car dead, now what? Options

[SirAndy]

last night i went to start up my car, i turned the key (gauge lights come on), i try to start her and everything went dead.

gauge lights went out, no starter, nothing. tried the blinkers, horn etc. nada.

so i think the battery might be dead, take a voltmeter to the posts, ~13V. hmmmm ...

now what?
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/confused24.gif) Andy

[r_towle]

loose ground.
Not sure where the wiring is going in your 3.6 (if that is what we are talking about)

In a stock car (which you probably want to eliminate) the power comes up from the battery, to the ign switch, then from there to the starter.
Its a long haul no matter how you do it.

I would go for a simple push button starter switch, it solves the bad ignition switch (plastic piece) that goes bad alot.

If you have never replaced that part, buy two, keep one on the shelf.
What happens is the rear of the ignition switch breaks, and you cant get to the start portion of the switch.
It will turn, it feels right (cause the feel is in the lock tumbler portion of the switch assembly) but the switch itself wont make contact to the start position once the piece is broken.

You could have a bad switch.
Simple test, use push pins (sewing pins) and a volt meter.
Power lead from battery to switch, red.
power lead switch to starter, yellow (could have a stripe)
Power lead switch to rear (power for FI etc) red

I push a pin through these three wires, under the dash, right where the harness takes a turn into the tunnel, or right behind the shifter (easier) the harness is on top of the tunnel there, and not in a wire loom.

Push the pin right through the wire, making contact with the copper inside.
Test all three wires with the volt meter to see if they are getting power with the ignition switch in the correct position.

Its a whole lot faster than removing the ignition switch, and it can be done without getting on your back to see if you can bend that way to get under the dash.
If you have a console, look under the third seat, there might be an area you can get to it.

The key is to be able to turn the key, while looking at the meter.

If all else fails.
I always carry a simple two things with me, and it always gets me home.

I have a 10 foot wire, with large alligator clips on both ends, in the middle is a 50 amp push button, momentary switch.
The other is a 2 foot cable with smaller alligator clips on the end to connect to my coil.

I can get home that way.

You, with all the FI stuff, and all the 3.6 stuff, would need to look at all that wiring, and how you routed it to make sure there are not loose connections.
KISS (Keep it simple stupid) and try to get two main circuits to get home.
One to start, and one to power up the FI.
The rest you can deal with after you are home.

So, one line to a momentary push button switch hidden in the engine bay, and a power switch hidden under the dash.
With these two, you can always get home.

Rich