1991 ford escort, no lights,no crank, good battery, starter, ignition switch, fuses, relays, clean grounds... any suggestions? thanks in advance tabrowne

Well, looking at the schematic, there is the IGN A (Fuse 6) in the under-hood fuse block feeding power to both the ignition switch and to the NO contact of the starter relay. Turning the ignition switch to the START position sends this voltage thru the CRANK (Fuse 8) in the instrument panel fuse block and thru the PARK/NEUTRAL position switch, thru the starter relay coil to ground. This should activate the Starter relay and pass voltage to the starter solenoid to ground, activating it. One the starter solenoid activates, batter power is sent to the starter motor, activating it. If, as you say, the fuses are good, the starter relay was replaced and is good, and the Park/Neutral position switch was replaced and is good, then then only items left are the ignition switch itself, the starter solenoid/motor, or the wiring of the circuit.

if you have battery power on the large terminal at the starter and the same on the smaller wire when someone Is turning the key to start and the starter has a good ground then the starter is bad drawing too much amperage causing the clicking sound.

Here are some possible reasons:

Park/neutral switch is open.
Poor ground connection to starter.

You can test the park/neutral switch by either jumping the solenoid (connect the hot terminal to the start terminal to see if the starter cranks--if it does, the ground is good) or by interrogating the starter relay socket. To interrogate the relay socket, use a 12 volt test light connection the clip to battery positive. Probe the socket terminals with the test light. If only one terminal lights the light, your park/neutral switch is bad or the start wire to the solenoid is bad.

Check the starter relay for operation. It should be in the engine compartment fuse box. If the relay is good, you can make a jumper wire and connect directly from the battery positive terminal to the starter solenoid terminal--the single small wire going to the starter. If you get cranking, the starter soleniod is good and the problem is in the circuitry that includes the ignition switch and starter relay. If the solenoid still doesn't click, it's bad.

An ignition switch probably isn't the problem, because the vehicle probably wouldn't shut off if the switch were the problem. When you turn your car off the battery is not being drained any longer from the switch unless the vehicle is unable to shut down.
The other possibility that will definately cause a battery to lose juice while not running is a faulty starter sellinoid. When these sellinoid's, (may not be spelled correctly, sorry about that) are bad, the motor is turned off but the battery is still drawing current, but the engine is not running to allow the battery to recharge.
It could also be a bad battery. Check your battery cylinders by removing the plastic covering and checking the water level in the cells. Dry cells in a battery will not allow a jump.

If it is a single click, the problem lies in the starter solenoid or relay. If it is several clicks in succession, the battery may be low or there may be a loose cable. ---------- also try this :-- Please make sure the battery is fully charged before doing this test! Also make sure all the connections on the starter, battery and cable ends are tight and clean! this is important!! This won't be fun to test but it will tell you if the starter is good or not. Crawl under the car. (Make sure you use the proper jacks and jack stands!) find the end of the starter (not the end that is attached to the bell housing) and find the solenoid switch. it should have 3 bolts on it. Two large ones and a small one. The top large wire should be the positive battery cable, the bottom large wire should go into the starter and the small wire should be from the ignition switch. Take a wire and hold it to the top large wire on the solenoid. (be careful of the other end of that wire when you have it connected to the top large wire of the solenoid! don't ground this wire. it will turn out badly. take the other end of the wire and touch it to the small bolt on the solenoid end. If the starter is working, the solenoid should engage and the starter will turn. If this happens it is most likely the ignition switch. If the starter doesn't turn, the starter could be bad. ==== Starter Relay Test
Place transmission in Park.
Apply parking brake.
Check for battery voltage between starter relay battery terminal and ground.
Connect jumper wire on starter relay between battery and ignition terminals.
If engine does not crank, connect a second jumper wire to starter relay between ground terminal and good ground and repeat test.
If engine cranks in step 3, transmission linkage is misadjusted or neutral safety switch is defective.
If engine does not crank in step 3, starter relay is defective.
Follow this step by step and you will pinpoint the problem.
--------
This will help. Thanks please keep updated.please do rate the solution positively .thank you for using fixya.

Check voltage at trigger wire going to the solenoid. There should not be any voltage there except when the key is in start positon...if there is the ignition switch may be bad.

take off starter take it to advance or autozone they will check it free.could be starter relay or starter if battery is good. replace battery cable if they have not been changed.

Check the fuse box is not full of water.
Thet suffered from leaking windscreens, and it filled the fuse box.
If not, you are looking at a faulty ignition switch.

TL

it is most likley starter relay or starter.with vehicle in park and e-brake on have someone tap on the starter with hammer while your trying to start.if starter starts to crank then you know the starter is on the way out.if starter does not crank it may already be shot.srarter relay is on fire wall check power + ground.