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maybe a short?

B

Beachmonkey6

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Dallas, Texas
Ive got a '90 xj and i went to fill it up today and after returning to my jeep, it wouldnt start. When i would turn the key, no sound came from my jeep... not even a clicking sound. After i turned the key about 10 times the jeep mysteriously started right up. Could there be a short somewhere? or what do you think happend? Thanks
 
I say it's one of the sensors, cps, tps, etc.
 
Are you saying its not cranking over the motor at all and the battery isin't dead?

Then theres no way its a sensor. Some possibilites are - starter (classic trick is to tap it with a small hammer sometimes you can get another couple cranks), the starter relay (you can try jumping a wire from the bat. pos to the starters terminal) or the netural safety switch if its automatic trans (can it start in neutral, do you have to play with the shifter to get it to start)?
 
my 89 is currently doing something similar. (annoying the crap outta me) i just came back from 6 months of training for the national guard and now i dont have transportation. i got it to crank a couple of times the other night by grounding the little wire from the solenoid to the negative battery terminal, which got the wire nice and warm so i decided to stop. does the metal relay, where the secondary cable off of the positive terminal leads to, control the starting of the vehicle and is there a way to bypass that relay? i just need a cheap temporary fix right now.
 
I would try switching out the starter relay with a known good one first. Easy and cheap.

K
 
I had this similar problem with my 95 and 93 XJs. I would be filling up with gas, and went to start afterward, and nothing would happen. Put it in neutral ,a nd started right up. Possibly could be a park/neutral swith defect, but only happens seldom.
 
Most likely the neutral safety switch. NSS. A quick way to check the battery is turn on the lights then hit the horn. If the battery is discharged, the horn will either not work or will sound like it is half dead.
 
j_epcherokee said:
my 89 is currently doing something similar. (annoying the crap outta me) i just came back from 6 months of training for the national guard and now i dont have transportation. i got it to crank a couple of times the other night by grounding the little wire from the solenoid to the negative battery terminal, which got the wire nice and warm so i decided to stop. does the metal relay, where the secondary cable off of the positive terminal leads to, control the starting of the vehicle and is there a way to bypass that relay? i just need a cheap temporary fix right now.
Click to expand...
You need that relay but it's cheap.
 
j_epcherokee said:
my 89 is currently doing something similar. (annoying the crap outta me) i just came back from 6 months of training for the national guard and now i dont have transportation. i got it to crank a couple of times the other night by grounding the little wire from the solenoid to the negative battery terminal, which got the wire nice and warm so i decided to stop. does the metal relay, where the secondary cable off of the positive terminal leads to, control the starting of the vehicle and is there a way to bypass that relay? i just need a cheap temporary fix right now.
Click to expand...

Yes - that's the start relay (on RENIX it's that metal can. On HO it's a Bosch relay.) The order goes from ignition switch to start relay to start solenoid to starter motor windings.

It's possible to replace that silly $40 ChryCo OEM start relay with a Bosch - and if I could remember how I did it, I'd tell you. Problem is, last time I did it it was late, I'd been working on my truck all day, and I was half drunk when I did it...

Upside? The damn thing still works! I did this one summer several years ago when I went through about five of those little relays one after another. I buy Bosch relays by the dozen - so I already had them...

I'd imagine I could suss it out if asked nicely - I've got a set of RENIX wiring diagrams here somewhere...

5-90
 
it may be a dumb idea, but a wheelin buddy of mine (chevy guy) told me that in order to make the starter work all i had to do is ground that little wire out to engage the starter. i ran some heavier gauge speaker wire from a switch to my firewall ground and connected the wire that went from the solenoid to the relay to the other side of the switch. flip the switch and it cranks right over. are there some side effects i may see further down the road from doing a cheap fix like this? everything else seemed to operate fine for now...
 
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