Starter Issues And Solenoid Location Question

I am a newborn Early Jeep owner so please bear with me on dumb questions. Just bought a 1967 Jeep CJ5 and turning the key now does nothing. No clicking, nada. Ran out of gas plowing yard (this is currently a yard toy), refilled tank and tried to turn it over. I may have cranked it for too long and then went it completely blank. No Acc, heater, instruments etc. Battery is good. I'm thinking it is either a fried ignition switch or a solenoid issue. 2nd question. I've noticed that some solenoids are mounted on inside fenders and some are directly mounted on starters. Is there any benefit to either location? Was there an original location for these and then PO's just changed them to suit the new starter technology? Thanks for listening and looking forward to some advice from experienced owners.

 

Welcome. Running out of gas usually won't cause an electrical problem. Is your Jeep a V6 or F head?

 

Give the starter a good couple of hits with your favorite hammer. See what happens.

 

Only the lights that I directly hooked up to the battery (rooftop lights) are working. Usually the heater blower would run in ACC but thats not blowing either. Its a Jeep Dauntless V6. I think I may have tried to crank it too long at a given time. Hitting the starter sounds like what my dad did to our tv set in the early 70's but what the heck I'll give it a try. Maybe I'll get channel 56 again.

 

It was running great up until the gas refill and cranking it for too long to get the gas flowing again. I tested battery and it was around 13-14 on the meter. PO just installed new one before I bought it a month ago. Do ignition switches fry or fail? I might try to by pass ignition switch at the solenoid to see if its an ignition switch issue? Is this a recommended test?

 

A dead battery can still supply a full 12V. First thing to do is charge the battery and clean all the cables. Then try it again.

Did the V6 get a Prestolite starter? The 225 in a Buick got a GM starter, and the GM starter solenoid is a common failure and an easily sourced part.

 

Whacking (technical term) the starter with a hammer will usually unstick (technical term) a solenoid plunger or starter drive (Bendix) Several applications (whacks) of the field press (hammer) are sometimes necessary. This is especially true of the GM style starter with integral solenoid. These solenoids' plungers used to have a large copper washer mounted on them which could be reversed to fix this problem. Since we have stopped repairing or rebuilding parts, this is no longer true.

 

this.

 

Great Info. I will check and respond tomorrow.

 

OK so having to admit I'm as dumb as a box of rocks is my 1st step in my 12 step program. I installed a small roof mounted led light bar straight thru the battery without a relay and I think that is what screwed up my electrical system. The overcranking of the ignition probably pushed the electrical system over the edge and now I will have to see what that wrecked. Probably the alternator? Most of what I've ever learned is because I did it wrong the first time.

 

Don't start guessing. Go systematically one step at a time, in a logical order.

Howard is making sense. Check, clean, and tighten all the battery power and ground connections, at both ends.

See if that gives you headlights etc.

If so, see if it cranks. If not, then you can jump the solenoid with a hot wire or jumper cable and see if the starter spins.

One step at a time, starting at the battery.

 

Thanks again. Makes me hopeful that I didn't toast the alternator. I bought a new ignition switch and am in the process of replacing that tonight\tomorrow to see if that works. The ACC circuit mini fuse was partway out of its seat but when I tried to push it back in it broke and now I have to find a replacement 7.5A mini glass fuse. Do you know if these smaller (i think 3AG) size fuses are found in auto parts stores? I've never even seen them until now. I bought a relay harness ($12) and will wire that light up the right way. Dumb not to have known the right way of doing this. I noticed that the battery wire out of the ignition switch is like 6awg wire? Was that really necessary? Seems like overkill for a 12v circuit. Feel free to e-slap me if anything I say or do is just plain ignorant. I'm just trying to learn and this will probably be my project until my death. (or possibly the cause of my death, whichever comes first)

 

Thanks Pete. Will also give that a try.

 

The lower the voltage, the higher the amperage. For the same job, a six-volt circuit requires wire twice as big as twelve-volt, etcetera.