Carl48

Distributor/rotor has nothing to do with it. Follow the logical steps ET gave you. Be careful, engine may try to crank. Make sure your ground from battery negative to engine and frame is good, clean, tight.

bustedcountry

okay, so if i do this, and the starter turns over or cranks the engine what does that mean? that the starter is good and the problem lies elseware? what if it starts when jumped, but doesn't when not jumped??

ET JEEP

Jumping the starter will eliminate it as a problem if it cranks the engine. That is just one test. If you do this test and the engine does not crank over, then you have a battery feed problem. Maybe bad cables. Maybe bad battery. With this test all we want to do is make sure the starter cranks the engine at normal speed.

The fact that you turn the key and get nothing means you may have a problem in the key start circuit. That is what test #2 is for. When you do this test, you should have battery voltage at the solenoid when the helper turns the key to start. If you do not, then you do have a problem.

For this test touch the voltage meter red lead to the solenoid terminal and the black lead to a good engine ground. Set the meter to read DC Voltage 20. Test the battery first then do the test.

bustedcountry

okay so i've done test one. definetly starts the engine. did test two, no volts at the solenoid terminal. so whats next? key start curcuit? how do i go about testing/replacing this?

ET JEEP

Is the vehicle auto or manual?

ET JEEP

Remove the engine starter relay. Find the sockets for relay pins 85 and 86. Have a helper turn and hold the key in start. Check for voltage at the socket for pins 85 and 86. Normally you should have voltage at 86 but it can be wired in reverse. You should have voltage at one and dead on the other.

If you have voltage on one pin, that means your ignition switch is good.

bustedcountry

5.4volts when red tester is in #86 plug slot and black is in #85. nothing when opposite, nothing when black on ground. it's an auto trans. what ya think?

ET JEEP

Sorry I was not too clear. Do a voltage test on each socket separately. Volt meter Red Lead to the socket and Black Lead to a good ground. Battery ground ok. You should read battery votage at one of the terminals when the key is held to start. Check the battery voltage to see what it reads. The voltage at the socket should be close to that value.

It looks like 86 will have the voltage, but check the other one too.

One of the sockets will be for the ignition switch and it will have voltage during this test. The other socket, dead, will be the ground for the relay control circuit.

So we have to identify which has voltage.

If you have voltage on one socket, you will do a continuity test on the other dead socket. The continuity test will be from the socket to a good ground. You should have continuity on this socket with the transmission in park or neutral.

If you do not then you have a problem with the neutral start switch. The NSS grounds this circuit when the transmission is in park or neutral. Try the test with trans. in park and neutral. If you do not have continuity, the problem is with the NSS. If you do not have continuity, have some one move the transmission thru the gears while you check for continuity. You may have it in some other transmission position.

Hope this is clear.

bustedcountry

indeed it is clear, and i totally appreciate it!! okay so i did the continuity test, placed the meter to ohm 200k. put the red lead to the #85 socket and the black to the battery ground. with the transmission in park i received a reading of 13.7 . also when the trans is in neutral it gives me the same ready. i assume this means i am getting continuity through that socket?

ET JEEP

Yes, that indicates that you have a good ground. Did you get battery voltage at 86?

bustedcountry

no i didn't. whats that mean?

ET JEEP

OK, that is the problem. When you turn the key to start, pin 86 gets battery power and it goes to ground thru pin 85 and the tranny switch. This turns on the starter relay and the starter engages.

The problem appears to be the ignition switch. It is not feeding power to pin 86. It could also be a wiring problem. Let me see if I can find a wiring diagram for you.

ET JEEP

PM me an email and I will send you a diagram.

ET JEEP

Here is a video on the ignition switch. If you get the harness off, you can do a continuity test on the wire to make sure it is good. The key cylinder is changed into a new switch. You just need to inspect it to make sure it is good.

bustedcountry

Okay, so i've rigged up a toggle switch, for now, to start the starter. I'd taken the wiring harness off of the ignition switch and did a continuity test on the yellow wire. I got nothing on that. What does that mean, bad wire? How do i go about fixing THAT?

Also, i took the Jeep in to get an alignment and they told me they couldn't align it because the frame was bent/twisted. He told me i needed to take it to a body shop to get some measurements on the frame. 1. What are they going to do at the body shop? Are they measurements that i could just take myself? Can they pull the frame enough to where i could get an alignment? Or are they just going to tell me my car is totalled and charge me a hundred bucks?