Hopefully simple electrical problem - No crank
 

The Jeep isn't trying to turn over/crank when I turn the ignition. I've noticed a few things, worked through a few possibilities, and have two ideas left of what could be the problem. I've been trying my luck with the simple things first, as I'm not for the idea of just throwing parts at the jeep.

What I've noticed/done:
-No crank (dur)
-All of my gauges work
-The starter is not engaging with the key, but runs when I jump the terminals
-All fuses being used by the ignition circuit are OK
-Radio lights turn off when I attempt to turn over the truck (but gauges stay on)
-There in not a "NO BUS" indicator on the tacometer
-Switched the starter relay with a few others, and it had no effect
-Battery is brand new, is holding a charge, and the terminals are clean/new (I read a little over 12 volts at the battery with a meter)
-When trying to start the jeep, the voltage does not drop when I read the battery with a multimeter
-All grounds have been cleaned, as well as the connections at the starter
-TB has been cleaned as well as all sensors attached to it
-Will not start in neutral or park
-My reverse lights still work
-Wiggling the shifter while trying to start (in both neutral and park) does not help (The last 3 lead me to belive that it's not the neutral safety switch)

On another note, I just dropped the tank and changed out the fuel filters (socks). I replaced the nasty filters with new Airtex ones which I later learned are supposedly garbage. I also replaced the evap line running from the tank to the evap canister with a length of 1/4" fuel line. Now whenever I try to start the jeep, I hear the pump "whining". I pressed in the valve on the fuel rail which shot out a nice stream of gas.

After looking into the fuel pump issue, I learned that other people who used the Airtex filters had this same problem. The thing is, all of those people were able to start up and drive their jeeps. That makes me think that this fuel issue isn't related to the no crank problem. Although it's still a problem.



I don't think it's the ignition switch either. While having someone try and start the jeep, I tested for power at the prong at the relay that gets power from the ignition switch. It gets power (read 13 volts). That should rule the ignition switch out. The jeep ran fine before this, but hasn't started for a couple months because I've been working on other things. Once I'm able to, I'll see if I can bypass the NSS and test the CPS. Besides those two ideas, I'm at a loss.

Thanks for any input you guys may have. I might be able to get back to work on the truck tonight, but if not I'll post updates. :)

UPDATE:


After all of the troubleshooting, it turned out to be the small brown wire at the alternator. After wiggling it, the jeep started right up with no effort. Problem solved.

I wonder if that could have been coincidence..In any case if it act's up again make sure the relay socket across from the one you saw getting power, 85, is being grounded by the NSS..it might be sticky. In any case hooray! glad you got it goen.

Thanks for the tip! I'll give it a go if any more problems show up. In any case, this problem was a good way to get me motivated to clean up the grounds and the TB...

During the process, my oil cap also split in two! I guess I'll be using channel locks for my oil change coming up. :dunno: