'91 Won't Start

[Deja Vu]

Hey guys. I have a 1991 Mustang that I can't seem to get to start up. My mother was using it one night and she had to get it towed because it died on her three times before she could get out of the parking lot at her job. I can go out there and turn the egnition and it makes a really ugle noise and sounds like it's about to start but just fails. Wasn't sure if I should have just kept trying st it or not.

I also noticed that when you turn the key half way, the electronics do not turn on. You have to turn it a little further and the elctrical starts but if you even bump the key slightly, it goes off.

The car is stuck here at my parents house and I won't be here all day. (I live two hours out) So if you guys have any thoughts, I'd love to hear them.

 

[Shawneebear93]

Wish I could help. Low/dead battery? Terminals connected properly?

 

[tca7291]

From your key issue, I would think about replacing your ignition switch, they were a factory recall because of failure. Other than that, check to see if you are getting a constant spark, pull one of the plug wires off of one of the coil packs and have someone crank the engine over to make sure you are getting spark, if not, then I would suspect the ICM (grey box mounted on the front of the intake manifold with a connector on top and bottom) as they have been known to go out pretty regularly. If you have a bad coil pack, then it will eventually fry the ICM, I went through all of this with my '91 and ended up replacing both coil packs and the ICM to get her to run right, and stop frying associated components. Almost was at the point of putting in a distributor.

 

[Shawneebear93]

If the ICM is bad you're tach might act up, car may shudder and stall out at a stop unless engine is rev'd. I went through this back in May. Although if you can't get it running you won't really be able to tell. The ignition switch is around $15 or $20 - searches say it takes about 2 hours to replace but I always double what everyone says based upon my [lack of] mechanical ability.
I might not be a bad idea to put new plugs & wires in while you're under the hood. Easy and cheap maintenance.