I went to start my car and there was a pop and the whole electrical system went out. How do I troubleshoot?

MJBRADY83

MEMBER
1989 FORD CROWN VICTORIA
60,000 MILES

It's a recent purchase and before I bought it it has been sitting for a while. Now I'm putting about 70 miles a day on it. It's leaking oil from valve covers and I think the starter got pretty well covered in it. I went to start it today and there was an instant electrical "pop" noise and I lost all power. No headlights and no dome light. Key does nothing. I'm thinking it's the starter shorting out but I don't know how that would prevent the lights from coming on or me putting the ignition in accessory. How can I troubleshoot this?

2 Replies

PROMECHANIC

MECHANIC
536 POSTS

The first thing that you need to do is check your battery cables. Make sure they are clean and tight where they connect to the battery. If there is no power to anything then there is most likely a problem in one of these cables.

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Sunday, September 11th, 2011 AT 5:10 AM

CJ MEDEVAC

MECHANIC
11,004 POSTS

JUST TO ADD A LITTLE TO WHAT promechanic SAID. THATS THE BATTERY CABLES CONNECTIONS, FROM START TO FINISH. THRU THE SOLENOID, ALL THE WAY TO THE STARTER.

IF NECESSARY, TAKE 'EM LOOSE, CLEAN AND TIGHTEN WELL. EVEN THE "CABLE SQUEEZERS" WHERE THE CABLES MEET THE BATTERY CLAMPS. AND THE NEGATIVE BATTERY CABLES TOO.

NO GETTIN' LAZY AND SAYIN', "THAT LOOKS GOOD". THAT'LL BE THE ONE THAT BITES YA!

ALWAYS A GOOD IDEA TO TEST BETWEEN TIGHTENING, TO FIND OUT WHERE THE PROBLEM CHILD ACTUALLY WAS AT, AND MAYBE TO END YOUR QUEST EARLY.

LET US KNOW HOW YOU MAKE OUT, SOMEBODY'S ALWAYS HERE, IF YOU NEED MORE HELP!

THE MEDIC

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Sunday, September 11th, 2011 AT 5:34 AM