New starter continually runs

Would you please explain what 'kind' of freaking starter you are trying to shoehorn in there and why didn't you just use a "Jeep" starter that matches your vehicle??

You have the wiring wrong.

There is a trigger wire that energises the starter solenoid and/or starter relay when the key is turned to run. You have this wire hooked to power instead of to the keyswitch.

Just a wild guess, but it might be the two green wires on the solenoid/relay in the wrong place.

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail > I was wondering if anybody out there might be able to give me some

Its a Mean Green Starter made for my 2.5L engine. The starter does match my vehicle and there isnt any freaking shoehorning going on. First off there ins't two green wires going to solenoid genius. 1 Hot 1 Ground. The power comes straight from the battery to the solendoid then the starter relay with the ignition completes the circuit. As I stated before It is quite possible that the relay is bad and that I was in the process of changing it.

But thanks I will look for the trigger wire that energises the starter or starter relay and ensure that isn't to power.

If the starter matches your vehicle then there won't be any need to splice wires to reach the terminals. It is possible that these starters varied somewhat from year to year and that an exact match is not available. That's a drag, but it happens.

Don't mind Mike, he's Canadian. ;^)

Earle

You've either miswired it, or the relay is stuck on.

If the starter matched your vehicle, you would not need to lengthen wires or splice into the harness, it would just bolt and plug in. Simple eh.

So whoever sold you that starter sold you a really screwed up one you can 'convert' to 'fit' a Jeep, not a Jeep one. Lots of starters can be converted to fit a Jeep.

Oh and a 'solenoid' by definition has to have a power in, power out and a trigger and a ground. Any other part you might be looking at is 'not a solenoid.

On the last YJ and XJ I worked on, there were two green wires floating around the starter relay. When these get switched, the starter runs when you hook on the battery cable. They were 6 cylinder engines though.

Mike

snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote:

Sounds like they gave him a Ford Starter instead of the GM one if all he sees on the starter 'solenoid' is two wires. He is likely looking at the starter 'motor' and needs a whole shitload of new parts and wires to make the Ford one work.

Mike

Earle Hort> If the starter matches your vehicle then there won't be any need to splice

It's amazing to me the people that will make proclamations about a guys gear sight unseen. Anyhow...

As far as I can tell it wouldn't be your ignition switch. I'd guess if there were something wrong there you'd have other symptoms like power to items that shouldn't have power when the key is off. It looks to me like either your starter relay is bad, or the solenoid at the starter itself might be bad.

The only wires going to your starter relay should be red and yellow with no green in sight but I doubt these are even easily visible. There should be a red hot wire straight from the battery to your starter solenoid and a brown wire from the starter relay to the starter solenoid. Of course that's on a stock system so your mean green MAY be changing things around but I'm not too familiar with them other than I "think" their starter is a high torque mini starter (maybe that explains why the wires won't reach).

If the starter relay is stuck that could cause your starter run-on problem, of if the starter solenoid is stuck you could get the same issue.

Disconnect the brown wire from the starter solenoid and hook up your battery. If the starter takes off the starter solenoid is bad. If it doesn't take off check for power at the brown wire. If you have power there with the key in the off position then the starter relay is bad.

At least that's the story I'm telling. Good luck.

The last post is the story im sticking with too. I went home over lunch and took a good hard look to make sure wasn't missing wires or anything tucked away when I removed the old starter. There are only two wires going to the starter, one hot(red) that comes from the battery and one black that comes from the relay.

There isn't any other electrical devices turned on when the ingnition switch is turned off. And all electrical systems work when the switch is turned on, so I agree in that I don't think its the electrical switch.

I did take the black wire off the starter and reconnected the batter and the starter as Tom described started again. I was unware if this ment the starter was bad, but from what Tom is saying sounds like the solenoid is crap and needs replaced.

The only reason I needed to splice extensions onto the wires from the battery and the relay is because on the stock starter the posts for the two wires come off the solenoid at around an 11 oclock position. With the mean green starter the posts come off at a 6 oclock position. Its just a different arrangement of solenoid position to the starter motor position, is my opinion anyway.

So looks like its a defective from factory starter that needs to be replaced. Thanks for your guy's help! ....... Even you Mike.

I would have point blank refused the starter in the first place. I have installed hundreds of starters over the years and have 'never' put the wrong one in so the wiring had to be modified to make it fit. I prefer to use the correct part for the application.

But that is just me....

If it is indeed the completely wrong starter like I think it might be, then it needs a solenoid upstream from the battery connection like the Ford variety uses. The battery cable goes to the starter relay and from there a second battery cable goes down to the starter motor. That type turns as soon as the main post sees power 'AND' has it's connection down at the bottom instead of the top.....

I would use a set of booster cables at the auto shop on the next one to see if it spins up with direct power too.... I just hold my foot on them and touch the cables to the starter when they are on my battery.

Just my $0.02,

Mike

snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote:

I don't have a picture or a starter to work with, but sometimes you just take out the bolts and rotate the solenoid or the nose cone so that things point the way you want, then bolt it back together. There can be two or sometimes three possible orientations, and the guys in the rebuild shops don't really know which is the right one.

Earle

Very good point!

Most have two bolts so it could be upside down for the application. It would be a quick fix anyway.

Mike

Earle Hort> I don't have a picture or a starter to work with, but sometimes you just

Make sure you post the final fix. Inquiring minds and all that...

Quick fix for what? He's already extended his wiring so that's not an issue anymore and he'd be hard pressed to swap these two wires at the starter. The problem is the starter takes off as soon as the wires are connected.

A motorcraft starter will have a solenoid on the fender well and appropriate wires running to it, and one down to the starter. His starter has two wires running to it hence it's not a motorcraft, and has the solenoid mounted directly to it so again, not a motorcraft.

His system should have a starter relay energized by the ignition switch, which in turn feeds power down to the solenoid on his starter. When this starter mounted solenoid energizes it will connect the hot wire that runs DIRECTLY from his battery to said solenoid, to the starter motor.

If the starter takes off with the brown (look real close Erik. I bet it's not really black) solenoid wire disconnected then his STARTER MOUNTED solenoid has to be defective.

Flipping the starter case would be a quick fix for the wrong part or if the rebuilder just screwed up for the application like Earle mentions... (if one was desperate and just 'had' to use that starter because it is the last one in the state or something)

I am sorry, but I just can't imagine someone actually having to change wiring around to put the 'wrong' starter into a Jeep and thinking that all is right with things.....

I too would like to hear the results....

Mike

I can. Maybe you just don't have as much experience with human nature and some of the downright senseless stubbornness that I have seen. One wants to remember, too, that one function of these posts is that somebody in the future, about to make the same mistake, might read something that will change his mind. One can always hope.

Earle

You seem to be fixated on this "wrong" starter issue. Now who is to say it's the wrong one? After all it's an aftermarket starter and while I'm not all that incredibly familiar with mean green starters but have you ever looked at one? It doesn't look very "factory" to say the least. Extending the wiring might just be the way it is if you want one of their starters. That doesn't make it the wrong one. Hell, just about every after market ignition system in the world requires wiring modifications of some sort. Does that make them the "wrong" system?

I have been putting in starters since the 60's and have 'never' needed to modify the wiring to do so. It makes no sense to me...

If I have to jury rig something to get me going, I am the best at making things work, but to buy new and need to do it, well....

Mike

Lets try this again, I guess my first try at replying didnt get posted.

Anyway, I think Mike, you have some notion that I am taking 4 wires cramming them into one coupler and hooking it up to a post. Which is def. not the case. The mean green starter is obviously aftermarket and considerably more beefy than that of the stock starter. Perhaps you have never had to modify the wires on your starters because you just use OEM starters. The starter isn't any kind of slapped together to work with my 2.5L engine. It mounts to the factory location with out shims with any modification to the factory mount, and it even uses the factory mounting bolts used to hold the original starter in place.

To hopefully clear some misconceptions up here, this is a link to some pictures of the two starters

As you can see the mean green starter is larger and the mounting posts are in a different location. On the old starter the two silver rings you see is where the wires mounted. On the mean green stater look at the bottom right of the starter you can see the same two posts, just in different locations. The same wires go to the same posts on the new starter, red to the larger post and the brown to the smaller post. I just needed to lengthen the wires to accomidate the different position of the posts...not cosolidate more wires into one with the thought that the stater will miraculously work. Thats just idiocy.

The starter is now off the jeep disconnected and unbolted from everything. I took the stater and connected it to the batter with jumper cables. The negative on the large billet metal piece on the front of the starter, and the positive on the hot post (red wire NOT the smaller brown wire post) . The starter did not start up. So I'm guessing the realy is bad?