I CHANGED THE STARTER ON MY GIRLFRIENDS 2002 FORD FOCUS ZX3, BECAUSE IT WOULD NOT START, ONLY CLICK, WITH THE NEW STARTER IT WORKED. LAST NIGHT ABOUT 20KM AFTER THE CAR SHUT OFF, I PULLD OVER AND CHECKED UNDER THE HOOD, THE POSITIVE WIRE FROM THE STARTER TO THE BATTERY WAS MELTED / ON FIRE, AND STUCK TO 2 STEEL VACUUM LINES. I HAD THE CAR TOWED AND REPLACED ALL DAMAGED WIRING. I NOW HAVE NO POWER TO MY DASH CLUSTER OR STARTER. THE KEY DOES NOTHING. THERE IS NO SPARK BUT IT CRANKS WHEN 12V+ IS APPLIED TO THE START WIRE. ZX3

SOURCE: Car wont start, makes a clicking sound under the hood

Nissan: Is the clicking sound loud like a solenoid or mild like a relay? Use a test light to see if your getting juice to the solenoid. Also might want to check for juice in and out of the clutch switch while your at it.

Truck: Check for juice at the starter. If the new solenoid is clicking, it's probably working, so the next thing to check is for juice at the starter. If yes, then disconnect the battery and drop the starter and have it tested. If it's not the starter, pull the spark plugs out and try turning the engine by hand with a braker bar and socket on the harmonic balancer. Is there any reason to suspect that the enging might be siezed up?

SOURCE: 99 Ford Escort ZX2 Speedometer/Odometer doesn't work

I'm sorry, I have to ask, this is an automatic right? That out of the way, Does the trans shift different when you drove it with the Vss unplugged when you had the ohm meter on it? 8.5 volts? Something sounds wrong here. I'll have to look up the wiring diagram before I can say thats a bad reading but it should be battery voltage (14 volts running) or 5 volts?

SOURCE: 1999 ford taurus starter will not engage

Hi and welcome to FixYa,

To my knowledge, you assumption is correct on most designs. That wire should go to the ignition switch and will be hot when key is in START. However, same wire often would be connected first to a relay that is interlocked with some conditions/status other then key to START. They would be:

• automatic transmission should be in neutral/park with light indicated;
• alarm/security/immobilizer is inactive/OFF.

SOURCE: Spark Plug Wires -- 2000 Ford Focus ZX3?

two options just pull them straight up or they make a special tool that you can buy to do this. if you are going to replace plugs you should go ahead and do the wires at the same time.

SOURCE: My 2000 Ford Expedition has

If it is a single click, the problem lies in the starter solenoid or relay. If it is several clicks in succession, the battery may be low or there may be a loose cable. ---------- also try this :-- Please make sure the battery is fully charged before doing this test! Also make sure all the connections on the starter, battery and cable ends are tight and clean! this is important!! This won't be fun to test but it will tell you if the starter is good or not. Crawl under the car. (Make sure you use the proper jacks and jack stands!) find the end of the starter (not the end that is attached to the bell housing) and find the solenoid switch. it should have 3 bolts on it. Two large ones and a small one. The top large wire should be the positive battery cable, the bottom large wire should go into the starter and the small wire should be from the ignition switch. Take a wire and hold it to the top large wire on the solenoid. (be careful of the other end of that wire when you have it connected to the top large wire of the solenoid! don't ground this wire. it will turn out badly. take the other end of the wire and touch it to the small bolt on the solenoid end. If the starter is working, the solenoid should engage and the starter will turn. If this happens it is most likely the ignition switch. If the starter doesn't turn, the starter could be bad. ==== Starter Relay Test
Place transmission in Park.
Apply parking brake.
Check for battery voltage between starter relay battery terminal and ground.
Connect jumper wire on starter relay between battery and ignition terminals.
If engine does not crank, connect a second jumper wire to starter relay between ground terminal and good ground and repeat test.
If engine cranks in step 3, transmission linkage is misadjusted or neutral safety switch is defective.
If engine does not crank in step 3, starter relay is defective.
Follow this step by step and you will pinpoint the problem.
--------
This will help. Thanks please keep updated.please do rate the solution positively .thank you for using fixya.