Topic: 95 YJ 2.5L wont crank

[Cyborg]

Hey guys, wondering if you 4bangers would be able to help me a little better then my local club forums.

I have a 95 YJ 2.5L
The jeep has been intermittantly not cranking at all.
I had feelings the starter was going, so I first replaced the solenoid, and this worked for two starts, but after a quick test drive, and parking it, it wouldnt start again.

I decided to replace the whole starter unit this past saturday.
All was working great, a lot quicker in turning over then before also until thismorning, I tried to start it, and nothing.

My battery still has juice in it, sat radio, radio, cb come on, but maybe not enough to activate the starter?

Just wondering if anyone here might have some alternatives to try?

NOTE: a friend suggested replacing the starter relay, might do that tonight.

[neale_rs]

You could try cleaning the battery clamps and replacing the starter relay, both are pretty cheap things to try.  Your ignition switch could also be going bad but it is better to try the cheap things first.  Also, you could use a scredriver across the starter terminals to see if there is anything keeping current from getting to that point.  Just make sure you are in neutral with the parking brake applied.

[Cyborg]

cleaned posts and terminals, and also replaced terminals.

[Jeffy]

Have you checked the voltage at the battery?  Also when you're starting is everything on?  Check your ground straps and check to make sure you're getting 12v at the starter as well.

[Cyborg]

(Thanks for moving this to the correct forum)

I havnt checked any that you posted Jeffy, thats the plan after I get home from work.

Will hopefully post back results by the end of the night.


Also:
When my starter is in the "start" position, I should have power at all three wires going to the starter solenoid correct?

[Cyborg]

ok, I did a little poking with the multi meter.

At the battery I have 12.02 V
Wire from the battery to Solenoid 12.02 V
Wire from ignition to Solenoid 10.09 V
Wire from Solenoid to Starter 11.98 V

All these measurments were taken with the key NOT in the ignition.

Judging by these values (Im not sure what I should be getting from the ignition wire, and not thinking there should be a voltage when ignition isnt in "START" position.) does it sound like I have a short somewhere or a bad ground?

[neale_rs]

Were all these taken with one lead on the stated part and the other on an engine ground?  If so, yes it would seem your ignition switch is stuck in the START mode.  Your starter motor should be trying to crank all the time.  "Wire from Solenoid to Starter 11.98 V" -- there should be no voltage here unless you are in START.
It seems very strange, have you tried shorting across the solenoid terminals to see if it will crank?

[neale_rs]

The starter relay may also be bad and it could act the same as the ignition being on START (Wire from ignition to Solenoid 10.09 V -- this actually comes from the starter relay).

[Cyborg]

Thanks for the info. We compared to dads TJ and it was reading "0V" when not in the start position, so we narrowed it down. I changed out the starter relay yesterday, that didnt fix the problem.

The battery is now dead, but we did not try jumping the starter.

So it sounds like im in for a new ignition switch, what are the best ideas of diagnosing to see if the starter switch is indeed the problem?

And any good writeups out there how to take the steering column off, and replace the swtich? The haynes manual doesnt tell much.

[neale_rs]

The switch itself is down under the dash, you don't really need to take out the column although in some cases it could make things easier (I once bent the pins when trying to reattach connectors to the switch and ended up taking out the column just to be able to see what was going on.  If you are careful you won't need to do this).  Just some rods come down to it from the cylinder the key goes into. I would recommend downloading the FSM from the link in the FAQ section here, it has a very detailed procedure for installation and adjustment.

[Cyborg]

Thanks again!
I was not looking forward to pulling the steering wheel and column if I didnt have to.

I will look at lunch and see if I think ill be able to do it without removal of the column.

[neale_rs]

Good luck, I´m sure you will get it sorted out.

[Cyborg]

So, I ripped the little gremlin out (ign switch) and the dielectric grease that was in there was milky.
Would the milky grease be a sign of contamination? And would this be enough to short the switch out?

[Cyborg]

sorry, I ment to say a sign of water contamination, possibly causing short up there
(dont know how/if possible to edit posts)

[neale_rs]

It could be.  Mine was just covered with fuzz, not milky at all.