1998 Contour - Car won't start, won't even turn over

starter solenoid is bad
igintion switch is bad

[quote:55fc36420a="salverio70"]I have a 1998 Ford Contour GL, 2.0L w/auto with 118,000 miles on it. The car will not start at all. It won't crank, turnover, nothing. The lights all come on as they should. I have replaced the starter, the battery and have checked all connections to make sure they're not corroded. Here's the kicker. It started a couple of times today, all of the sudden, out of the blue. As soon as it seemed it was ok, it went back to the way it used to be. I am very frustrated and am utterly confused. It may be the ignition switch but the couple of times it started seems to rule that out. Please help.[/quote:55fc36420a]

Don't under estimate the ignition switch.

Try this get a jumper wire,put key in On position-now take the jumper hook it up on the starter solenoid/relay take other end and tap it to the battery positive terminal-does starter kick?

Probable area: Ignition switch/Neutral Safety switch/Starter relay or starter itself.Maybe the wiring too.

[quote:b70027aa5b="rasmataz"][quote:b70027aa5b="salverio70"]I have a 1998 Ford Contour GL, 2.0L w/auto with 118,000 miles on it. The car will not start at all. It won't crank, turnover, nothing. The lights all come on as they should. I have replaced the starter, the battery and have checked all connections to make sure they're not corroded. Here's the kicker. It started a couple of times today, all of the sudden, out of the blue. As soon as it seemed it was ok, it went back to the way it used to be. I am very frustrated and am utterly confused. It may be the ignition switch but the couple of times it started seems to rule that out. Please help.[/quote:b70027aa5b]

Don't under estimate the ignition switch.

Try this get a jumper wire,put key in On position-now take the jumper hook it up on the starter solenoid/relay take other end and tap it to the battery positive terminal-does starter kick?

Probable area: Ignition switch/Neutral Safety switch/Starter relay or starter itself.Maybe the wiring too.[/quote:b70027aa5b]

Turns out it was a lot of things. Totally rewired the leads coming from the battery and any other wire coming from the battery, got a new battery and another starter, replaced a whole bunch of wires that were corroded and/or bad and it finally runs now. A lot of work and not a lot of fun, let me tell you. Thanks for the help!