Hello fellow members,
I had a perplexing problem with intermittent cranking for months. I thought it might be the ignition switch but every time I turned the key it may not have cranked but made some kind of muffled noise so I thought the switch was okay. I cleaned up all the grounds (about five of them) and starter contacts. I noted that after pounding the clutch pedal about twenty times it would crank, so I suspected the clutch safety switch. Further research for my (1998 TJ only) you can bypass that switch by simply moving the 10 amp fuse from the 19 position to the 20 position which bypasses the clutch switch. Any other year models has a simple harness (factory installed) bypass method. I never had a problem after this procedure and it cranks every time. The main thing to remember is it will now crank no matter what gear it is in and it is imperative to develop a habit to always depress the clutch every time before turning the key. I hope this is helpful to some who have been plagued with this problem.
Pocojo
I had a perplexing problem with intermittent cranking for months. I thought it might be the ignition switch but every time I turned the key it may not have cranked but made some kind of muffled noise so I thought the switch was okay. I cleaned up all the grounds (about five of them) and starter contacts. I noted that after pounding the clutch pedal about twenty times it would crank, so I suspected the clutch safety switch. Further research for my (1998 TJ only) you can bypass that switch by simply moving the 10 amp fuse from the 19 position to the 20 position which bypasses the clutch switch. Any other year models has a simple harness (factory installed) bypass method. I never had a problem after this procedure and it cranks every time. The main thing to remember is it will now crank no matter what gear it is in and it is imperative to develop a habit to always depress the clutch every time before turning the key. I hope this is helpful to some who have been plagued with this problem.
Pocojo