TJ will not turn over

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bully8883

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Jan 11, 2019
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Union City, TN
Have a 1998 wrangler tj with 5 speed and 4.0. The motor will not turn over. It will have everything dim like it is going to start when I try to start it. I have replaced the starter and solenoid. I have also replaced the ignition switch and added a block to firewall ground strap. It has a fully charged battery. About 1 time out or 10 it will start but most of the time it will not turn over. Little help before I go crazy. Thanks
 
The battery checked out good. In the rare instance when it does turn over, it will start.When I go to start it,the instrument light dim as they should but it will not turn over.
 
This^

Also - are your cables in good shape, and are all the connection points clean, corrosion free, and tight?
 
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As Nashville suggested make sure all your connections for your battery cables, grounds and ignition wires are clean and tight. Even if they look clean clean the terminals and the mounting points. There is an actuator between the lock cylinder and the ignition switch on the bottom of the steering column check that the plastic pin is OK and the cast housing around it is not broken. And don't trust that the new starter is good take it out and bench test it. I replaced my starter a while back and the solenoid was no good on delivery I actually robbed the old solenoid off my original starter and installed on the new one to get it to work. It actually presented similar symptoms to what your currently describing when first installed.
 
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When you say turn over do you mean it just cranks and doesn’t start? Or does it not even crank. You said everything dims like it’s going to start so I am assuming it is cranking then. All great information in here so far. Have you tried just checking the spark plugs? What about fuel pressure? You have a 98 so I’m pretty sure that means you have a schrader valve on the fuel rail you could use to check fuel pressure. Also look into the camshaft and crankshaft position sensors and the ignition coil rail. I had a similar no start issue and I ended up just throwing new parts on it until I fixed it, and in the end it still didn’t work. For me it ended up being a faulty connection on the coil rail plug. Probably not the case for you but I am just saying it’s better to test things and rule them out. If the jeep is not even cranking I would say check the ignition pin actuator , which is different than the ignition switch I believe. The pin often breaks so it never engages the on position when turning the key, so the jeep then won’t start. Either that or you have a bad connection/ wiring issue somewhere.
 
Sounds like either the battery is either not really good or there's a bad battery connection. Know that not many auto parts store employees know how to correctly test the battery. Technically the test is called a Load Test and if the person conducting the load test doesn't hold the heavy electrical load on the battery at least ten seconds it can falsely indicate a battery is good when it's actually bad.

And without a suitably heavy electrical load placed on the battery a nearly dead battery can still measure 12 volts. It's only what the battery's voltage measures while a heavy load is on it that counts.
 
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bully8883 said:
Have a 1998 wrangler tj with 5 speed and 4.0. The motor will not turn over. It will have everything dim like it is going to start when I try to start it. I have replaced the starter and solenoid. I have also replaced the ignition switch and added a block to firewall ground strap. It has a fully charged battery. About 1 time out or 10 it will start but most of the time it will not turn over. Little help before I go crazy. Thanks
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Do you have a volt meter? Check for voltage at the small wire on the starter should have 12 volts while cranking. Check voltage at battery when trying to start. If it is 12 volts then check the voltage at the positive terminal on the starter while cranking. If it is low do a voltage drop test on the cables. Put one of the voltmeter leads on the positive cable at the battery the other lead on the positive terminal at the starter crank it and read the voltage. This will show the voltage you are losing through the cable. The reading should be under .5 volts. Repeat for the negative cable battery to engine block.
 
Nothing going to solenoid, went ahead and replaced the battery and cleaned all connections. Still nothing. Going to replace clutch safety switch even though it has been bypassed. Thanks
 
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X2 on ignition switch actuator pin. It is a separate mechanism than the ignition switch you already replaced
 
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