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my car was running fine except my front seal in my tranny was leaking. so i pulled  my tranny out and after i put it back in the only thing it will do is barley roll over and very slowly. so i pulled my motor and tranny just to make sure they were properly put together got everything hooked back up and same thing!! the motor rolls over easly when i do it manually so its not jammed or anything like that. i've bought a new starter, battery and changed my battery terminals. i'm stumped and so is everyone i know. if you have any advice i'll gladly take it.  

can you turn the crank by the bolt on the front center  with a socket on a breaker bar ???????  how does it turn..


did you have any problem fully mating the transmission to the back of the engine..   ( like the torque converter was sticking out too far)


how about the ground wires from the negative battery to the engine block....

you did not say which motor you have...  so i picked a picture for the 3.8 V6..
notice the battery positive goes to the starter solenoid.. and the battery negative goes to the double ended stud bolt that mounts the starter to the bellhousing...   upper right image      have the battery cable ends at the battery pulled out of their ends???

how are the 2 body grounds on either end of the radiator core support.. i have to take those apart and clean or replace them on almost every 97 bird i work on.. i normally have to extend them with a new chunk of 8 gauge and ring terminals..  yep.. i keep 8 gauge crimp connectors and cable in my tool box..

 

all of these engines come  with a ground strap between the body and the engine..


D1PZ14303A
Description: Body Electrical Ground Strap
Part Description: No. 8 ground strap, 12'' long

i have had these come loose on other ford models.. and they would barely run...  tightened the grounds.. ran perfect..  

do you have a digital volt meter????

if so..   find somebody to help you ..

set digital volt meter to 20 volt DC scale..

measure the battery voltage while your friend tries to crank the engine..   does the battery voltage stay above 12 volts...????

measure from the negative terminal to the engine block..  attempt to crank the motor..  you should get less than 1.0 volt.

measure between the negative battery and the body..  turn on the headlights..   try to start the motor.. again .. less than 1.0 volt..

measure between the engine and the body... try to crank the engine..   again less than 1.0 volt ...

if you get more than 1.0 volts look at the ground circuit where you measured the increased voltage..

this should take less than 5 minutes to ***  i have more tests once you get it running... to verify...

oh.. and if you have installed the epoxy red and black battery cable ends..   take them apart..  wire brush the epoxy coating off the areas were the top plate fits down and clamps on the wire..

why.. the holes where the nuts fit are also epoxy coated.. so the top plate may not get proper contact with the cable..  

my starter wasnt originally hooked up to the bellhousing but you are the man just got it going i cant thank you enough.i cant believe ive done all this stuff to the car and it was just the starter. live and learn thank you everyone else for there advice too