2001 Taurus Vulcan Engine. Waste spark ignition system.
The car has been sitting around for about a month when I was doing the valve cover gasket repair. My back injury and spontaneous things (aka work) in life prevent me from working on it all the time.
Finally today I "think" I finished the gasket repair and put everything back together. While doing that I accidentally crushed the cylinder number 2 ignition wire. The rubber insulation exterior is crushed by 1/3 of the diameter, but the core of the wire does not seems to be exposed (but does show different color.
On this engine the plugs and wires are accessible without removing the intake manifold. Since I wanted to test if everything is working, I decided to just put some gasket dressing (The Permatex blue stuff that said high temperature and won't cure or dry) on the crushed area and install it anyways.
After I put everything back together, I try to start the engine and I can hear a click-click (rapid double click) every 1/2 second or so, coming from the front of the engine (suspect starter). The engine does not crank at all, and I do not see any spark or arcing.
The head light seems dim and I notice when the clicking occur, the engine light (CEL) would dim as well, hence I suspect it is the battery not having enough voltage to start. I also notice that when I try to start for too long, the clicks disappear. If I wait for 10 mins, and try again, the click comes back.
The only time I've seen these clicking in the past is when my other car's starter plunger solenoid contacts worn out, but I only heard one click then.
Would a crushed ignition wire on a waste spark ignition car cause no crank? Would the amount of water caused by wiping a wet towel across the engine/transmission mating surface produce sufficient moisture that can short the starter? (The mating surface of the engine/transmission is on the gear side of the starter, not the electrical contact side of the starter).
I'll borrow a volt meter from work tomorrow and ask around for a jumper cable. The battery is about 4-5 years old, the car has been sit around for 1-1.5 months, but there is a small alarm light that stays on 247 near the dash (so there may be a slow leak in the system).
The car has been sitting around for about a month when I was doing the valve cover gasket repair. My back injury and spontaneous things (aka work) in life prevent me from working on it all the time.
Finally today I "think" I finished the gasket repair and put everything back together. While doing that I accidentally crushed the cylinder number 2 ignition wire. The rubber insulation exterior is crushed by 1/3 of the diameter, but the core of the wire does not seems to be exposed (but does show different color.
On this engine the plugs and wires are accessible without removing the intake manifold. Since I wanted to test if everything is working, I decided to just put some gasket dressing (The Permatex blue stuff that said high temperature and won't cure or dry) on the crushed area and install it anyways.
After I put everything back together, I try to start the engine and I can hear a click-click (rapid double click) every 1/2 second or so, coming from the front of the engine (suspect starter). The engine does not crank at all, and I do not see any spark or arcing.
The head light seems dim and I notice when the clicking occur, the engine light (CEL) would dim as well, hence I suspect it is the battery not having enough voltage to start. I also notice that when I try to start for too long, the clicks disappear. If I wait for 10 mins, and try again, the click comes back.
The only time I've seen these clicking in the past is when my other car's starter plunger solenoid contacts worn out, but I only heard one click then.
Would a crushed ignition wire on a waste spark ignition car cause no crank? Would the amount of water caused by wiping a wet towel across the engine/transmission mating surface produce sufficient moisture that can short the starter? (The mating surface of the engine/transmission is on the gear side of the starter, not the electrical contact side of the starter).
I'll borrow a volt meter from work tomorrow and ask around for a jumper cable. The battery is about 4-5 years old, the car has been sit around for 1-1.5 months, but there is a small alarm light that stays on 247 near the dash (so there may be a slow leak in the system).