TTA Won't start

T

turbota633

Member
Joined
Feb 15, 2004
I just went through this a few months back, ended up replacing the ignition lock cylinder because the VATS wire was broken. Until I get a new set of keys, I have the VATS relay jumped with a wire so it will start with the keys that came with the new lock cylinder (no resistor keys). Also the fuel pump died, and I replaced it with the Racetronix pump & hot wire kit.
The other day, I put the charger on the batter since it sat in the garage for just long enough that the battery seemed a little low on juice. After 10 minutes or so, I took the charger off, started it and pulled it out, turned it off. Went back out to start it 10 minutes later, and nothing. Just like it was when the VATS wire on the lock cylinder finally broke. The car has power, the lights work, the fuel pump primes, etc...It won't turn over. I don't know where to go with it at this point. I checked the fuses, all are fine. Starter? Starter solenoid? Through searching the forums I seen some people had problems with the starter relay, where's that located? Any suggestions? At this point, I don't know what to look for. Maybe I installed the lock cylinder in such a way that the wire was catching something in there and snapped through it, after all they are extremely thin wires.

I've about had it with this car, just when I get the lock cylinder in and the fuel pump over the summer, now it pulls a no-start on me again.
 
Turn key and nothing, no turning over...not a thing. The car has power, the locks, lights, etc work...fuel pump primes, all of that works. I just replaced the lock cylinder a few months back so I would think that should not be the problem, but who knows at this point.
 
You know, after reading your post on the other forum.... the starter/starter solenoid may be the problem. The car is stuck in the driveway, I'd like to have it back in the garage to work on it so I figured if I tried to jump the solenoid to start it and pull it back in the garage, that was my optimal choice...then work on it in the garage when time permits. But when I tried to jump the solenoid, it wouldn't turn over, I thought it would at least attempt to start...so maybe the solenoid isn't making contact on the internals therefore not engaging the starter....does this make sense or sound right?
 
turbota633 said:
You know, after reading your post on the other forum.... the starter/starter solenoid may be the problem. The car is stuck in the driveway, I'd like to have it back in the garage to work on it so I figured if I tried to jump the solenoid to start it and pull it back in the garage, that was my optimal choice...then work on it in the garage when time permits. But when I tried to jump the solenoid, it wouldn't turn over, I thought it would at least attempt to start...so maybe the solenoid isn't making contact on the internals therefore not engaging the starter....does this make sense or sound right?
Click to expand...


Hi, I can tell you a couple of things that can cause this:
If the batery has lost some voltage the VATS system will not read enough volts and will not allow the car to start.
Also if the TPS goes bad it can do the same thing. If you have any elecronic add ons like a voltage booster or a Caspers TPS control thing, they go bad. Iyou have a scan tool check these.
 
turbota633 said:
You know, after reading your post on the other forum.... the starter/starter solenoid may be the problem. The car is stuck in the driveway, I'd like to have it back in the garage to work on it so I figured if I tried to jump the solenoid to start it and pull it back in the garage, that was my optimal choice...then work on it in the garage when time permits. But when I tried to jump the solenoid, it wouldn't turn over, I thought it would at least attempt to start...so maybe the solenoid isn't making contact on the internals therefore not engaging the starter....does this make sense or sound right?
Click to expand...
Once you've checked it let me know. I'm willing to bet one of the prongs in the solenoid is worn down to nothing, or the starter itself is bad. Once the starter is out give it juice and see if it'll turn.
 
starter

same prob i had starter wire at the starter ,also relay is drivers side fire wall hope that helps .:cool:
 
Takes three conditions for starter to work.
One.. ground at battery and motor
Two.. B+ at starter from battery
Three... +12 on the solenoid to actuate the solenoid.

Three is the problem typically. The VATS disables +12 to the solenoid. And... the long wiring in the TTA makes the +12 to the solenoid like +8 or +9.. sometimes not applying enoug + to make the solenoid work.

You jumped the VATS correct? If so, where you jumped the vats.. if you apply +12 to that jumper, the starter should move.

Some fixes are a new starter, installing a Ford starter relay, installing a relay to apply +12 to the solenoid, etc.. all do the same thing.. get the limited power to make the starter work. On my TTA I used a 30A Bosch relay and jumped +12 from the fuse box to the VATS output. Triggered the relay using the VATS output so it would still function.

Thats it.. make the drama as big as you want it :D
 
As long as the battery is alright(not dead/low on voltage),the BAT slot in the fuse box should be a sufficient +12 source, right? I figured because of proximity, it should be quick & easy to jump 12v to my VATS jumper from there just as a test on the starter solenoid/starter.
 
Exactly what I did. I just used a relay to transfer power from fuse box to VATS output. Then used the wires going to the VATS to trigger the relay to make the transfer. That way VATS still works.. and +12 gets applied to solenoid.
 
So, for a quick test, I spliced into my jumper wire I have on the VATS, and ran the spliced-in section to the BAT slot in the fuse box, turn the key on...and to start. Nothing happens. Am I testing this correctly? And if so, is this a sign that my solenoid is bad?
 
Vats is easy to bypass. If you have the original key still, just ohm out the resistor that is in it ( one lead on each side of the chip in the key). You then cut the vats wires, buy a resistor of the same value and conect it to the wires you cut. That is the way to bypass it perminantly. To do it the correct way, you use a relay to send the resistor value. Vats sucks, so I do it the first way most of the time for remote starts.
 
But the thing is I don't want to bypass VATS, I'd rather not cut into the VATS wiring system unless I have to. I sort of don't even believe that VATS is my problem in this particular case. The only reason I have it jumped is because I never got around to getting a new key cut for the car, I just rarely drive it and I'm busy enough that I just never got around to it.
 
Took the starter off, took it to Autozone so they could test it, it passed twice. Wiped it off a with a towel, put it back on, and the car started.
So after starting it and pulling it 15 feet from my garage to about halfway down my driveway, apparantly something bounced, pushed or pulled the right way and caused a bad connection at the starter.
Thanks to all for the input and helping my chase my solution.
 
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