, but you'll need to register for free access and take a look through the diagrams provided. The available diagrams were too many for me to peruse through this morning to see if the ignition switch diagram is there.

-Rod

Just a thought...I would have a look round in the fuse box for fuse and relay for the ignition ...possible one or the other is done.

fixed the problem it was bad cables. they passed juice good enough for lights but not to crank it. now for the vacuum lines.

got all the vacume lights fixed. it cranks great now, but no spark. probably the bad crank sensor.