QuestionRoland,
Thanks for the prompt response. I pulled fuse #8 from under the hood, and it was blown. (#8 is a 20 amp mini) O replaced it with a spare I found on the cover of the interior fuse box. Voila, all my problems went away, and the car started right up, and all accessories worked. A couple of hours later, I tried to drive to the parts store to buy more spare fuses, but the car would not start! #8 had blown again! I pulled the Fuel pump relay, as you suggested, and replaced #8, but #8 blew again. I guess its in the starter?
=Mark
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The text above is a follow-up to ...
-----Question-----
Car will not start. Turning key produces no response at all. Jump start attempt yields same. Accessories work, with the exception of: turn signals, wipers, radio, conv. top, rear defrost. Everything else works fine(lights, locks, fan etc.). Steering wheel does not lock in place when key is removed. I tried putting the car in neutral and pushing it forward and backward. The car moves, and turns ok.
-----Answer-----
Hi Mark,
It appears to me that the 10 amp fuse labelled #8 in the power distribution center under the hood near the battery and engine controller is not conducting electricity (either frankly blown or perhaps a subtle crack in its internal wire, so look closely at it). It is in the group of 10 smaller fuses near the end of the box (top row, next to the transmission control relay). If you have an ohm meter you might want to check to see what resistance it reads between the side of the fuse socket closer to fuse #9 and ground (which is the - post of the battery, or any metal surface on the engine proper) when you turn the ignition switch from off to run and then to start. If the resistance is more that 1.5 ohms then a new fuse should not "blow" and so you could put in a new fuse and try to start it again. If the resistance is less than that then you have a short to ground in either the starter motor relay, the fuel pump relay, the body controller, the transmission controller, or the instrument cluster. More likely it would be the starter motor circuit or the fuel pump circuit because the others are powered by a secondary fuse which would protect fuse #8 from blowing (fuse #11, also 10 amp, under the dash, which if it were blown would implicate those other circuits).
So let me know what you learn. If you don't have an ohmmeter then try removing fuse #11 under the dash and put it or a new fuse in for #8 and see if it still blows again. If so, then you will need to get a meter or some help to figure out if it is the starter or the fuel pump circuit (you could remove the relay for the fuel pump and try again with a new fuse, and if that doesn't blow the fuse then the fuel pump circuit is your problem, or vice versa, remove the starter motor relay and leave the fuel pump relay in place and if that doesn't blow then the starter motor circuit is shorted).
We can go from there once you determine what circuit is blowing #8.
Roland
AnswerHi Mark,
Yes. The only direct draws (without an intervening fuse to protect #8) on #8 is the starter relay (2 separate pathways) or the fuel pump relay. You have proven that the fuel pump relay is not the issue. So it has to either be a short in the starter relay or a short in the starter motor solenoid, or in the brown wire from the relay to the solenoid or the yellow wire from the ignition switch to the starter relay. If the fuel pump relay is the same part number as the starter relay (or you can find any other relay with same part no. to "borrow" to test whether changing out the starter relay solves the problem) then try that with a new fuse #8. If then it doesn't blow then you know it was the starter relay. But if it does, then I would check the brown wire from pin labelled 79 of the starter relay socket to the starter motor solenoid switch on the starter proper to make sure it is not groudned. There is also a yellow wire from pin 10 of the ignition switch that actuates the starter relay and it is possible that wire is shorted to ground. If neither of those wires is grounded then I would suspect that the solenoid switch on the starter motor is shorted. You may be able to replace just the switch rather than the entire starter motor assembly. To check all that you will need an ohmmeter. But those are the direct draws on fuse #8.
Those are the possibilities as I see it here, looking at the wiring diagrams for a '98 Sebring convertible. It will take a little more detective work to get to the bottom of this problem. You can either get the meter or let a competent electical mechanic do the testing.
Roland
