1994 taurus sometimes it fires up and other times you turn the key and nothing happens.Any ideas would be appreciated!

 

Whole lots of stuff could be the problem, I guess first you say nothing happens , IE the dome lite dont come ??? , if you listen real careful , You should hear several relays kick in an out , the fuel pump humm... Are these things happeing ,Or nuthing at all ?? , I would remove the battery cables an clean the battery termials , an the battery post, to make sure your getting a good connection there . you could have a bad starter relay ( up on the fender /firewall ) this is a very common problem on FORDS , Causing a no start.,, Let us know what you find , An if we can help you futher finding out what the problem is . how old is the battery ??? , Ive seen it a few times the battery is so old ,if it sits over nite the car will start the next morning , but after that it wont start car till it has sat for 4-5 hours . Also you could have a bad starter if you got lites an all , but it just dont start up. theres a quick test I tell you how to do if you think thats it .after you cleaned your cables an checked to see if you can hear the relays an fuel pump .

 

Dash lights,and dome light,and headlights work when this happens. The engine doesnt turn over,no clicking sounds,and the battery seems to be strong. You can hear the fuel pump cut on,it cranked up ok today,but in the later it may not crank at all,when you turn the key nothing happens at all.

 

does it still have the factory style battery cable ends on it , or has someone replaced the cable ends with those cheap ones where you gotta cut the cable covering , an slid the bare cable up under a small strap that has 2 bolts on it , 1 on ech side of the strap ???

 

we have checked all the grounds,and the battery ends are still factory. i may just put a new starter on and hope that solves it.thanks for the info if you think of anything else please post.

 

You say no clicking sounds ? before you replace the starter,, you need to check the starter relay ( Solenoid ),, looking at the battery ,, the cable (wire) coming from the postive post of the battery, you should have a short cable that runs to a small round black part thats has 2 small bolt/ screws holding it to the fenderwell/ firewall where the screws go it's like a traingle mount on the back of the relay ,,, It will have 3 wires on it 2 heavy ones ( one will come from the battery , the other goes down to the starter, it may have other smaller wires behind the bigger one ) an then it will have one small wire by its self,, ,, the cable from the battery has power all the time , when you turn the key to start it will send power to the lil wire, that closes the switch ( relay ) , which then sends power to the other cable going down to the starter( an the car should start up ) you should be able to hear / feel this relay click , or get you a test lite an have some one try to start the car an put the test lite on the term( cable ) going to the starter , the light should lite up if you have power , if not the ( relay is bad and not your starter )-- if you replace the starter and you got a bad relay it still will not start the car .,, ,,,

 

Have you checked the ignition sw.? Also the big white connector under the steering wheel? They like to burn up!