All - this evening after work I had a strange "no start" happen to me. I went out as usual, hopped in, and tried to turn 'er over and - no start.
BTW - I checked these threads, and they don't seem to cover what I experienced:
https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/starting-issues-98-tj.6064/
https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/jeep-wrangler-tj-wont-start-read-this.1201/
My dashboard lit up properly, my A/C blower came on - everything looked normal - except the starter wasn't cranking. I was sitting there contemplating my options, because my first thought was maybe the battery somehow lost its charge (I've noticed how easy it is to leave the TJ in accessory mode, and I try not to do that, and I was pretty sure that wasn't the case this morning - but, well, you know). I had jumper cables, but nobody was around to give me a jump.
Just then a coworker popped out the door, and asked if I needed help - I explained the situation to him, and we got to work - so to speak. We first tried jump starting the TJ, but every time, no starter turning over. I looked at the fuses, swapped the 40A one around with another, same deal. Tried the same with the starter relay, same deal. I had my coworker try starting it while I listened to the relay. I could hear a relay click, but I couldn't hear anything from the starter.
I had him bump the horn (I swapped the horn and starter relay because they seemed like the same part - same terminals, same numbers) - it worked - so I knew the relay wasn't the issue. And we were pretty certain it wasn't a fuse, because the swap worked and the relay was clicking.
I had him turn on the lights and try cranking it over - the lights didn't dim one iota. So the starter wasn't even being activated in any way (I'd expect the lights to flicker or dim slightly - not sure if this is true). Couldn't hear a solenoid on the starter click or anything else. So I figured I would make sure that the relay I was hearing was the starter relay. I put my finger on it, and had my coworker try starting again.
Now - here's where it gets strange. I hear some movement, like levers being moved around. Then he tries it, and I feel a click - but nothing. Some more movement of "levers" - then he tried it again, I feel the click - and she starts right up and runs fine!
I ask him what he did - and told him what I did: He said he took off the parking brake (I always set it - a habit of mine in all my vehicles) and also pulled the shift levers back and forth (both the regular shift lever for the transmission, and for the 4WD).
As far as I can recall, I did not do anything different than what I normally do when I start my Jeep. I've had it for a couple of months now, it isn't anything too new to me. When I park, I put it in park, and set the parking brake. When I get in, I put my foot on the brake, crank it over, then release the parking brake, shift it to drive, and go on. Never had a problem before.
So here's my question: Does the TJ - on either the parking brake, the shifter, or the 4WD shifter - have any kind of safety interlock switches (and if so, where are they)? I'm figuring that if it does, that maybe one of those (or maybe the brake switch?) is possibly bad, and should be replaced. If not, then what could have caused my problem? Is there anything else I should look at as possibilities?
Thank you.
BTW - I checked these threads, and they don't seem to cover what I experienced:
https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/starting-issues-98-tj.6064/
https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/jeep-wrangler-tj-wont-start-read-this.1201/
My dashboard lit up properly, my A/C blower came on - everything looked normal - except the starter wasn't cranking. I was sitting there contemplating my options, because my first thought was maybe the battery somehow lost its charge (I've noticed how easy it is to leave the TJ in accessory mode, and I try not to do that, and I was pretty sure that wasn't the case this morning - but, well, you know). I had jumper cables, but nobody was around to give me a jump.
Just then a coworker popped out the door, and asked if I needed help - I explained the situation to him, and we got to work - so to speak. We first tried jump starting the TJ, but every time, no starter turning over. I looked at the fuses, swapped the 40A one around with another, same deal. Tried the same with the starter relay, same deal. I had my coworker try starting it while I listened to the relay. I could hear a relay click, but I couldn't hear anything from the starter.
I had him bump the horn (I swapped the horn and starter relay because they seemed like the same part - same terminals, same numbers) - it worked - so I knew the relay wasn't the issue. And we were pretty certain it wasn't a fuse, because the swap worked and the relay was clicking.
I had him turn on the lights and try cranking it over - the lights didn't dim one iota. So the starter wasn't even being activated in any way (I'd expect the lights to flicker or dim slightly - not sure if this is true). Couldn't hear a solenoid on the starter click or anything else. So I figured I would make sure that the relay I was hearing was the starter relay. I put my finger on it, and had my coworker try starting again.
Now - here's where it gets strange. I hear some movement, like levers being moved around. Then he tries it, and I feel a click - but nothing. Some more movement of "levers" - then he tried it again, I feel the click - and she starts right up and runs fine!
I ask him what he did - and told him what I did: He said he took off the parking brake (I always set it - a habit of mine in all my vehicles) and also pulled the shift levers back and forth (both the regular shift lever for the transmission, and for the 4WD).
As far as I can recall, I did not do anything different than what I normally do when I start my Jeep. I've had it for a couple of months now, it isn't anything too new to me. When I park, I put it in park, and set the parking brake. When I get in, I put my foot on the brake, crank it over, then release the parking brake, shift it to drive, and go on. Never had a problem before.
So here's my question: Does the TJ - on either the parking brake, the shifter, or the 4WD shifter - have any kind of safety interlock switches (and if so, where are they)? I'm figuring that if it does, that maybe one of those (or maybe the brake switch?) is possibly bad, and should be replaced. If not, then what could have caused my problem? Is there anything else I should look at as possibilities?
Thank you.
