98 Contour, starter ticks like dead battery and wipers cycle a couple of times when I turn the key to start. Wiper switch is in the off position, battery is fully charged. I would think possible starter failure except for the wiper thing. (revised) The starter has been removed and tested, and is fine. The wiper switch is in the off position. I have some mechanic background, have never run across this problem before. I have replaced the ignition with a known good, still have the same problem. PLEASE if you have a suggestion (such as maybe the wiper switch is on) post as a clarification request, not a solution, as this removes me from the queue. ok if you have the answer, not so much if you do not.
Weird hey!
-solenoid o.k?
-continuity through positive battery cable?
-have you checked for ground faults?
This is the exact problem I'm having on my 98 contour. My trusted mechanic says these symptoms do indeed indicate low voltage, in my case jump starting will get it running, but only for a few seconds. this leads us to a bad cable. The ignition coil's lead is attached to the starter solenoid's power terminal to which the large cable from the bat + is also attached. If the cable between the starter and battery is bad then the ignition coil doesn't get enough voltage from the battery.
This is funny, had the exact problem this morning. Tried to star the car. The engine just "ticks", the wiper goes, and the "pling-pling" sound that generally tells me to close the door/fasten belt sways in its frequency, like a dying battery. However, I have no idea what caused this.
I suspect the long wait in the sun-baked drive-in line somehow melted a cable. While in the drive-in line I believe i did smell a faint smell of burnt rubber/plastic..
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I hadn't, because it is a relatively new one. Once you suggested it, I did, indeed, pull it out and have it tested. It seems to be fine. Low battery wouldn't cause the wipers to cycle, at least not to my knowledge.
have you actually tested the battery? just because the battery seems to be charged it may still go open under a laod, trust me on this. do a load test on the battery, the symptoms you are discribing are for a low battery voltage condition.
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