95 escort lx
1.9lt auto

my son was backing out of the store and put vehicle in drive went about 10 feet and car died
now it will crank fine but will not start
the 30 amp fuse link inthe engine comprt. fuse block(labled fuel inject) is blown and when i put another one in it it blows as well
vehicle is getting fuel but does not seem to be getting spark
i cannot get an arc from the plug wires or coil pack

Hi, and welcome to the forum. The 30A Fuel Injection fuse on the 1.9 feeds current to three components:

Alternator
PCM Power Relay (switched contacts)
Fuel Pump Relay (switched contacts)

With the ignition switched off, locate the white/dark green wire at the alternator, and unplug that connector. Then unplug the PCM Power Relay and the Fuel Pump Relay.

Then fit a new fuse, and switch the ignition to the 'Run' position but don't attempt to crank the engine. If the fuse blows then the problem is a short-circuit in the wiring leading to one of those three items (white/dark green wire from fuse to alternator, and a white/dark green wire from fuse to splice point S281, then white/dark green wire from S281 to PCM Power Relay, and a white/green wire from S281 to the Fuel Pump Relay).

If the fuse doesn't blow, then switch the ignition off, reconnect the plug at the alternator and then switch the ignition to the 'Run' position again. If the fuse blows then the short-circuit is within the alternator assembly.

If it still doesn't blow then switch the ignition off, plug the PCM Power Relay back in and switch the ignition on. If it blows then the problem is in the circuit fed via the switched contacts of the relay, in which case let us know and I'll give you a list of what exactly is fed by the relay.

If it still doesn't blow then switch the ignition off, plug the Fuel Pump Relay back in and switch the ignition on. If it blows then the problem is in the fuel pump circuit, fed via the switched contacts of the relay, in which case let us know and I'll give you more details of the circuit.

If you have a 12V test lamp, then you can connect it in place of the fuse, and that saves the inconvenience of blowing fuse after fuse when you're working on this type of fault - the lamp will illuminate at full brightness when a short is present, but less brightly or not at all when no short is present. Let us know how you get on.

Make sure your timing belt didn't break.

yea double check your timing belt, in most cases its that.

i pulled the valve cover off and the belt and pully is turning,that does not mean it may have jumped time

It won't start because the PCM and the fuel pump have no power, therefore you'll get neither spark nor fuel pressure until you find and fix the short-circuit which is causing the Fuel Injection fuse to blow.

And these are the two relays which you'll need to unplug when tracking down the location of the short-circuit:

'95 1.9L Fuel Pump Relay and PCM Power Relay locations (http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x64/Selectron/Escort/95escort1-9L-fp-pcm-relays-location.png)

ok i am going to check those relays now

do i need to just replace the relays

No, it's highly unlikely that there's anything wrong with the relays - you simply need to unplug them to help find the location of the short-circuit.

Problem is that you have a short-circuit which is causing the Fuel Injection fuse to blow. That fuse feeds into the alternator, the fuel pump relay, and the PCM power relay. Therefore the short-circuit could be in any of these areas:

1. The wiring leading to the alternator.
2. The wiring leading to the fuel pump relay.
3. The wiring leading to the PCM power relay.
4. The alternator itself.
5. The circuit fed by the fuel pump relay.
6. The circuit fed by the PCM power relay.

So, if you unplug the connector from the alternator and unplug the two relays and the fuse doesn't blow then you know straight away that the short is not in the wiring leading to those three items, so that's items 1, 2, & 3 eliminated. Then you would plug each item back in, one at a time, until you find the one which causes the fuse to blow - it's a process of elimination.

If it turns out that the fuse blows when you plug one of the relays back in, then that doesn't mean the relay is faulty (at least, it's highly unlikely) - it means there's a fault in the circuit which is fed from that relay. The full procedure is detailed step-by-step in my first reply, above.

ok,,,,i did the test's in the early reply(before i removed the relays),,,,,the F.L. does not blow until i start the car,,,but when i start the car it does start but then the F.L. blows

So if I understand you correctly, you can put a new fuse in and switch the ignition to the Run position - the dashboard lights should illuminate and you should hear the fuel pump run briefly as it primes the fuel system. Everything up to that point is normal. Then when you turn the key to the Start position, the engine cranks, fires, and runs briefly but then the F.I. fuse blows again.

If that's the case then you've got a real headache of a problem on your hands and it's going to be difficult to track down the fault, so I'll just let you know before you go any further that even an auto-electrician would be groaning at the prospect of working on it - it's going to be a difficult one.

I'll take a look at the wiring diagrams and I'll be back later with some ideas on what to do next.

yes but before i could not even start it as soon as i put the F.L. in and turned the key it blew

So the symptom has changed slightly then eh. I wonder if you've disturbed a wire which was shorting to ground, so it's no longer quite touching, but when you start the engine, the vibration causes it to touch against ground again - you might want to take a closer look at any wiring which you've disturbed.

I'd do that first, and then move on to this quick and easy test, which will tell you whether or not the fault is in the alternator.

The feed from the F.I. fuse into the alternator supplies current to the alternator field coil. With no current into the field coil, the alternator cannot supply any output voltage, so it would be safe to unplug the connector at the alternator containing the white/dark green wire and start the engine, upon which one of two things will happen:

1. Fuse still blows.

This tells you that the fault is not within the alternator, so you can plug the alternator back in and it will have been eliminated - the fault must be in one of the circuits fed by the two relays.

2. Fuse does not blow, the charge indicator warning light on the dash lights up, but the engine now runs and continues to run.

This tells you that the fault is within the alternator.

Ok,,,I did all the test and for some reason it quit blowing the fuse link but the battery light is on,,,,i went ahead and replaced both battery terminals, and it has been starting and running fine except for the fact that we have to charge the battery pretty regularly,,,I tested the altenator last night and it is putting out zero so I bought an alt. today and was going to put it on tonight and my son just called me and said it died and would not restart but the fuses are still good this time...??????:banghead:

If the alternator is giving no output and if the car just quit while the engine was running then it's likely that the battery is simply too flat to power the car's electrical systems. It should be ok again after you fit the new alternator, but I wouldn't rely on that to recharge the battery - I'd put the battery on a bench charger and bring it back up to full charge before using it with the new alternator.

i guess i forgot to mention that it cranks fine but will not start,,,fuses are good.....sorry

It might not be due to a flat battery then if it's still cranking strongly, although I wouldn't bet on it - I still reckon it could be that the voltage is simply too low. I'd check the timing belt by taking the oil filler cap off and looking for movement up around the valves while somebody cranks the engine. If that's ok then check if you can hear the fuel pump when the ignition is turned to the Run position - it should operate for a few seconds as it primes the fuel system. If you don't hear it then check the fuel pump inertia switch, which may have tripped. If you can hear the fuel pump then I'd check next for a spark, and then take it from there.

Thanks for all your help....Upon checking the car out again I found that the ears on the plug for the ignition coil were broken and it had wiggled loose so...no fire,,,,,,plug it back in,secured it,and it fired right up...got it home replaced the alt. ,started right up,battery light went off....now all i need is to make a trip to the salvage yard and get three plug ends and I think I will be ok....thanks again

That's good. I'm hoping that the fault has been in the alternator all along, and hopefully fitting the new one will have ended your problems. If it settles down now and runs reliably for the next couple of weeks, then it would be worth setting aside an afternoon to do some preventive maintenance on it before winter arrives. I'd work my way around the engine bay, ensuring that all relays are firmly mounted and that all electrical connectors are clean, and firmly attached. I'd take the battery connectors off, clean the mating surfaces with a wire brush and then smear them with a protective coating of petroleum jelly or dielectric grease to inhibit corrosion, and I'd do the same for all accessible ground connections. Maybe check the connections down at the starter too. You can do all that in a couple of hours and it would be time well-spent in terms of reliability.

Will do.....thanks again:) :) :) :) :)

Selectron, you may have to send a bill for this one! :icon16:

I'm having a similar problem. I pulled a tight u-turn in front of my friend's house last night, and the car died. I'm getting spark, fuel pump is working (manually grounded it to check operation), even replaced the coil, but still doesn't start. Sometimes when I try to start it, it sounds like it's missing. Other times it cranks like normal. I checked the Key On Engine Off trouble codes as well, and it returns all clear.

I'm stumped! I'm going to check those relays tonight when I get home.

I'm just about to go out so I don't have time to stop and think about it, but are you sure the fuel pump is working? I'm not sure what you've done when you said you grounded it but anyway, you should hear it run for a couple of seconds when you turn the key to the Run position before you crank the engine. If you don't hear it, then check the inertia shutoff switch in case it tripped when you did the u-turn.

Yes, the fuel pump runs for a second or two when I turn the key on. I shorted it according to the Haynes manual, by shorting a diagnostic lead to ground. It caused the fuel pump to run. It did say in that situation, however, that it's possible that a relay could be still causing trouble even if the pump works 'manually.'

Also, I did check the inertia switch. It's pressed down. I don't have any experience with that switch in particular though.

If you can hear the fuel pump run when you switch the ignition to the Run position then chances are that the fuel pump circuit, including the relay, is all ok (later though, you might need to check that you do actually have fuel pressure). Likewise, if you're getting spark then the PCM Power Relay is probably ok too so I think you'd be wasting time looking at those two items. Have you taken the oil filler cap off and checked for movement up around the valves just to verify that the timing belt hasn't broken? I think that's a '94 that you have, but is it the 1.8L or 1.9L?

I do have the 1994, 1.9 manual transmission. I'll check the timing belt later tonight, but this "dying on a u-turn" has happened two other times in the past 6 months. Each time it died, it didn't want to start back up the first try, but did on the second try. That leads me to believe the belt's ok. It's as if it's related to g-forces, so maybe there's a loose connection to ground somewhere that has come loose. I've been picking through the forums looking for similar trouble, and many times it's related to that.

By the way Selectron, I'm glad you're looking at my post. You're an Escort hero in here! :runaround:

Yep, the timing belt probably will prove to be ok. Locating the problem could turn out to be like looking for a needle in a haystack though. If you have spark and you believe you have fuel pressure then it's difficult to know where to even start. Not so sure I'd agree on the hero bit - 'infamous' might be the word you're looking for. http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/images/icons/icon10.gif

Ahhh, don't say that. You're supposed to tell me to hit the secret green lever and all will be fixed.

Should I post this as a new thread so more people will peek at it?

Yep, it wouldn't do any harm to summarise it and put it in a new thread.

Ok, I had same problem, only difference is that this is 2003 ZX2 and I replaced PCM and car starts no problem now,but blower fan is on constantly and cooling fanfor AC does not work inside vehicle!