Starting issue

[Motts]

Well Its actually my mother in laws beater.

91 Mercury Marquis

will start off of a jump/boost
new battery
new alternator
new starter

seems like the battery wont hold a charge. I searched over on the automotive forums but couldnt find anything useful. So I figured maybe a tech could point me in the right direction.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Iancusp]

dont older fords have some type of extra part on them when it comes to starting up or holding a charge.
my sisters bf was telling me about this when my altenator went on my crownvictoria

 

[Motts]

any idea what this part could be?

 

[02V8Sport]

take it to a auto parts (AutoZone) store to do a load test on the battery to find out if thats the culprit, if its not then its more than likely the alternator.

 

[Motts]

already been done, all are brand spankin new.. I took them in and had them tested anyways.. said everything was fine.

 

[SoonerLS]

Check the terminals on the battery cables; it might be worth replacing them. If they're not making good contact, you'll be able to jump start the car, but the battery won't be doing much.

 

[jokken]

maybe it is the voltage regulator.

I used to have a beater, 89 ford taurus. I think the voltage regulator was behind the battery mounted under the lip of the fender. I remember it causing my battery not to charge. Follow the wires from the battery and/or alternator see where they lead from what I remember it was 3 x 2 inches, mounted with two bolts and had 2 or 3 wires run to it.

 

[Brozly]

Terminals and conections get corodid and cause that quite often.

 

[beaups]

my guess is a fusible link. you should have either inline fusible links (looks like a fat spot on the wires) or big ones in a junction box some where. Old people typically fry them by a sloppy jump start (crossed wires, etc). There's usually one type of fusible link between the alternator and battery. That's probably the one that's shot. to test pull each side of the cable that runs between the alternator and the batter (be sure to pull from battery first). then check for continuity

 

[2001LS8Sport]

maybe it is the voltage regulator.

I used to have a beater, 89 ford taurus. I think the voltage regulator was behind the battery mounted under the lip of the fender. I remember it causing my battery not to charge. Follow the wires from the battery and/or alternator see where they lead from what I remember it was 3 x 2 inches, mounted with two bolts and had 2 or 3 wires run to it.

Regulator should be integral with the alternator in that year if I'm not mistaken.

This shouldn't be that hard to find. Have you done some voltage drop tests between the battery and starter? Alternator and battery? Those will show you where you are having a problem. You also need to be sure you're battery is fully charged before you test.

 

[Motts]

"I used to have a beater, 89 ford taurus. I think the voltage regulator was behind the battery mounted under the lip of the fender. I remember it causing my battery not to charge. Follow the wires from the battery and/or alternator see where they lead from what I remember it was 3 x 2 inches, mounted with two bolts and had 2 or 3 wires run to it"

There is a lil black lookin box next to the battery, battery and alternator both go to it... hmm

Thanks for the responses