No start after reassembly, is it the starter motor?

kincaid.0678

kincaid.0678

Creates new curse words when working on my Jeep
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Hey guys I’ve been trying to get my 97 2.5 to start after reassembling the motor. The solenoid got hot to the touch after hooking up the battery cables. I didn’t realize it for a few minutes while I was trying to start the Jeep. I took it off and made sure it was functional by directly hooking it to the battery but the motor of the starter won’t engage. Is my starter motor bad? Worked fine before I put a new solenoid on it.
 

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Also when I was taking it off the starter motor was still connected and bumped the frame causing it to engage the starter. Would that fuck it up? It was only for a second until I realized what was going on but I suppose it could have adverse effects.
 
ranger101 said:
Hows the charge on the battery? Why was the solenoid hot if you weren’t cycling the key?
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It’s at 12.58 Volts. I’m not sure why it was hot. That’s what I’m trying to figure out. Lol it got hot enough to change the color of the spring inside the solenoid and melted a little bit of plastic inside it.
 
I pulled the starter apart and cleaned it up. It’s definitely worn but it worked before I removed it. The only thing different about it is the solenoid. The old solenoid broke when I removed the nuts from the terminals

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Can the solenoid be hooked up backwards? I’d replace the solenoid and possibly starter too unfortunately. I have my old one in the garage if you’d like it for testing purposes. It worked fine when removed, just the OEM from ‘99.
 
ranger101 said:
Can the solenoid be hooked up backwards? I’d replace the solenoid and possibly starter too unfortunately. I have my old one in the garage if you’d like it for testing purposes. It worked fine when removed, just the OEM from ‘99.
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That’s what I thought maybe I had it backwards so I did some research and from what I read the two main lugs are interchangeable. One is for the power from the battery, the other is just tied to the starter motor. The small lug on the top is the control/ signal wire from the starter relay which gets power when the key is cranked. I’ve ran out of time for today so I’ll get back at it tomorrow. I’ll do some more research tonight at work when I get some free time
 
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The pictures you posted are before you worked on the starter ?
Not sure what the surface of the slip ring looks like where the brushes contact.
The internal components of that starter are in serious need of cleaning.
The wiring going to the brush at 4 o'clock is melted showing bare copper wire; this arcing to ground could have caused the heat you felt.
 
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CharlesHS said:
The pictures you posted are before you worked on the starter ?
Not sure what the surface of the slip ring looks like where the brushes contact.
The internal components of that starter are in serious need of cleaning.
The wiring going to the brush at 4 o'clock is melted showing bare copper wire; this arcing to ground could have caused the heat you felt.
Click to expand...

I ordered a new starter to be delivered tomorrow. I did some experimenting. If I hook a ground wire from the casing on the starter to the frame with the wires hooked up as they should be the ground wire will arc. I think it’s fucked. Hopefully the new starter will fix my issue.
 
So the starter was fucked. New starter cranked up the engine on the first try. Unfortunately the engine only ran for about 10 seconds then it died with a screech or a squeal and now it won’t do anything but crank. I’m going to look at it a little this weekend but I have no clue at this point. I’ll have to break out the multi meter and check wiring and fuses and make sure I’m getting fuel and spark. The cranking does seem a bit slow but the engine does turn over so I’m not sure at this point.
 
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