New to XR4Ti *pics*

[zerosohc]

Hey everyone. I just picked up my first Merkur XR4Ti. The person that had it before me was the first owner. Car only has aprox 20,000 miles but the body and interior is in rough shape. The owner had a brake line break and It has been sitting on a farm for 10 years and sometime during those 10 years the window was busted out and it had been rained in and such. I'll post picks up soon . Anyways we got most the engine bay cleaned up. The oil actually looks good enough to see if it will start. Well we put a battery in it and decided to see if it'd fire up. Well we got power and everything but it won't start. And you can hear like a relay clicked over by the battery. It's not the starter. Anyone know what relays are over on that side? Thanks for any help.

[wilky]

Welcome Zero & congrats on your XR.

The starter solenoid is just ahead of the battery on the r/h inner fender.

Wilky

[zerosohc]

So possibly maybe the starter is bad if the solenoid is actually working? Did Ford put an Inertia Switch on these cars? I was wondering about that. Also is there any website that could help me identify what parts and sensors are on the engine?

[Frag]

Yes, check for the inertia switch under the carpert in the rear hatch area.

[dhraakoxr]

Hey if you don't have these links they may help you out:

Everything Merkur:

http://www.merkurencyclopedia.com/

Good place for 2.3t tech:

http://www.turboford.net/ubb/ultimatebb ... =forum;f=2

Lotsa other Merkur stuff:

http://www.merkurdesktop.com/desktop.php

good luck!

[richardcurtis]

A car sitting that long probably has some built-up corrosion on all the grounds (not to mention a lot of other problems). Try cleaning all the connections at the battery, the solenoid and the starter. The big negative cable runs to a bolt securing the a/c compressor to the block; clean that one also. Before trying to start it with the starter, though, try rotating the engine by hand through a couple of revoutions (remove spark plugs to make that a lot easier and while you're at it shoot a little WD40 down into the combustion chambers). engine could be locked up. Look for wiring that has been knawed on by rodents. Might also want to remove the distributor completely and prime the oil pump before starting the engine. Drain the fuel and put in some fresh.

[zerosohc]

Thanks for the tips. I gotta wait till the weekend to start trying all this stuff sadly. I got some pics here to show you guys the engine. I took a few of the charge pipe peices off to get to the spark plugs so that's off in the picture.

[merkurmaniac]

That thing is in REALLY rough shape for only 20,000 miles. There are several things that would make me wonder. No timing belt cover (might get left off after a timing belt service), spliced a/c hose, removed stock air cleaner (that one in particular looks to be a bad idea, not hot air from under hood instead of thru fender) and the valve cover looks to have been painted and perhaps welded on. You sure its not 200,000 miles ?

[zerosohc]

No no. I did all that stuff myself. I cleaned up the valve cover. I put that other air filter over that area until I get a new filter for it so nothing gets down in there. We took the Timing cover off. It's just sat for so long and no one had even opened the hood for so long on it.

[boostfiend]

Did that thing sit in a lake for a couple years? Wow... I can only imagine what the electrical connections look like.

Not dissing you or anything, but dang, that sucker has seen some serious humidity.

[DPDISXR4Ti]

The repaired A/C hose is the big tell-tale sign that it's got 120K rather than 20K. That's okay, 120K is considered low mileage nowadays!

Have you drained the fuel and dropped the tank yet? If it's been sitting 10 years, it's probably a mess in there.

Look forward to seeing your progress on bringing this one back. Get-r-done!

Oh yea, welcome!

[zerosohc]

Yeah it has some kind of mileage on it just not sure exactly. Yeah there are some wires pretty corroded up. For $250 it was a good deal to me. Where do I find a drain for the gas tank?

[PDenbigh]

Where do I find a drain for the gas tank?

Mmm, that would have been a great thing for Ford to add to these cars, eh .

You have to drop the tank and slosh it around and around and do a little dance to get all the gas out. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news...

[turbofan]

i always though you just turned it upside down, get all the gas out you can, then threw a match in there.

[John Brennan]

...only if you're an "insurgent!"

As I understand, a gas tank that's "empty" is even more dangerous than one that's full, in terms of explosion risks. Lots of people fill them with water before working on them, then drain the water out, and dry them completely before re-mounting and filling with fuel.