David Hutchins

Hi all, this forum has helped me off and on over the last decade. This is my first post. I own a 1990 Jeep Cherokee Base, 6 cylinder 4.0L . I've had it for 11 years and put about 60,000 miles on it. It has starting issues. Over the past week the battery, starter, and radiator have been replaced. About 2 years ago, the distributor and spark plug wires were replaced. I bought the new battery because of a crank but won't start condition. It didn't help. An Autozone tech said okay, it's probably the starter. The starter was replaced today by a professional. Before he left, we tried to start it and it was very responsive. I left it alone for a couple of hours. We go to leave and now it won't crank at all. I did some simple tests. We turned the headlights on and tried to start it. The headlights stayed bright with no flickering. I read this might help diagnose the problem. The fuel pump is running fine. I can hear is whirling in the back. I also recently had an oil change. I am not sure what to do now. I've already spent $1000 on this Jeep this week. I would like some advice on what to do to get this Jeep started. Thank you.

wauto

Please research NSS (neutral safety switch) bypass

Shooting Brake

Well..heck... The neutral safety switch as mentioned by Wauto is good check.for no crank at all.But it appears by your first comments that you originally had cranking no start issues.. In this case you of course need spark..fuel and air...Lets assume pump is priming injectors...then check coil...pull lead on it or any of the spark plugs...is there a spark?If not could be coil... The headlights not dimming when turning the key and no crank means the circuit to the starter solenoid is not receiving any current to engage starter....But getting back to cranking no start...My personal experience in this same exact situation was that the crankshaft position sensor was going bad..ie hit or miss starting...then no start at all..Check internet sites for help for remedies..Take care.

cruiser54

Auto trans?

Wiggle the shifter while turning the key to Start.

as always, I'm gonna recommend doing Tips 1,3,4, and 5 in my Pink Link below.

Easy to do and yields good results generally.

David Hutchins

Thank you very much. Today we eliminated the neutral safety switch, the starter relay, and the battery cables. Those are working. What is left? The ckp sensor? Ignition coil? Something else, maybe?
Good: battery, starter, starter relay, battery cables, neutral safety switch.
Not checked: ignition coil and spark. We did not check for spark because the mechanic said it was fine. I forgot why he said it was good. I think he said because after he replaced my starter on Friday it did start. Quite fastly( quicker than I was expecting). However, after that initial start to test my new starter it did not crank again. The mechanic does not know the cause of it not starting now. I have an appointment with a jeep mechanic on Wednesday. I would like to fix it myself to save money and time. Thank you.

djgrayxj

Note from DJ to OP Davin
Looking for some clarification in your posts please?
You are using two different words describing your problem:

CRANK: A no crank condition; to most of us consider that to indicate that the starter is not doing anything; in other words it is not even attempting to rotate the engine.

START: A no start problem is considered to indicate that the starter is rotating the engine; but for some reason the Jeeps engine is not a advancing into the running mode.

Which is the problem with your Jeep?

David Hutchins

I do apologize for the , "not starting" phrase. My Jeep is in a no crank condition. The relay clicks and the fuel pump is on, but as you said, the starter isn't doing anything.

David Hutchins

Turns out the new starter that was installed last Saturday was defective. My jeep started once right after install. An internal short after the first use rendered it inoperable. Thank you Cherokee forum members for the help.

wauto

Thanks for the update. Glad you got it sorted out.