1997 Mercury Mountaineer Logo
Cody Terral Posted on Aug 28, 2012
Answered by a Fixya Expert

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What could be wrong with my starter?

Someone said the starter relay switch could be bad, but from different material I' ve read I cannot confirm if my mountaineer has a starter relay switch.could it be a switch or the selenoid thing I read about?Or do I simply need to replace my starter?please help!!!!

1 Answer

fordexpert

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  • Mercury Master 5,692 Answers
  • Posted on Aug 28, 2012
fordexpert
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Joined: Apr 20, 2009
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Follow the Positive battery cable to its first union with a part. This should be the starter solenoid. You can bypass the solenoid with 1 jumper cable to see if the starter will spin. It will spark when you put power across the switch.

If the starter is spinning you have another problem to look at. There will be a small wire on top of the starter solenoid that you bypassed. If you use a voltmeter on this small wire, when disconnected, it will show voltage when the ignition key is held to the start position.

If it shows power, then the Interlock under the dash is okay. If you do not get power to this small wire, the brake interlock is bad. Under the dash is a brake pedal lever. It locks out the controls for the starter if the brake pedal is not pressed when you try to start the vehicle.

When this interlock switch is broken or moved by drivers' feet, the starter will not get power. You must fix the brake pedal interlock switch if you have no power in the small starter relay wire.

5 Related Answers

Anonymous

  • 113 Answers
  • Posted on Jun 30, 2008

SOURCE: starter

yes try replacing starter relay

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emissionwiz

Marvin

  • 85242 Answers
  • Posted on Mar 23, 2009

SOURCE: 2002 mercury mountaineer 4.0 starter relay location

The power distribution box is
located in the engine compartment.
The power distribution box contains
high-current fuses that protect your
vehicle’s main electrical systems
from overloads.
The starter relay is in position #56 of that box.

dj_relly999

dj_relly999

  • 4070 Answers
  • Posted on Aug 22, 2010

SOURCE: 2007 Mountaineer. Battery Good,

Hi! The anti theft is triggered thats for sure thats why it will crank but won't run. You may need to install a remote start bypass. I provided a link to guide you on how it works. Hope this helps and thank you for using FixYa! Please click here http://www.carmedia1.com/index1.html

ddywrbks

Michael Anderson

  • 799 Answers
  • Posted on Jun 14, 2011

SOURCE: I have a 2002 Mercury

Hi,
Just curious, but why would you drive your car through 2-3 feet of water?
Anyway you probably flooded your engine, got water in the crankcase and siezed the bearings up. Try turning your motor over by hand. Put a 1/2 socket/ratchet on the harmonic balancer bolt (large pulley at bottom of engine) and attempt to crank it around clockwise. If you meet a great deal of resistance or wont turn at all, motor is siezed, time for a rebuild. If it does turn over freely, you could have water still inside the computer plug-in connectors, distributor, under hood fuse box(es) relays,etc,etc....list too long to name besides you may have fried the computer and every sensor in the vehicle.
Try that for a start anyway, let us know how you do, I would be interested to know what you find. Thanks, Mike

Anonymous

  • 2418 Answers
  • Posted on Sep 12, 2011

SOURCE: My mountaineer won't start.

If the engine is turning, but slow, she may need the battery terminals cleaned, if it has sat for over a year, yes, it may need a new battery. If the engine is turning over and she is not cranking up. Standard rules apply... does she have fuel? does she have spark, does she have compression? First thing is easy, get a can of starting fluid and give her a spray in the air filter area during cranking, if she pops off you have spark, which means no fuel. If it does not try to hit, that means no spark and more trouble shooting will need to be done. If it starts on starting fluid, you may have a bad fuel pump. AS gas turns to gunk as it dries up. And that may have gummed up the pump and filter. Hope this helps FixYa up.

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