fiesta xr2i mk3 no dash lights not starting?

Might be the ignition switch.

^ That would be the first thing I'd check

Basic ignition switch wiring is :
12 volt feed (often big & red) from battery (terminal #30 in pic below)
dash lights/ignition/everything when key is turned to position 1 (#15)
starter motor when key is turned to position 2 (#50)

My guess is the position 1 "Ignition" bit inside the switch isn't working (or the wire to is has come loose)


Do you have a multimeter / testlamp you can use ?
Does anything apart from the starter work (indicators, wipers, radio?) - if yes you know something is happening.
Can you identify the fuse for the ignition?
- and fuse for dash lights ?

If it was me, I'd cheat and use a long wire direct from battery to (carefully!) get power to the ignition fuse, the turn key and see if the car starts.
Or wait and see if anyone has a better / easier fix.

Let us know what you find and we can take it from there.

Hope you get it fixed.

ok well here we go guys

earlier this morning from what i remember i pulled the cowling off and at the back of the ignition barrel, in this order going from bottom to top it's 1. thick red constant feed/ 2. thick black./ 3. Thin yellow./ 4. Thick black with blue tracer.

now with a length of wire i crossed at the back of the barrel, the red with black and there was nothing. then i cross red on yellow nothing. then red on thick black with blue tracer and it spun the engine as it would if i just do it with the key. so i'm getting no where with a direct live on the back of the barrel :/.
radio, lights i think just side lights, hazard lights and central locking working.

just to let you guys know i have 3 turns on ignition not 2.

I'm really baffled, i tried different relays, checked fuses. checked that the wiring to starter and alternator is clamped up.
is the ignition on "the dash lights" connected to the starter?
i checked ignition relay and fuse but nout :/

i do have a multi meter but there's more chance of pigs flying than me knowing how to use one haha
all i know is turn it to volts, but the blasting thing has loads of settings in volts, stick red pin into live and black onto earth and see if you get numbers

cheers for the replies so far though.

James

According to your post then its not the ignition switch,
yellow wire is 'accessory' feed,blue and black cranking feed as you found,joining red and black should bring ignition on......

Trying to picture MK3 wiring,i'd be looking carefully at connections to battery,usually thinner red wire ring terminals to battery are ignition feeds,i can't remember if they have a 'mega' fuse block holder near battery,if not the last piece of loom that connects to battery can be a fused link wire....

Check every fuse in fuse box (may be some extra clipped to sides,remove the 2 screws and squeeze clips to push fuse box out of back of dash and into footwell...

ok guys, i went out and got my test strip wire, screw driver and torch. i pulled the cowling back off and with the key in and not turned i just started flicking the test strip wire on the wires on the back of the barrel and boom thick black with blue tracer wire arched to thin yellow made a big blue spark and my ignition lights come on and my car started. so now i can start my car i have ignition lights but my indicator left is goosed as it tries to flash but sticks, my right indicator flashes normally but can make the rev counter flicker at odd times and bring the battery light on. NOTE the rev counter has never worked since having the car and ive tried 2 different counters. also iv'e now lost a brake light bulb and when i stick the car in reverse the indicator signal on the dash comes on and stays on?? well good thing is i got the car running, so tomorrow i can get to this job interview i have , otherwise i have a good 45 minute walk :/

Easy stuff first - Xr2 Mk2/Mk3 will make a difference on a wiring diagram but not for these tests.
2 turns on key or 3, again good info but not at this stage.
dash lights and starter are on different circuits so not "connected" - you can have one without the other.
sidelights, hazards etc work without the key so don't help use find the problem here

Next, multimeter has 1001 uses but I normally just use mine to check which wires have power.
see 1st pic in the link and set your Testleads and Dial the same way (your battery has about 12 volts in it so you need to turn the dial to a setting just above this - 20V volts or similar) learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/how-to-use-a-multimeter
lift the bonnet, black testlead on battery negative, red on battery positive, you should get a reading

Time to use your testmeter on same settings as above
At ignition switch, connect black testlead to a good earth/chassis. use red testlead on each of the switch wires to find which one is 12 volt from the battery (expect red or the big black/blue to be live  )

Ok, time for some logic
you connected red and black/blue and starter worked - so one of those 2 must be 12v from battery.
Yellow is radio by convention, you got nothing connecting red to yellow (no radio) - now try *black/blue* to yellow - and hope radio works
If yes, *black/blue* is the main live feed

You're baffled? Join the club!


The End (or is it?) of your War & Pieces Bank Holiday saga   

To be honest i think our conversation would baffle einstien himself well just a starter, to cut things down easier.

1. my multimeter was made by a kid who gets paid a handfull of rice a week, so it's got bad connections anyway.
2. the thing runs and iv'e now driven it round the block, like an old women with dangerous road rage.
3. indicators are like a 80's disco playing wham.
4. not using lights my left indicator flashes quicker than FLASH him self can run and right one does as it should.
5. lights on left indicator turns into slug mode and just errrm i don't even know and right one fine but rev gauge some times flickers.
6. reverse constantly keeps the indicator light on dash on constantly.
7 rev gauge never worked and if anything does make it flicker, battery light comes on dim.
8. now i found a link saying that basically the clocks i got are different to the originals and are for 1.0,1.1 or 1.3 not 1.6 and they made a load of different ones and the way to tell the one you need is by the letter thats next to the rev gauge? well they all look the same and have same plug so i thought they was the same. heres the link scroll down near to the bottom and you will see the different letters on the gauges i'm on about. www.fiestaguides.co.uk/content/rev_counter_w_sup.html

any help is much appreciated.
also yeah they most likely are easy nickable but to be honest i think most old cars were back in the day! but it does look like the wiring on mine has been played with a bit due to the chopped wires ect and it looked like at some point in its life it had an immobiliser which again at some point has been chopped out.

cheers folks and sorry for keeping you guys reading with my wibblepoo pile!

Escorts of the same era had terrible trouble with indicator stalks giving up and fuseboxes drying out and the connection cracking. Could be worth a look...