Renix No Start!

Ok so I washed the "new" 88 that I just got. Engine bay as well. Engine running while I'm washing it, turn it off about 2 hours later I cant get it to start. I turn the key and I hear a rapid ticking sound, like when the battery doen't have enough juice to kick the solenoid. Tried to jump it and the same thing happens. So I have the battery tested. Walmart says they charged it and its good. put it back in and still no luck. Battery is reading 12.03v at the post. 11.09v at the starter terminal. So I go buy a starter. Put it in and still get the same ticking sound. ANy ideas?
If I get 12 volts at the battery and 12 volts at the starter terminal shouldn't the wire from the battery to the starter be ok?

It could be, but what you are probably working against is wet wire connections at the solenoid. The rapid ticking sound could simply be the solenoid washed out too well. It won't engage and hold.

I sure hope you didn't use the car wash - a 1500 pound sprayer will inject soapy water into any connection and short it out.

11VDC at the starter tells you the cable is old, but not that the starter itself was bad, unless the computer test specified it.

Hose every connection and terminal with WD40, get it out in the sun, and wait for it to dry off, then try it. Jeep wiring harnesses are not waterproof, just spray resistant. They're made the same as any other car, and when soaked, don't work. It's why Katrina cars are junked - the electrics never come back.

Might be neutral safety switch. Try to start it in neutral & check if reverse/back-up lights are working. The switch gets dirty and has to be cleaned.
Search "Neutral safety switch" for instructions. Good luck.

With Jeep in park & ebrake on, try jumping across the two posts with with connections on the starter, with a screwdriver. Be a little careful as it may spark a fair amount. If this works, you know that your starter and battery are OK. Then you look to the NSS, relay and other connections. You can also test the NSS by jumping around it with a short wire.

I have a manual trans no NSS in it.
I changed the started and the solenoid. It just doesn't make any since. If it was the started relay power wouldn't be getting to the starter would it?

1985xjlaredo said:

I have a manual trans no NSS in it.
I changed the started and the solenoid. It just doesn't make any since. If it was the started relay power wouldn't be getting to the starter would it?

Click to expand...

Did you check the notorious Renix killer - the ground strap that goes from the block to the chassis on the firewall? If it was corroded it could have been broken from washing.

No i didnt think of that but ill check it. I still dont get how i can get that weak battery click from the solenoid.

1985xjlaredo said:

I have a manual trans no NSS in it.
I changed the started and the solenoid. It just doesn't make any since. If it was the started relay power wouldn't be getting to the starter would it?

Click to expand...

Power should always be available to the starter on the big wire from the battery to the starter. The relay just feeds the small wire which activates the internal switch in the starter (solenoid) to feed the juice to the motor windings. By jumping from the big wire to the small wire, you are bypassing everything else. If the big wire doesn't have juice, you have a very simple problem -- bad battery or bad big wire.

You should have the equivalent of the NSS on your manual trans vehicle also. It is at the top of the clutch pedal and doesn't let you start unless the clutch pedal is depressed. You can check that by jumping it also.

Look, this is quite simple--main positive lead from battery to starter. Small positive from starter relay to solenoid. Ground is through starter body.

If the battery is fully charged, if the battery has passed a load test--did they load test it at Walmart ( I would be surprised if they even knew what a load test was! )? Then if the battery cables are good, both the positive and the negative, then you can arc between the large stud on the starter where the main positive connects and the smaller stud where the lighter gauge wire from the starter relay connects.

Arc across there with the key on, and it will crank and start--dangerous. Arc across there with the key off, and it will crank but not start. It is a natural law. If you arc across there and it won't crank then go back and fix those things above. If you don't, then you are just Ping into the wind.

Once you get it cranking, if it won't start, then we can help you some more.

PS, please state your year, engine, transmission, and any other info that might apply when starting a thread--it keeps people from being confused and telling you to check things that don't exist or apply to your XJ.

overflow said:

Did you check the notorious Renix killer - the ground strap that goes from the block to the chassis on the firewall? If it was corroded it could have been broken from washing.

Click to expand...

Ground Strap looks to be intact but needs to be replaced. Doing that in the morning.

winterbeater said:

Power should always be available to the starter on the big wire from the battery to the starter. The relay just feeds the small wire which activates the internal switch in the starter (solenoid) to feed the juice to the motor windings. By jumping from the big wire to the small wire, you are bypassing everything else. If the big wire doesn't have juice, you have a very simple problem -- bad battery or bad big wire.


You should have the equivalent of the NSS on your manual trans vehicle also. It is at the top of the clutch pedal and doesn't let you start unless the clutch pedal is depressed. You can check that by jumping it also.

Click to expand...

I have juice all through the big wire and the small wire. I have 12 volts at the starter (big wire). As i am a one man band I haven't been able to get a reading on the wire from the relay while the key is in the start position. I do have 12 volts at the post on the starter relay. How many volts should I see when I do get the chance to test the small post from the relay to the starter? The switch for the clutch pedal is not there.

joe_peters said:

Look, this is quite simple--main positive lead from battery to starter. Small positive from starter relay to solenoid. Ground is through starter body.

If the battery is fully charged, if the battery has passed a load test--did they load test it at Walmart ( I would be surprised if they even knew what a load test was! )? Then if the battery cables are good, both the positive and the negative, then you can arc between the large stud on the starter where the main positive connects and the smaller stud where the lighter gauge wire from the starter relay connects.

Arc across there with the key on, and it will crank and start--dangerous. Arc across there with the key off, and it will crank but not start. It is a natural law. If you arc across there and it won't crank then go back and fix those things above. If you don't, then you are just Ping into the wind.

Once you get it cranking, if it won't start, then we can help you some more.

PS, please state your year, engine, transmission, and any other info that might apply when starting a thread--it keeps people from being confused and telling you to check things that don't exist or apply to your XJ.

Click to expand...

I understand how to jump across the poles on the solenoid to force it to start, I just don't want to do this when something else is obviously wrong. Yes walmart load tested the battery, and it took a full charge. So its not the battery, or the cables. I think that I made it clear in my original post what I had tested and that the battery was tested and what reading I got when i tested the cables. I did say that it was an 88, and a Renix iirc only 4.0L had the Renix control? Could be wrong on that one. And with the problem I am describing I don't think that the neutral safety switch would be a possibility, negating which trans I have, but yes I should have included it in the info I gave. If the nss was the cause nothing would happen when I turn the key. I also described what led up to the problem and exactly what was happening when I tried to start it. That being said, let me ask the same question I did in my second post, only a little more exact. If the starter relay was bad and I turn the key forward to the start position, and I get the rapid clicking sound as if I were to have a weak battery, could I rule out the starter relay? OR the simple version better described.
If it is the starter relay, power wouldn't be getting to the small post on the starter solenoid would it?

I think what is confusing the issue is the existence of two solenoids on the Cherokee. The one near the battery controls starting voltage to the relevant circuits. The one on the starter controls it.

If the starter solenoid is the one clicking, you have a bad ground, low voltage, bad solenoid, or bad starter. You installed a new starter(with attached new solenoid.) The 400 amps form the battery is probably going to the starter - BUT it has to complete the circuit back through the ground straps to the battery. No ground, no circuit, no start.

The negative ground strap is as important as the positive lead to the starter.

I don't know if this helps any, but on my 88 I have a problem with my starter relay from time to time. I already bypassed my NSS because that is bad as well. I pull a dark green wire loose from the starter relay that is just under the 12v lug on the relay, it has a plastic spade terminal connector on it. I turn the key to the on position with it in part and touch the green wire to the 12v lug and it cranks up. This may help you figure out if it is your relay. They are cheap to replace, you may want to do it just for peace of mind.

Well im going to do the relay today its the only other thing that it could be.

Ok so I pulled the green wire off of the starter relay put it to the battery post and I get the same thing!!!!! So I am now thinking that has to be the wire from the relay to the solenoid relay post? Running a new wire now. I am to assume that the ground wire on the relay is the black/wt one? I am going to run a wire to a direct ground on that one i think.

1985xjlaredo said:

Ok so I pulled the green wire off of the starter relay put it to the battery post and I get the same thing!!!!! So I am now thinking that has to be the wire from the relay to the solenoid relay post? Running a new wire now. I am to assume that the ground wire on the relay is the black/wt one? I am going to run a wire to a direct ground on that one i think.

Click to expand...

Did you ever arc the starter and solenoid? If you do and the damn thing cranks you will have gained some knowledge:

1. Battery is good.
2. Battery cables are good.
3. The starter and solenoid are good.

Once you are certain of the above, simply by arcing the starte/solenoid, then you can test the starter relay. The starter relay has one large lug, positive from battery and power distribution to other systems. Three spade connectors, one marked SOL, that is wire that runs to solenoid, one marked IGN, that is from the switch, and GRN, that is the relay ground to the fender well.

Or, you can just throw parts at it.

Good Luck.

Yes I have done all of the above. Battery Is good ran new wire from relay to solenoid. 14.07 volts everywhere when using 89 ranger to jump start it. I had 1.55 volts on the sol post while trying to crank. I have thrown parts at it already.

1985xjlaredo said:

Yes I have done all of the above. Battery Is good ran new wire from relay to solenoid. 14.07 volts everywhere when using 89 ranger to jump start it. I had 1.55 volts on the sol post while trying to crank. I have thrown parts at it already.

Click to expand...

Are you talking about the SOL spade connector on the starter relay or the solenoid post on the starter solenoid?

You should have 12V (+-) at the large lug on the starter relay constant. The SOL spade should have 12v when the relay is excited. The relay is excited when the IGN spade on the starter relay receives 12v through the ignition switch. GRN spade should show 0 ohm resistance to ground.

Let us know what you find.

Well its rainging its ass off here in KC so I dont think that i'll get to it today. Ill look into the ohm's on the green spade when the rain stops. I was also thinking maybe I just got a bad starter from Oreilly's.

Does it crank when you arc it? If it cranks when arced the starter/solenoid are good.

No it wont crank it just makes the same clicking sound. I arced the solenoid and the relay both same thing. Its gotta be a bad Bendix, if I arc it at the solenoid Im bypassing everything and giving it 12 volts and it still makes the fast clicking sound.