That’s the situation did I install it wrong. Hmmm
Remove the starter and bench test it. Connect a jumper cable from the battery (-) to the starter housing and momentarily touch the cable from battery (+) to the stud on the solenoid. If the starter operates when the connection is made the problem is in the starter.
We did that at autozone and it did not activate without ignition. I don’t see how I could have it hooked up wrong though…
I’m curious if the ignition switch - though disconnected, is actually close enough to arc. Is that possible? I don’t know much about electricity
I mean ignition wire to the starter
did you change the relay yet?
I tested the relay the way rod knox suggested and it seemed to check out?? I just removed the ignition switch completely and hooked the starter up-- still started when I connected the battery.
Let me get this straight. You have the starter installed on the car, the large battery cable connected and the small “S” wire NOT connected to the starter, and it cranks the engine over as soon as you connect the battery?
Yes, both the old one and the new one. Yet when tested on the bench with just the power connected it did nothing.
Here is a picture of the starter completely hooked up.
Here
Don’t leave out any steps @Leprechaun.
When you reinstalled the starter you touched the batter (+) to the starter solenoid and the starter engaged AND this happened without ever having the small wire connected to the starter?
The issue here is does the problem appear after making ALL connections, then twisting the key to the START position at which time the starter engages but continues to crank when the key is turned off
If the starter bendix engages the flywheel at an oblique angle it can hang up in the flywheel and when mechanically jammed the solenoid plunger is held in the run position. A bent spacer plate or a bur on a mating surface can hold the starter away from a perpendicular engagement with the flywheel and cause the starter to mechanically jam in the run position.
Ok I reinstalled the starter completely. Re attached the positive battery cable. Reattach negative and sparks and starter kicks in. If I disconnect the ignition wire to the solenoid it still starts when the battery is hooked up. The ignition is turned off the whole time.
the mating surface between the starter and the engine is not super clean… there is an oil leak dripping on this area.
Rod Knox said:
Remove the starter and bench test it. Connect a jumper cable from the battery (-) to the starter housing and momentarily touch the cable from battery (+) to the stud on the solenoid. If the starter operates when the connection is made the problem is in the starter.
We know the store did this, but you must do this at your Jeep! This starts you at a “known good” condition from which you can proceed. You keep doing the same thing, getting nowhere.
@insightful Okay done. Starter works as it should when removed from the vehicle and using jumper cables
I’m wondering if he has thew positive cable attached to the wrong starter lug.
yosemite
@Yosemite I posted a picture on page 3 of how I have it hooked up.I’m wondering if overtightening the top mounting bolt of the starter housing could result in some weird kind of pressure/contact on that solenoid resulting in the problem I’m experiencing
For some reason, my computer is not showing the photo. I’d throw the thing out the window, but I’m on the first floor. It takes all the fun out of it.
If you’re referring to the starter mounting bolts…they wouldn’t cause a problem unless as @Rod knox mentioned it’s not aligned properly.
You could over tighten the terminal nut and that could cause problems. That is why there is a double “Stop nut” on these, but most people don’t have the thin wrench to get to that lower nut.
I have my dads old lifter adjustment wrenches and they work great for that as long as they are SAE and not metric.
Yosemite
Now, reinstall the starter and connect the battery cable to it with the nut hand tight (no wrench), then attempt to reconnect the positive cable to the battery. If the starter runs, you live in a parallel universe where the simplest laws of circuitry are different. ;-]