my car has started having starting problems. a few days ago the car would not turn over at all. after waiting a few minutes i tried again and it worked. a few days later after stopping the vehicle and turning it off, it would not start up again. This time it stayed that way. I can turn the key and just hear one click, no turning at all. The battery was tested and is fine. can anyone start me in the right direction. anyone have a diagram that will be helpful. 4.2 I6, 88 wrangler
thanks
That is clicking sound is uaually an indicaton that your starter solenoid has failed. Pull the starter/starter solenoid assemnly, and take it to the auto parts store. they will put it on a bench tester and test the whole thing for you, and then sell you everything you need o fix it. I would also make sure that your battery is 100% charged first. Sometimes a weak battery will cause this to happen as well.
88yj wrote:
Start with the basics, make sure all your connections are clean and tight, including the battery terminals, where the negative cable connects to the body, the positive connection on the starter and the ground strap between the engine and the body. Also be sure the starter bolts are tight. If it has a separate solenoid be sure those connections are good too. Also, if it has one you might try jumping across the solenoid, those have been known to go bad and can cause the symptoms you describe.
Does the Jeep otherwise act normally? If you have the lights on and try to start it do they pretty much go out or do they stay about the same? Any other symptoms?
Jeff DeWitt
I good test for bad battery or bad battery connections is to turn on the headlights and blow the horn. If the headlights get dim at that moment, then your battery is toast or there is a real bad connection, irrespective of the condition of the starter. If the lights stay nice and bright and the horn sounds good too, then start looking in the starter system area.
A twenty year old vehicle would be a good candidate for a worn out starter though.
Cheers,
Earle
I'd start with the battery cables. They like to corrode inside the crimped terminal ends. Hold the ignition key in for several seconds, check to see if any of the terminals get hot. Especially check the ground cable.
Someone else mentioned the headlight test: turn on the headlights, flip the key to start. If the headlights dim, bad battery or cables. If the headlights don't dim, bad starter or solenoid.
You already had the battery tested but sometimes .............
88yj wrote:
True, although my starter only lasted 10 years... of course that was also 300,000 miles .
Jeff DeWitt
i was taking the starter off to test it when i broke a peice of plastic around a bolt. The screw was the one on the starter(closest to driver side), the plasitc that the screw goes into snapped off in half. The screw goes down to a flat piece of metal which bumped into the screw on the solenoid, the starter started to run. assuming the solenoid is the problem, can i buy a new solenoid and put it on? so far a have only been able to find starters with solenoids on them. There over 100$ and would rather just buy a new solenoid.
I would first clean the battery cables at both ends. When they get dirty you get your symptoms. The positive cable end at the starter solenoid/relay on the 'firewall' is a normal failure point on an 88. So is the block end of the negative cable.
Mike
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's - Gone to the rust pile...88yj wrote:
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