Charged battery - reconnected, alarm went off now won't start

[redline36]

Hello,
Went to get my 2002 LS out of storage and connected the battery. When I closed the trunk the alarm went off. I pushed a button on the remote to turn off the alarm now it turns over but will not start. Any ideas what may be the issue and what I need to do to correct it?

Thanks
MikeG

 

[1LoudLS]

how long was it in storage? and are you trying to start it with old gas?

 

[redline36]

The car has been in storage since December. I had it was running 3 weeks ago, fired right up. I only disconnected the battery to give it a charge since I thought it was week from sitting.

 

[joegr]

Probably you are right and the battery is too weak to properly start it. The alarm going off is a clue to that. It's also possible that you flooded the engine in your attempt to start it with a weak battery. Once you take care of the battery issue, you may have to hold the gas pedal all the way to the floor while starting it to go into clear-flood mode.

 

[jerrym3]

Does it turn over strong, or just turn over?

These cars are very reliant on a full battery to start.

I had a full charge put on my TBird's battery, which had been sitting for a while, and the charge would not hold overnight even though the battery was out of the car.

 

[redline36]

It seemed to be turning over just fine, it was acting like there was no spark or fuel.

 

[joegr]

Do you hear the fuel pump prime when you turn the key to run?

 

[redline36]

I will check again when I get home but I do not recall hearing the fuel pump. I was thinking that the alarm going off may have triggered something that will not let the car fire.

 

[joegr]

... I was thinking that the alarm going off may have triggered something that will not let the car fire.

Not true.
The factory perimeter alarm only flashes lights and makes noise. It does not disable the starter, engine, or fuel pump. The factory PATS does disable the engine and starter, but when it is active, it won't even let the starter engage, so that shouldn't be your problem either. PATS is only triggered by a mismatch between the key's code, the cluster's code, and the PCM's code.

 

[redline36]

Thanks, I am going to start with the battery and work my way from there since that is the only difference between now and 3 weeks ago.

 

[FDR]

you may have to hold the gas pedal all the way to the floor while starting it to go into clear-flood mode.

What does that do? You've called it flood mode before, so I thought it flooded the engine with gas and I thought that was odd. But "clear flood" mode makes me think it just doesn't give it any gas and lets the engine try to clear liquid from the cylinder

 

[joegr]

Pretty much that. It opens the throttle wide and injects very little gasoline to get it started. It more or less emulates that way that worked with carbureted cars (which flooded easier than fuel injected ones do).

 

[jerrym3]

No expert here, but when that alarm went off, that tells me electrical problems.

Can't see the alarm going off due to a fuel issue.

When I recently bought a standard battery, I was told that the Motorcraft 750 cold cranking amps is now the standard replacement battery.

 

[redline36]

Ok, got her going. Checked the battery and it tested fine, also did not heard the fuel pump cycle. I then did a key reset, followed the prescribed fix turn ignition on and off 8 times within 10 seconds leaving it in the on position for the 8th turn then pressed any button on the remote within 20 seconds. I then turned the car off and put the key back in heard the fuel pump cycle and it fired right up. This site has been a huge help thanks everyone!!