I'm trying to help my son in law with his 95 Cherokee XJ. The battery, solenoid, starter, starter relay, and cable and connector from the relay to the solenoid are all good. The coil voltage on the starter relay is only about 10 volts. That seems low to me. I measured this with the relay removed (so no load) with a high impedance DVM. That rules out a bad connection or starter switch.

According to the 1995 FSM the starter relay coil connects to ground through the Powertrain Control Module (PNP switch sense) or the Transmission Control Module. I have no idea what's inside those.

The starter relay sometimes pulls in and starts, sometime does not. Does anyone know what the correct voltage for the relay coil should be? And if 10 volts is too low, what the problem might be? Thanks.

 

It should be pretty close to battery voltage. How did you determine the battery, solenoid, starter, starter relay, and cable and connector from the relay to the solenoid were all good? By starter relay, are you talking about the solenoid at the starter or the relay in the fusebox?

 

I'm talking about the relay in the fuse box.

When the starter does start the voltage on the solenoid is 12.5 volts; when it does not start the voltage is zero. Plus it's a new solenoid and starter.

The battery is new, and reads 12.5 volts. When the engine is running the voltage goes up to 14 something volts.

I swapped relays and the problem remained.

And the resistance between the starter relay socket and the solenoid is near zero ohms. So all that stuff is OK.

Thanks.

 

I found the problem. It's the Neutral/Park safety switch, automatic transmission. Jiggling the shifter while trying to start it in park works every time.

Now I have to figure out what is involved in replacing that switch.

 

You can usually take them apart and clean them up. The hardest part is getting it off intact as the backside is plastic and will break if you get carried away prying on it. Start spritzing the center bolt with penetrating oil now.
https://bleepinjeep.com/video/how-to...safety-switch/

 

This is great. Thanks for your help.