Help! Relocated Battery - Now Car Won't Start

[barden2000]

I installed a Taylor Battery Box kit in my 2000 mustang. The lights and everything else work fine but the starter won't even turn over. Grounded battery to the floor of the trunk. Up front I ground the 2 small black wires and the battery ground to the chassis, also ran ground strap from engine block to chassis. Connected positive from battery and hot wire from starter to the power distrbution box.

 

[MyStangGT]

Make sure you plugged the solenoid wire back on. It's the small wire beside the power cable.

 

[MichaelsLilGray]

Make sure you plugged the solenoid wire back on. It's the small wire beside the power cable.

Thats what im going to go with! Sounds like you forgot one =P

 

[barden2000]

I connected 2 small grey wires back onto the positive stud and a larger red wire going to starter. Are the 2 grey wires for the solenoid?

 

[MichaelsLilGray]

No.. you have one red line smaller than the other. One leads to the solenoid.. the other runs to your fuse box. we are talking way up on the drivers side

 

[barden2000]

Alright guys I attached attached a picture of my positive wire setup and my negetive wire setup. Let me know if this looks right. I traced a large red wire going from my fuse box to the soleniod and a small white wire with a red stripe going from the passenger side wiring harness to the soleniod. I went under the car and jumped the soleniod and starter kicked in, so I know the soleniod works. I also replaced the starter relay.

 

[MyStangGT]

I don't remember the color of the wire that excites the solenoid but it might be the white/red one. Do you have it plugged to the terminal you jumped to get it to work?

 

[barden2000]

I have that white/red wire plugged into the factory connector the way it was before I moved the battery from there it goes into the wiring harness. I can crank and drive the car the car right now, by turning the ignition switch to run. Then I have to disconnect the white/red wire from the factory connector going to the wiring harness and use a jumper wire from the positive hook up at the fuse box to the white/red wire running to the soleniod side. So this means I'm not getting any juice from the wiring harness side. Kind of screwed up isn't it.

 

[MyStangGT]

You are going to need a wiring diagram and just trace it through. I guess it could have coincidentally had something go wrong with the clutch interlock or a fuse or fusable link burned out.

Did you arc the cables at any time during this change?

 

[barden2000]

That's what am thinking. It's a automatic so it could be the automatic safety switch or any number of little things. I didn't arc any wires while working on the car, but there's a chance I could have damaged a wire when I was trying to get the large battery cable thru the grommet in the firewall. I think there is a open circuit somewhere. Car electrical systems are'nt my favorite thing to work on, so tomorrow I'm going to take it to a local mechanic who used to work at a Ford dealership. Thanks for your help and I will let you know what he finds out.

 

[DTNODYA]

What gauge is power wire? I've never done a Mustang but I know that when we did my brother's 240sx, it was doing the same thing. He got a larger wire and that fixed the problem.

If I had to bet on it, I'd say it's a ground issue. I bet if you ran a wire from the negative terminal all the way up (same gauge as power), it would fire right up. For what it's worth, when we did my brother's car, we used power distribution boxes that we got at boaters world to connect all the wires. Looks clean and works excellent ... food for thought ...