That doesn't mean it's working, though. The main power contacts could be fried and not getting juice to the starter cable.When trying to start the car you can hear the solenoid clicking so that is getting power.
That...or a shorted starter.I tried a few weeks ago to jump the terminals but all I got were sparks so I figure short in the wire.
Nope, that's normal. No continuity means the starter wouldn't turn at all when things are normal.I pulled the wire from the terminal on the solenoid yesterday and hooked up a multimeter to that and a ground. It had continuity between the two so its a guaranteed short in the wire.
They aren't that bad, but can be easily improved with a bit of repositioning.The thing that bugs me is the locations that the wire runs through. It goes through the suspension and quite close to very hot parts.
Top your battery off with a charger, then have it load tested.Weeks before this started I had problems with the battery draining after about a day of not driving the car and intermittent issues where the starter would not turn.
My starter has been acting strangely for about a year. Sometimes the gear on the starter doesn't engage with the flywheel and it just free-spins. When you let off of the key, you can hear it engage with a "clunk."My vote goes to a bad starter as well.. I just went through this **** last week. Every few days i'd fry a starter solenoid and be stuck somewhere.. I'd replace it and bam another couple of days later same deal. I found that the starter was the issue and haven't had any issues since replacing it.
The flywheel is not chewed up, nor is it missing any teeth. It NEVER grinds; the gears are meshing good and solid, just sometimes the starter gear doesn't move/pop up at all, and it just spins in place.Well you should at the very least imspect the starter's engagement with the flywheel to see why it's not catching. You could be missing a few teeth on the flywheel or the starter could be shimmed too far out from the flywheel
Take it apart, clean, inspect, & lube (or replace if needed) the starter drive (Bendix).The flywheel is not chewed up, nor is it missing any teeth. It NEVER grinds; the gears are meshing good and solid, just sometimes the starter gear doesn't move/pop up at all, and it just spins in place.
If it worked like a typical starter that used a solenoid actuator to push the gear up, I'd say the solenoid actuator was bad. But alas, Ford starters don't use a solenoid actuator to engage the gear with the flywheel. I'm guessing the bendix spring is broken, or is otherwise too weak to push the gear sometimes.