It really gets old after a while

[TJ4Jim]

Been finishing up reassembly after getting painted and was at a point yesterday to see if she would crank up after 2 plus years. I went ahead and drained the tank of the old gas and primed the pump until about a quart of fuel ran thru the fuel rail also new battery and changed the oil and plugs. Hopped in, stepped on the clutch and zippo, zero, nada response from the key. Went back this morning and rechecked all my work then ran a jumper directly to the starter solenoid from the battery and nothing happened, took my meter and clipped onto the solenoid trigger and low and behold there's 12v when turning the key so ok we've got a dead solenoid. Pulled the starter and set up for a bench test and the fu@ker worked fine so now it's a wtf moment, so I dropped it back in place and she started up almost instantly.

This stupid stuff just get old....

 

[BlueC]

That Jeep is getting old. I bet you don't just jump up and start running after sleepy time either. Pops and creaks, and things not working like they used to.

 

[AndyG]

One time someone said on here “ the more things are used the better they work…”

The truth.

I actually let my son drive my black LJ R to work for several reasons but one of them was self-serving. It just kills a vehicle to sit a lot.


All that said, I understand the frustration and I’ve had a few points where I wanted to push one of these off a cliff.

One thing that helps me keep perspective is going by any automotive repair shop and seeing all the four doors and every other vehicle on earth needing work.

Given the complexity of the average automobile, we live in an incredibly amazing age as far as reliability goes.

 

[JMT]

This stupid stuff just get old....

Boy if that is not the truth. It’s almost par for the course things will happen just as you described them.


When I finished the transmission swap I turned the key over to click. Went over a few things. Click.

Checked battery cable. Tightened a bit. Started right up.

 

[Chris]

The good news is that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Once you're all done with this project your TJ will look good as new and presumably won't need anything major for the rest of your life.

 

[JMT]

The one day that killed me was when I changed my plugs. So simple. Nothing weird. Get in after and turn it over. Nada, nothing, zilch.

Battery 12v. Starter had 12v. ???

Turned out the actuator was broke. What are the odds???

 

[Moglocker]

Been finishing up reassembly after getting painted and was at a point yesterday to see if she would crank up after 2 plus years. I went ahead and drained the tank of the old gas and primed the pump until about a quart of fuel ran thru the fuel rail also new battery and changed the oil and plugs. Hopped in, stepped on the clutch and zippo, zero, nada response from the key. Went back this morning and rechecked all my work then ran a jumper directly to the starter solenoid from the battery and nothing happened, took my meter and clipped onto the solenoid trigger and low and behold there's 12v when turning the key so ok we've got a dead solenoid. Pulled the starter and set up for a bench test and the fu@ker worked fine so now it's a wtf moment, so I dropped it back in place and she started up almost instantly.

This stupid stuff just get old....

The hammer trick,I bet you have a bad starter,or u unstuck it and it will be fine.

 

[TJ4Jim]

The good news is that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Once you're all done with this project your TJ will look good as new and presumably won't need anything major for the rest of your life.

I was totally anal this time even did new nutserts for the flairs and used anyi-sieze. My kids can deal with it 20 years from now, lol.

 

[Chris]

I was totally anal this time even did new nutserts for the flairs and used anyi-sieze. My kids can deal with it 20 years from now, lol.

I'm sure they'll appreciate it. Get it in tip-top shape and then you shouldn't have to worry about anything major again, at least in your lifetime.

 

[TJ4Jim]

The hammer trick,I bet you have a bad starter,or u unstuck it and it will be fine.

I smacked it a few times in anger.

 

[AndyG]

The good news is that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Once you're all done with this project your TJ will look good as new and presumably won't need anything major for the rest of your life.

As Chris hit the crackpipe he decided one more post was a good idea……

 

[Moglocker]

I smacked it a few times in anger.

My dads grand Cherokee did this last month,test light lit up at the starter but wouldn’t crank,grabbed the hammer out of the tj and it fired right up,so off to O’Reilly we went.

 

[Camdenst]

One time someone said on here “ the more things are used the better they work…”

The truth.

Same with the body too, arguably even more so as are parts aren’t replaceable haha.