Cougar

You might have a bad ignitor module.

You say the minus side of the coil is pulsing while the engine is turning over. You should have spark to the plugs if the coil is good. Remove the high tension wire going to the center of the disty cap and place the end of it near the top of the engine. Then see if you can get spark to jump the gap while cranking the engine. If that works then make sure the rotor is working ok.

You have the classic signs of a head gasket leak sorry to say. To verify it you can have the coolant checked to see if exhaust gases are getting into it. Hopefully I am wrong about the trouble.

Yes, the ignition system is basically the same.

I suggest you clean the battery connections using a battery post cleaning brush even if the connections "look ok". Make sure the wire going to the fusible links box and the fusible links are making good connection. The links are in the plastic box mounted on the coolant reservoir.

If you don't have a voltmeter already I suggest you purchase one so you can check for power getting to the radio. Get a test light probe at least if you don't want to get a meter. The trouble is most likely with the power to the radio.

As was mentioned earlier, the earlier model cars used chassis ground for one of the speaker connections. That needs to be changed for the newer amp operation and have two wires run to each speaker and also isolated from ground. Do you know if that is the case with your speakers? It was also mentioned that the turn on control for the amp needs to be checked. Voltage should be on the control lead when the amp is turned on.

You might find the problem is with the pick up inside the disty rather than the ignitor but I can't say for sure.

If two different radios show the same trouble and you are sure that the power to them is ok then it would seem that the trouble is with the amp or the power to it.

Verify you have power getting to the minus side of the coil. You should see steady power there while the engine is cranking but have no ignition. You will see pulses there when things are working correctly.

It sounds like you are having connection problems more than anything else. Have the charging system load tested so you will know what is in good shape and what isn't.

From your description of the trouble it sounds like the battery connections are making a poor connection to the battery posts. If you are sure the connections are good and the battery is bad it also be a good thing to have the charging system checked out when the new battery is installed. It may save you from further trouble later on.

Even though the switch seems to work ok there may be a short inside it. Even with the switch in the OFF position power runs through it to different contacts to pass power on to the light switch.

The trouble with the parking lights may be due to a shorted switch contacts in the switch on top of the steering column. That would be my first suspect at least. Hopefully you are using the proper programming procedure for your model year and style of car. I would try Josh's advice and disconnect the battery for a hour to see if that helps.

I would first suspect the break to be in the door jam area. The wires get flexed there and can break inside the wire insulation.

I hope that is all it is. My fear is the valves on the left side are bent but hopefully that isn't correct.

Connector B136 is one of the three connectors that tie to the ECU, which is mounted under the dash. It is a 30 pin connector and should be the one closest to the passenger area.

Good deal, you found the problem. When you talk about using a circuit tester I assume you mean voltmeter. If the alternator can sustain a voltage between 13.8 to 14.8 volts while the engine is running around 1,500 RPM and there is a pretty good load on the system then you are good to go. If the alternator has less than a 13.5 volt output then some of the diodes inside it may be bad.

If you remove fuse SBF-5 in the panel under the hood you will disable the ECU but I think the starter system will still work. I might be wrong though.

It's a little mysterious why the warning lights are staying on when the ignition is turned OFF. Power should not getting to them and that is why I suspect a back feed problem due to a bad blocking diode.

Yes, I realize that. You need to understand how the warning lights are tied into the dash so they do there job along with being able to go into the test mode when you turn the ignition on. Lets check to see if the current path for the lights is going through the alternator. With the ignition OFF disconnect the small plug on the rear side of the alternator and then see if the lights go out. If they do turn off then the alternator is somehow making a path for the lights to turn on. I would assume that the alternator is backfeeding voltage to them if that is the case. With the plug back on the alternator see if you have voltage on the white/red wire using ground as your reference. If you do have 12 volts there then the alternator is backfeeding voltage to the lights and a blocking diode in the cluster may be shorted. If you see near zero volts then the alternator is completing a ground which is normal and power to the lights is coming from somewhere else. If the lights remain on when you disconnect the plug then see if the w/r wire has a connection to ground.

I don't see how the warning lights can stay on while the ignition is turned off unless there is a problem with the ignition switch itself. Power to the alternator should turn off with the ignition switch. There might be a backfeed issue from the main connection to the alternator but then you say the alternator works ok in the other car. I don't have service data for your model. There may be a blocking diode inside the cluster that has shorted and it is allowing power from the fuse to backfeed to the lights. You could try placing a diode in series with the fuse and installed so that is blocking current coming from the fuse and goes to the cluster (arrow points to the fuse). If that makes the lights turn off then the diode in the cluster is shorted and allowing power to backfeed to the lights. Using something like a 1N4001 diode should work ok if you want to try that.

It sounds to me the meter got tied to a voltage it shouldn't have and pegged it out. Disconnecting the wiring to it should allow the meter to go back to the resting point. The gauge may be damaged now.

From what you stated it sounds like either the alternator is at fault, or the external voltage regulator if your model has one. I suspect it does since it is a EA-81. If you do have an external regulator then I would suspect it is causing the trouble before the alternator. The battery is most likely okay. A faulty battery can't make the warning lights stay on when the ignition switch is turned OFF but a faulty external regulator sure can. The warning lights are tied to the alternator field circuit so they can be tested when the ignition is turned on and engine isn't running. When the engine and alternator are running normally then a ground for the warning lights circuit is removed and they turn off.

Before you remove and take the starter apart I suggest you follow JCEs advice and connect 12 volts to the solenoid and see if that makes the starter work. If it does the you need to check out the inhibit switch for a problem. It also would be no real surprise if the solenoid contacts need to be replaced. Starters that are more than 10 years old usually do need to be serviced. Once you get the starter working then I suggest you check out the compression. I hope you don't have a bent valve issue on the right side. I don't like the sounds of things there.