[874banger]

Ok to start off the car is a 1987 2.3L.

After we put in a water pump and replaced the valve cover gasket (the head has been rebuilt whoo!) I wen't to take it out for a spin so I back it up and went to put it in to gear and then doh! killed it. Now after that the car won't start so I pull the caps off the battery..fill a little distilled water to where it's supposed to be and cap it up and charge. It gets fully charged so I go to start it. Then all of a sudden a few sparks fly with very small electrical smoke. Ever since then you can turn the ignition and the seatbelt and amp lights go on but the second you go to start it, it only ticks once then it's killed, then the seatbelt and amp lights won't even come up. But about an hour or so later it'll do the same exact thing. It's not the battery because we swapped it out and all the connections and fuseable links seem to be where they are supposed to be or can they be burnt out. So I probably shorted something out with water somewhere. Now what I am asking is what else should I look for and what should I replace of the following first:
Starter Relay
Ballast Resistor (where is it)
Coil
Ignition Module
Or what else? Please help me it has to be in the shop next weekend for it's pistons and rods.

Another thing, is D4S a forged piston/rod combo it's the casting on the rods? I know D4Z=1984 SVO..

[peter]

Im not an expert but make sure that all the battery conections are clean and TIGHT. Check the starter and conection. Good Luck

[OMERmotorsport]

yeah it sounds like your battery teminal connections are loose

[874banger]

Nope real tight, I'll clean them tomorrow and check the starter tomorow. Any other ideas?

[rallymerkur]

It's an 87' 2.3L in a what? Mustang, T-bird, XR? Were are the sparks coming from?

I would look at the starter. Maybe the solenoid. There's no ballast resister that I know of ( but I've really only worked on XR's).

[CruzNlife1]

before I even saw the replies I was going to mention the termnials.... I had corrosion INSIDE the insulation on the wire, and under load, wheN I turn the key it would COMPELTELY kill everything, dome light and all.... Got a tick than dead. About 10 minutes later when it cooled off, everything inside would come back on, but when I hit start it would do the same thing....

[CruzNlife1]

and new cables cured everything. Actually, the lights dimmed less with the stereo and the it seemed to turn the starter a bit faster as well.....

[Asimov]

Gotta second the new cables thing, there have been too many posts where that was the problem.

You should probably check all the major grounds on the motor as well, not just the battery end.

Also you could try to start it, and heat up whatever wire is getting hot, then check the resistance between various points on the motor (and the starter in particular) and the neg battery terminal, that should give you an idea if it's the ground or not.

[874banger]

Originally posted by CruzNlife1:
and new cables cured everything. Actually, the lights dimmed less with the stereo and the it seemed to turn the starter a bit faster as well.....

New battery terminal wires or the fuseable link wires to the starter solenoid? I've checked for the fuseable links online, anyone know where I can order them..checked rockauto.