I have new battery, plenty of juice, changed battery terminals because my old ones were showing wear, now my lights come on but when I turn ignition key car will not turn over, like no power, HELP

Asked by bbqking Sep 22, 2015 at 07:10 PM about the 1999 Mercury Sable LS Sedan FWD

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

Good battery, plenty of juice. changed out terminals because old ones were worn out corroded. Went with heavy duty type, tighten up good. Now my car when I turn ignition on to crank, nothing will happen. The lights will come on when I pull positive cable off and reattach, but car will not turn over at all.

1 Answer

13,285

Do you get even a click type of sound from the engine compartment when you turn the key to start? It actually sounds like you left a wire off or blew a fuse. Did either of your old terminals, especially the + side have any smaller (like an 8 or 10 gauge wires) attached to them? Many cars do & possibly you left one of them off of the new terminal. You also need to check the power supply boxes for blown fuses, fusible links or relays. You could have possibly blown one with a voltage surge while working on it. Any fuses marked as Start or Ignition could be the problem and I am pretty sure it is something as simple as a disconnected wire or blown fuse since you had no problem with the starter before you changed the terminals.

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