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Hey guys,
we’re having some real issues with my dads old Mercury van. It’s a 1995 Villager with the 3,0L V6, automatic trans. About 170k miles on it right now.
It was working fine until a few days ago, when it suddenly wouldn’t start after driving to my house. We waited until the next day and it started working. Fast forward regular driving for two occasions, now it’s back on the driveway and not starting.
You turn the key to crank the engine, and nothing happens. Lights come on, everything’s fine, but no crank or start. It has a fresh battery, since we first thought about that. Didn’t fix it. Whilst the key is in the start position, you can hear a slight rapid clicking noise with the hood open, I think this is the starter relay we’re hearing.
Also, since this thing is blocking my garage and we might want to tow it to a shop, we tried putting it in neutral gear from Park. This is impossible, since the brake pedal is stiff as a rock, it doesn’t budge at all. I cannot depress it and the gear lever won’t move as a result.
What the heck to do?
Any help with diagnosing the cranking issue as well as the stuck P-gear would be much appreciated!
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Hmmm, I wonder if the earlier has come through, I don’t seem to have any views on it…
Sorry for bumping the thread and being impatient… :stick:
As to the brake pedal being stuck, always a way around that, just use something to depress the push switch attached to the back of the brake pedal assembly.
As to the click-fest(aka no crank, no start), check for battery voltage on the solenoid terminal (when in start key position) going into the starter to verify it’s getting the signal to try to crank. If it is:
a) then check that the starter power line from the battery has power and good contacts. This is the only non-fused line in the vehicle as it can (and sometimes will depending) use every amp your battery is capable of giving the starter during cranking.
b) if it does then try rotating the engine manually to make sure it’s not hydro-locked or the like
c) then you can reasonably conclude the starter is toastified and needs replacing.If you’re not getting the solenoid 12v trigger, you’d need to trace it back as to the cause. Fuse, relay, neutral safety switch, parking position switch, ignition key cylinder itself, and of course, if you can’t depress the brake “at all”, that is the likely cause.
Some vehicles(with a/t) require you to have your foot verified on the brake before it will allow the solenoid to get the cranking signal (ie. depressing that switch on the assembly).
[video width=425 height=344 type=youtube]BrqkhZmDnHQ[/video]
oh man a ’95 villager this topic hits home for me. my dad has a ’93 so i like we are family lol. we had a problem once with the gear selector cable. there is a hold down under the dash for the cable by the steering column. it had pulled away and the van wasn’t going into park. the van wound start in reverse. i did some quick fixes to secure it i.e. zip ties and it works ok to this day. the gear selector for the trans is very easy to get to and see. its right in front of the vehicle on the transmission. looks kinda half moonish with a cable going to it. make sure this lever is all the way up( i think or all the way down) before trying to start the van. a good test is to simply try to push the van, if it won’t budge its in park. we also had problem with the starter. it would give you that notorious nothing when you turned the key. a easy test for this is to have an assistant turn the key in the start position and hold. you’ll need a long pry bar because the starter is kinda buried under wires. hold the pry bar against the starter (biggest round part) and smack the bar with a hammer. if the van starts its the starter failing. these starters can be pricey (especially if you don’t want to put any more money into an 17 year old car) so what you can do is clean around the are where the starter goes into (yes you need to remove the starter) pay special attention to around the bolt holes. this will buy you some time but not always a fix. being also that the starter is a little hard to remove you might want to just replace anyway. up to you. hope this helps, let me know if ya need more info. i wanna know too what fixed it
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