1969 CJ5 V6 Will not start in gear and hard to start in neutral

Only had the Jeep a few months - will not start in gear and will only start in neutral if I hit a "sweet spot", not just anywhere in neutral. Seems very odd to me for a 1969? - there's no safety switch is there? Tx!

 

I had a 79 cj7, that had a tooth missing on the fly wheel. If that tooth lined up with the starter gear it wouldnt start, I had to turn the engine over by hand a little then hit the key and it would start. Oh, and sometimes it would catch on its own and start. May want to check that, otherwise I dont know. It is turning over when you attemp to start it, right?

 

Clutch disengaging completely? Not sure how that would relate to the "sweet spot" with the trans in neutral. Does putting the T case in neutral help any? If the clutch is hanging, the starter is having to turn the countershaft gear in the trans when in neutral, increasing the starter load, especially if someone filled the trany with something like 140GL.

 

Are you by chance talking about an automatic tranny?

 

hey all thanks for the responses. sorry was a little vague in my orig post... it is a 3 speed manual. does not turn over or click, makes more of a buzzing sound. same buzzing sound if i try and start in gear w clutch out. will only turn over in the "sweet spot" within neutral. by "sweet spot" the shifter has to be in a specific spot within neutral (a little left of dead center). otherwise its buzzing sound and no turn. that includes trying to start in any gear w clutch in. hope this clears it up - i didnt think there was any type of switch on a 69... thanks again!

 

going to try it w the tcase in neutral per duffer's suggestion, i have not tried that yet.

 

That is weird, unless some PO installed a neutral safety switch at some time or another.

 

yeah everyone i talk to seems stumped. i tried putting tcase in neutral but that did not change the behavior. "sweet spot" seems to be if i hold the shifter agains the left hand side (while in neutral) as i turn the key and it turns over. i only traced one black wire anywhere near the transmission - nothing looks like a switch is there. at least it does start even if it won't start in gear.

 

Quite the long shot but just for the heck of it, check engine to frame, engine to battery, frame to body, basically any/all grounds.

 

Not really a long shot. When I went to motorcycle school, the instructor told me 90% of all electrical problems are ground related.

In the many years since, I have seen that, while not 90% is true, more than half is, especially when dealing with old stuff.

The real long shot is if Sweet Tooth is the making the ground that completes the circuit that allows the motor to turn over!

I just put the dash back in my '66 and ran additional grounds from the switches and gauges to a junction block than then runs a wire to the negative battery post. I don't have to worry about paint now or corrosion later.

As Pack Rat says, check 'em all. And by check I mean first try to move them. They should be tight. Then take the connections apart, sand then to bare metal and tighten. Charge your battery and try again. Low voltage can cause strange starting problems also.

 

I agree-I think there's a grounding issue. Make sure the battery negative cable is bolted to the engine, clean & tight. Then make sure you have engine to frame & engine to body ground straps. There should be one to the frame down by the pass side motor mount and one to the body between the back of the engine & the firewall.

 

Wow - this is why I'm on earlycj.com - it was in fact a grounding issue... Thanks for all the responses! New battery and re-checked/fixed the grounds solved the issue. Thanks again!

 

Yay! I finally got one right!