North American Turbocoupe Organization



Electrical / Negative Battery Cable Issue
EJ Offline
Member
#1
Just replaced my Timing belt and radiator hoses then buttoned everything back up , removed the Spout, Timing light hooked up, replaced the Negative Battery Cable on the Neg terminal tightened it down and then had 0 - ZERO Electrical power in the entire vehicle.

No Electrical connections / nor repairs / replacements were made on any item. After checking the connections , and the Fuseable Link ( all good ) I removed and then cleaned off the Neg Terminal connection to Battery - Battery is a good 2 year old Motorcraft Fully charged

Replaced the Neg terminal tightened it down and had FULL ELECTRICS to the TC. Started the engine set the Timing locked down the Dist . and turned off the car to disconnect Timing light. Went to restart the TC about two minutes later And once again - 0 ZERO Electrical power in the vehicle.

Tried removing / replacing the Neg cable several times NO Joy !

I visually checked the Neg cable Ground and it appears solid.

Cable is also in Visible Good condition -


I am at a loss.

Never had a problem like this until Now


Anyone have any ideas ???
EJ

1988 TC - T5 Stock - Original Owner
1986 SVO - Original Owner-
2013 Fusion Titanium - Eco Boost AWD
2012 JEEP Liberty - Son's DD
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natmac3 Offline
Administrator
#2
When you say Zero Power, does that mean no interior lights, courtesy lamps, etc?

If those things work but nothing downstream of the ignition has power, I'd say faulty ignition switch/cylinder.
1987tc
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Not B Anymore Offline
Administrator
#3
Maybe one of the cables has an internal break? Did you try messing with the cables after they were hooked up to see if the power came on? Could have corroded out and still look OK on the outside. Personally, I'd be checking the resistance of the negative battery cable from one end to the other as a quick first step. :dunno:
Brian Leavitt
'86 TC 5-Speed -- MS2x w/COP | 83 lb. injectors | T3/T4 50 Trim Stage 3 .63AR | Full 3" Exhaust - No Cat | Motorsport FMIC | Ranger Roller | Ported E6 | Walbro 255HP | Kirban | 20psi | 120-amp 3G | 8.8" 3.55 rear | '03 Cobra Wheels
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Pete D Offline
Administrator
#4
I've had cables go bad in a short time (2-3 days) while car was in the garage for non-electrical maintenance. Started and drove it in, 3 days late no crank, no start. Advised here to look for any corrosion at the end of the cables. Saw a little, didn't think it was enough to matter. Changed the cable (negative) anyway and all was good.
Pete Dunham


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EJ Offline
Member
#5
0 Power = Yes as you described it -

No Electrical Power in ANY Vehicle System:
Lights , Accessories , etc. -

As if there were No Battery in the vehicle.

Yes as to changing the cable position:

As little as is possible on the Negative cable. Positive Cable has not been removed since the New Motorcraft was installed 2 years ago.

No Contact



Have not run a Resistance test -

But vehicle started right up with No problem after sitting in indoor storage for 4 months last Thursday. I then drove it 25 miles back to my garage with No Problem. Started right up the next day and had no issues until attempt to restart after Timing belt replacement.
EJ

1988 TC - T5 Stock - Original Owner
1986 SVO - Original Owner-
2013 Fusion Titanium - Eco Boost AWD
2012 JEEP Liberty - Son's DD
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EJ Offline
Member
#6
Pete:

Battery Cable ends are Completely Crosion Free from Clamp head into the Outer sheathing. Now it is entirely possible there could be an internal break . But overall , as I indicated , Visible inspection shows no Tell tale signs of distress.

That all said- A quick look at Rock Auto did not instill confidence as to getting a Correct 88 TC Negative Cable replacement.

Any thoughts on another source or Part Number?

Mine are ALL Original FoMoCo - For the record TC has 33,963 Original miles.
EJ

1988 TC - T5 Stock - Original Owner
1986 SVO - Original Owner-
2013 Fusion Titanium - Eco Boost AWD
2012 JEEP Liberty - Son's DD
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Scott Mabe Offline
Member
#7
Even though you might not see corrosion on the cable end, I would clean the cable end and battery terminal until both are shiny on the contact surfaces.
1987 Turbo Coupe
1988 Thunderbird parts car/ possibly street/strip car
1990 F-250HD 460ci
2001 Pontiac Montana (wife's ride)

-PLEASE FORGIVE TYPOS, I USE SWYPE ON MY PHONE-
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EJ Offline
Member
#8
Scott:

Cleaning both Cable and Terminal Post with Electrical Cleaner and emery cloth was the First step I took.

Many years spent with Boats and Salt Water has made this my "go to" first step whenever it comes to Batteries / electrical connections.

I am beginning to lean towards Pete's solution as to Cable Negative cable replacement.

Problem may be finding one ( commercial replacement ) that is correct.

EJ

1988 TC - T5 Stock - Original Owner
1986 SVO - Original Owner-
2013 Fusion Titanium - Eco Boost AWD
2012 JEEP Liberty - Son's DD
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Scott Mabe Offline
Member
#9
I'm not even exactly sure where the negative connects on the engine but if you did have a break/corrosion somewhere my guess would be check that connection since at the battery seems fine.
1987 Turbo Coupe
1988 Thunderbird parts car/ possibly street/strip car
1990 F-250HD 460ci
2001 Pontiac Montana (wife's ride)

-PLEASE FORGIVE TYPOS, I USE SWYPE ON MY PHONE-
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Jeff K Offline
Administrator
#10
As others have said, cables can look fine, and be bad internally. Happening more and more these days as so many parts come from China.

Do a volt drop test on the neg cable. DMM on Volts. One lead to neg batt POST (not the clamp), and other lead to engine block. Turn key to RUN. Volts should be very close to zero. If you get batt volts, cable is bad. Replace it. FYI, the heavier gauge black cable coming off the stock neg batt cable at / near the connector is VERY important. That is the EEC ground.
Jeff Korn

88 Turbo Coupe: Intake and exhaust mods, T3 turbo at 24 psi, forced air IC, water injection, BPV, Ranger cam, subframes, etc., etc.
86 Tbird 5.0 (original owner): intake, exhaust, valvetrain mods, 100 HP N2O, ignition, gears, suspension, etc., etc.
11 Crown Vic Interceptor
14 Toyota Camry (wifes car)
95 Taurus GL Vulcan winter beater
67 Honda 450 Super Sport - completely customized
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