Hi guys! I’ve been on the forums for a while now but I’ve never really needed to ask my own question until now. So, my Cherokee all of the sudden stopped wanting to start. When I turn the key to the crank position, the lights stay on and I hear one click (sounds like it’s coming from the passenger side junction box) and nothing else happens. So far, I’ve cleaned all the grounds, checked all the fuses, tested the starter and starter solenoid (bridged it with a screwdriver and ran a lead from the solenoid to the positive battery cable), jumped the clutch safety interlock (solenoid clicks at any clutch position, whether the interlock is jumped or not) and have checked over for any irregularities. Any help would be great at this point because I’m pretty close to taking this thing to a shop (I know right? A shop???) or the scrap yard. Thanks so much in advance!

P.S the batter is only a couple months old

Yes, everything starter wise works. As an aside, I found a gray wire with a connector on it just floating around my air box. The other end seems to be near the clutch wiring loom and I have no idea where this wire goes. Picture is attached.

Here is where the same gray wire comes through the firewall to a harness clip behind the clutch. Could anyone tell me where this goes or what it does? Could be the answer to all my problems.



Note: its the gray wire, not the two purple ones.

Is me attaching a lead from the smallest point on the starter solenoid to the positive post on the battery not activating the solenoid? When I do this, I’m effectively just starting the car similar to how the ignition relay starts it, like I said I’m more than sure it’s not the solenoid

Ah, this confusion is my fault. So I can bridge the starter with a screw driver and it turns over. I can also connect only the little post on the solenoid to the positive battery terminal through a jumper cable and it also works. Effectively I’m doing the ignitions job with a jumper cable. I don’t do both of these procedures at the same time.

So I bit the bullet and bought a multimeter today (70% off so I thought why not). I get 12 volts from the hot lead on the starter but when I test the small post on the solenoid while someone holds the key in the crank position, I get less than 1 volt. This has led me to believe that the ignition switch is the trouble maker here. I have decided to order a new one, what’s your opinion on this? I also tested the positive and negative terminals on where the starter relay goes and 12 volts is getting sent through there, so this also leads me to believe that it is my ignition switch.

hold the trigger on the parts cannon just yet

next thing is to download & check the circuit diagram, but normally the ignition switch is BEFORE the relay

therefore, a bad relay or corroded terminal is more likely,

with ignition OFF, you should use yr new DVM to perform a continuity test between relay and solenoid

also is the relay getting a 12V on the correct pin when ignition turned to start?

thanks for looking out! How exactly would I do this with the multimeter? As in where should I put each probe? Also, if they the relay was sending power to the solenoid, it would crank. I’ve even gone as far as substituting my fan relay for the starter relay (they are the same) and it still didn’t read 12 volts at the signal post on the solenoid. What are you asking me to do here that I already haven’t tested?