Starter keeps running, won't disengage

My diesel jeep (the one with the SD-22 nissan diesel engine), the starter works, but will not disengage, keeps cranking. Only way I can stop it is to pull the +battery cable off the battery.

Any ideas people?

Pretty sure the starter solenoid is built into the starter. The starter is pretty new (rebuilt a year ago), <1 year. It did the same thing first 2 times after installing it, but then worked normally for about 250-500 starts (estimate).

I am posting this here since the the rest of the electricals are an 85 XJ (2.5 L gas, originally).

When I reconnect the battery cable the starter does not turn back on, so I thinking that is 100% proof it is not the jeep electricals, like the starter switch hanging up, but must be the solenoid in starter, or the front gear on the starter hanging up on the flex plate.

Any ideas, opinions, thoughts?

Does the starter keep running or is it rattling on the flexplate as the motor turns?

I did not turn on the glow plugs, engine was cold, so it did not start, but it did, does crank the engine just fine. The bendix is/has been working fine (no grinding, teeth nashing noises if that is what your asking).

Last time I actually started it (hot glow plugs), I got lucky and the starter disengaged, and I was able to drive home. Since then I only tested it cold (glow plugs off) for diagnostics.

Seems like you need to pull the starter and test it with jumper cables from your battery. But you know that.

winterbeater said:

Seems like you need to pull the starter and test it with jumper cables from your battery. But you know that.

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What would that tell me?

power the + terminal, ground the case, and use a separate wire to power the solenoid terminal. Once you power the solenoid it should cause the drive gear to snap out and spin.

If it continues to spin after you remove the small solenoid terminal, it's got a sticking contact point and needs rebuilding.

Check the teeth of the drive and the flywheel/flexplate for any signs of damage as well to see if shimming of the starter may be required. I would guess that it might be wedging into the ring gear and sticking if the solenoid is functioning correctly and it still hangs up, but that wouldn't explain why it continues to run until power is removed since the engine never actually starts...

Ecomike said:

What would that tell me?

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If it does the same thing out in the air on jumper cables, you know it is not some kind of gear engagement thing and also that it is not a wiring or relay problem within the Heep itself. It also helps you not to FU the flywheel teeth until you get it sorted out.

Then you can check out the solenoid return spring, etc.

Great suggestions and plan! Thanks. Guess I was too close to the problem to see what should have been obvious.

Ecomike said:

Great suggestions and plan! Thanks. Guess I was too close to the problem to see what should have been obvious.

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Not wearing our beer goggles, are we? :cheers: