Starting a Rebuild - Looking for advice

Hey Guys...

I've been hanging around here and reading through the forums for a while now but this is my first time
posting. I have a 99 XJ that I built back in 02. It's on 35's, Long Arms and around 8'' of lift.



It served as my DD and trail rig for several years before I put it into some unexpectedly deep water. Haha OOPS !



I was lucky enough to not compress any water and the engine was pretty much ok. After several fluid
changes I managed to get all the water out and got it running and back on the road. It was getting a
bit out of hand for a DD anyway and there was some work that needed done so I ended up parking it
and buying another XJ (stock) for a DD...

Well I never got around to doing the work and it ended up sitting for a couple years - Now it needs
a serious rebuild and I'm tired of seeing it sit in the state its in.

So I've got a ton of work to do... The tires are dry rotted, the underbody is getting really rusty and
needs cleaned up, the susp componants all need refinished, the signals aren't working right, it wont start,
the winch needs to be refinished and it's not functioning, a couple u joints need replaced, a/c compressor
clutch is seized up, tons of rust to take care of, Lots of fun stuff... should be a good project!

So Here's my game plan...

I'm gonna go up to 37'' BFG AT's on 17'' AEV Pintlers in Argent, I'm planning on making it a bit more
road worthy so I want to get away form Mud tires and steel wheels. I've owned BFG AT's before and
think they are amazing tires, and do really well off-road. I have 4.56's now and plan on going to lower
gears in the future but i think the gears I've got now will be ok for a while.

I really want to get a High pinion axle in the back - I'm running the 8.25 right now and have had no
problems with the axle. The problem is that the rear shaft angle is a bit excessive, the 8.25 is shimmed
but it's still too much and I keep wearing out a part in my CV shaft. I think a high pinion would
solve my problems.

What would you guys reccomend I do for a rear axle? not sure I can drop $3000 on a built 60 or 44...
I have some fab skills and may piece something together on my own rather than buy an assembled unit,
I'm just not sure what the best course to take is.

My immediate problem however is getting it started. When I parked it, it ran fine and started with
no problems. Now the ignition switch won't engage the starter. I ran a lead from the battery to the
ignition terminal on the solonoid and it just spun without turning over the engine. so I'm assuming
I've got two problems here... the starter needs replaced or rebuilt and I obviously also have a problem
between the ignition switch and the starter...

do you guys have any idea where my starting problem might be?

Thanks for the help and I'll keep ya'll updated on the progress of my rebuild!

I'm thinking I should have posted this in the modified tech forum - so apologies in advance.

The starter solenoid has three poles in a cluster--the small pole in the middle of the cluster is for ignition power, while the two bigger ones on each side are for battery power and the starter motor respectively. Ignition causes the starter relay to send 12v to the middle pole, which charges the coil inside the solenoid. This produces a magnetic field that causes a plunger inside the coil to be ejected. The plunger has two contact pads on the inside that close the big circuit between the battery and the starter motor (the pads connect the two large poles on the solenoid together), so when the plunger jumps out the pads the starter motor starts spinning. The other function of the plunger is to push the starter motor gear into position by the flywheel so that the motor will turn the crank.

It sounds like you tested the starter motor by applying direct power to that pole (this is why the motor would spin but not engage--the plunger was not ejected). You need to test the solenoid by applying direct power to the small center pole. Sometimes these fail due to weak ground but that seems unlikely--if the starter motor spins then the motor has ground and the solenoid gets ground through the motor. Most likely is that the solenoid got corroded internally.

Your NSS could have gummed up for sitting for so long. Give it a rebuild, it's quick and easy.

boomhauer said:

Your NSS could have gummed up for sitting for so long. Give it a rebuild, it's quick and easy.

Click to expand...

x2

And one other thing that may be good to check (I'm sure I just got unlucky... but still cant hurt). Give your alternator a look. Shoot it with some WD40 to lube it up. My rig sat for a while and it ran fine when I put it away. Then I moved it a couple times and the serp belt was screaming each time (figured the belt had dried out from sitting in the sun for a summer w/o moving much at all...). My father then moved it to the back yard once I moved away and it died on the way to the back.

I got a new battery as I assumed that was the problem and it worked OK, still screamed, and seemed to start weaker each time time I started it so I figured it wasnt getting charge somehow. I only started it and ran it once in a while to try and trouble shoot problems. Eventually one day it 'miraculously' stopped screaming (and reved a big higher/easier than usual) so I killed the engine and looked under the hood to find my belt had snapped. All along it was screaming because my alternator was toast and it was the belt slipping.

Apparently what happened is the alternator seized up (probably the bearing at the back of the pully shaft, at the opposite side of the pully itself). The shaft then snaped at the back and started spinning wildly, which caused the internals of the alternator to be thrown around and almost broke clean through the cast iron case. This in turn seized the pully which started screaming due to slipping belt, etc etc etc.. you get the story..

give it a check and if your serp belt is SCREAMING be sure to cehck each pully to make sure they can spin freely. While I was at the JY getting an alternator (got a 117A unit out of a 2.5 dakota, bolt on swap, no grinding necesary) I also got a couple of the other pulleys since the bearings were shot in many of them. Runs better than ever now

ehall, That was a very good description of how the starter functions... I appreciate the detailed reply and will make sure I try that out tonight and see what happens. It sure would be nice if replacing the solenoid would solve my problems...

Boomhauer, I was thinking there might be an issue with the NSS... I'll look into a rebuild on it, even if it's not the problem it will be good to get that back into new shape if it's a simple fix. Now is a great time to do all the preventative maint that I can...

themangeraaad, I'll take a look at the alternator also... I know what you're saying about a screeching belt... I had that issue just before I parked it, the pully on my A/C comp seized up. That is one of the loudest most horrendous sounds on earth, like a banshee screaming or something. I noticed that some of my other pully's have become fairly rusty so I'm planning on getting that squared away also.

Thanks a lot for all the advice so far guys!

Hey guys, had to bring this thread back up... I still can't get this thing started.

I rebuilt the NSS - Also had the starter tested and repaired, needed a solenoid and brush holder...

Still No go, I really gotta get this thing running and I'm not sure where else my problem may be...

Any advice is much needed and appreciated

check for power at the middle lead on the solenoid while somebody else turns the key. if you have power there then you still have an issue with the starter assembly (probably ground). if you don't have power there work backwards. check both sides of the starter relay. also try to bypass the nss to see if your rebuild was successful.

Roger that ehall, I'll give that a shot, Thanks again