I just replaced my wifes battery on a 96 mec. villager, it was 7yrs. old and starting to get weak, not holding a full charge.

now the van doesn't start every so often, I can't figure this out, It has full charge, all the lights, radio everything works but sometimes when you turn the key nothing happens, before changing the battery this van always started.

any ideas on what to check?

did you change out the battery cables?

If all you changed was the battery, double check your terminals. 

Did you clean them when you changed the battery?  If not, remove them from the battery and use sandpaper or a post and clamp cleaning brush, and remove any surface glaze. 

If the contact is not good, you can still get a voltage reading that shows it's fully charged, and you can even have bright headlights.  But, when you try to crank it, the contact might not be sufficient to carry the amperage the starter requires.

No, but cleaned them up, I was thinking maybe the cable to the starter might be where i should start

If all you changed was the battery, double check your terminals.

Did you clean them when you changed the battery? If not, remove them from the battery and use sandpaper or a post and clamp cleaning brush, and remove any surface glaze.

If the contact is not good, you can still get a voltage reading that shows it's fully charged, and you can even have bright headlights. But, when you try to crank it, the contact might not be sufficient to carry the amperage the starter requires.

X2

No, but cleaned them up, I was thinking maybe the cable to the starter might be where i should start

Don't neglect the ground cable.  Many electrical woes on autos, boats or anything with batteries can be traced to a poor ground.

Check both ends of the ground as well.

I'd make sure the wires connecting to the new battery is tightly secured.

Loose ground wire, I just had this problem on the wife's SUV.

Thanks guys.

went through everything again, cleaned, tightened both ends of the cables, still nothing and now I can't even get it to start at all.

Any other Ideas?

When you try and start it does it make clicking sound or when you try and start it everything goes dead?

No clicking no nothing. It is a wiring prob.I know.

iF ONLY I had an old GM 350.

If there is no click, then it might be the starter solenoid or starter.

Or the battery could be dead.  Or the connections aren't right.

It's a Ford product.  They used to have a solenoid in the battery cable that goes to the starter. 

When you turn the ignition key to start, a current goes to the solenoid which activates it to send the power to the starter.

There will be the two heavy cables connected to the solenoid, and one or two smaller wires.  If you have jumper cables, jump the two heavy cables at the solenoid.

Clamp one end of the jumper cable to the cable leading from the solenoid to the starter, then touch the other end of the jumper to the battery.  That will bypass the solenoid.

If it still won't crank, the starter needs to be checked.

If the starter works, the problem is related to the solenoid, either with the solenoid, or the wiring that activates it.

i highly doubt that its the starter. If your starter was bad you would know when u turned the key.

I'd check out your connections to solenoid and the solenoid itself.

On some fords, the solenoid is part of the starter. On my 2002 Taurus, I had a similar problem and it was the starter. Very easy to replace.

On some fords, the solenoid is part of the starter. On my 2002 Taurus, I had a similar problem and it was the starter. Very easy to replace.

Been a long time since I've puttered around under the hood of cars or trucks.

The solenoid on older Ford products was usually located on the fender well beside the battery.  That was in the days when FoMoCo used bendix starters.  Maybe they still do.

GM products had the solenoid on the starters.  In addition to closing the contacts, they also pulled the starter gear to engage the ring gear on the flywheel.

I like the solenoid close to the battery.  Other than for starting, the cable that runs to the starter is dead.

I had an 83 Chevy Silverado pickup, less than four years old.  I parked it, went about some business, and when I returned, smoke was pouring out from under the hood.

Popped the hood and the engine compartment was ablaze.

The fire was started by a short, where it passed through a clamp on the frame.  The insulation had chaffed away.

The dead short heated the cable igniting the plastic insulation.  From there it spread.  The fire department quickly arrived and extinguished it.  The hood had a small place where the heat had discolored the paint, and the wiring under the hood was a mess.

But in spite of appearances, the insurance company totalled the truck.

It was determined to be a short at the cable clamp because the wire from there to the starter still had the insulation with all the printing still on it.

It seems everyone I talked to about it knew of someone with the same problem.

That experience showed me that the solenoid near the battery was a safer design.

If cleaning and checking wires caused it to stop entirely, I would think that the problem is still in the wiring somewhere, not in the solenoid or starter.

Ahhh, the joy of phantom electrical problems.

On some fords, the solenoid is part of the starter. On my 2002 Taurus, I had a similar problem and it was the starter. Very easy to replace.

Yep the solenoid is part of the starter, and its going to be a pain to even get at. has to be done from the top,the starter is the top of the flywheel, buried in the middle of the engine

Most likely a wiring issue. If it was a solenoid you would most likely hear the starter click but not turn the engine over. Try a different battery or replace the cable connectors to see if that helps.

Could be the neutral safty switch. When they go it's just the nothing you mentioned. Everything else will work fine.

Sure sounds like that could be it.

Thanks for all your input guys.

I changed both cables to new ones and still nothing, so I just kept digging around and found a small crack in the Ignition control module $62.00 part special order. but that was the problem

Thanks for all your input guys.

I changed both cables to new ones and still nothing, so I just kept digging around and found a small crack in the Ignition control module $62.00 part special order. but that was the problem

wow I was going to suggest the same thing as I ran into that with my old 76 and 91 GM beast