Starter dead (or too slow) list, in order of easy to hard, (lacking tools is whole other longer list of tests)
- lugs loose or rusty battery 4 ends, all 4 ends on tight, and the ground cable not to the wrong place, ever..
- Battery cables this old love to be bad, mine were a wreck day one and fully replaced all the bad wires. there. (and PDC main (green mine is now)
- battery load tested good ( it did) we find later.
- battery voltage drop not too low, 11vdc is min cranking. I can not hear it crank so can be more savvy.
- (our only clue is the word single click) told later. so swap relays. (the starter relay clicks too as does the solenoid) one drowns out the other sure.
- the starter can be hot wired In situ. in place, parked , chocked tires, tranny in N or P, 4wd in N if wiser, 1 man test. under car jumper big lug to tiny lung on starter, and the starter spins fast or is dead. engine cranks fast or not. (this test is KEYS IN POCKET ONLY !)
- if starter works well leave it alone, if not proceed to next steps. ( just saved you 3 hours labor and $150 just this one test)
- hand turn the engine, if seized find out why, if bad starter /ring gear jam is suspected remove the starter and hand turn the engine now, ok now?
- If seized starter off, well , chain cam failures? if not not seized starter on or off. then next. up? in fact now , jumped starter works ,jumped in situ.
- if all the above tests pass. then use a voltmeter to the key switch make sure it does 12vdc cranked or test this pin at the starter relay for easy access.
- the starter relay output must be 12vdc cranked or 11v if it does crank. 0v is bad relay bad ignition switch.
- the starter relay can be hot wire, relay remove and horn relay is the spare. the pins to jump are below. This test can be the most easy standing up.
- did i get them all, and as you see a dead starter is not always a bad starter.
hand turning and engine means at the huge damper pulley nut. Turned CW. only.
using deep socket 1/2" breaker bar.
own and use a $15 DMM meter, use volts mode. the meter can find all BAD spec. voltage drops on a cars wiring ,(0.50vd is max on wires (generic)
The battery drops from12.6v to 11v cranking. at the battery and at the starter too.
do no connect the battery neg lug end (far) to the body for frame ever,(yes seen this endless) but must be to the engine block or to one of the starter bolts as seen on other cars mostly. or show where yours are, with photos.
both hot wires and ground wires can fail, and are equal in bad effects.
the cables drops must not show over 1/2 a volt.
with tests we find the truth save driving all over town for parts that do not fit this jeep.
Most failures on old cars. electric are simply bad voltage drops on bad wiring and bad rusty connections., and easy to fix. with tools.
Even walmart sells a battery cable kit.
seen battery cables where the acid there is sucked up the cable deep and skinned back the copper is a huge mess of green copper oxide.
these are useless. and invisible until skinned.<<< new cars the batteries don't leak acid ,so is less common, the Battery makers cured this. with lead case seals unlike any battery made for 100 years. (love em I do) The old cables, well, replace them if green is seen.
bellow is the 2 hot wire tests. that save most folks from going broke guessing, sorry if yes.
the MT car is the most simple, is it?
just 2 tests and the results told here, gets you 1 more test or 2, to end the saga.
the key switch can be tested at relay lug 26. relay.
Pin 27 dead, F4 is blown. just 50cent fuse fixes it. (if starter solenoid not shorted that is wires to same)