81 CJ-7 Laredo starter

[cooniek9]

I was driving home with no problems with the jeep I thought. I heard a noise from the engine compartment. Long story short, The stater was smoking, battery wires were melting and the Solenoid was sparking. The starter for unknown reasons engaged into the flywheel and would not disengage. I turned the ignition off but it would not turn off. I had to remove the Neg. wire from the battery. I replaced the Starter, both Pos. and Neg. wires, solenoid, Ignition Switch and the wire from the starter to the solenoid. I turned the key and the starter stayed engaged. Could it be the Ignition Cylinder. I seen a starter relay in a book but can not find it. Need help please.

[MagicRat]

Get a test light. Pull off the small wire that goes to the starter terminal on the solenoid. Hook this wire up th the test light. It should light up only when you turn the ignition key to the 'start' position, then switch off when the key is released. If it stays lit all the time, then you need to trace that starter wire back from the solenoid to the relay or steering column.
Make sure the wire is not frayed or bare and is not being shorted out by another wire. Test the relay too, if it exists. (I think it's present in auto - trans CJ's but not on manual trans jeeps..... but I am not sure.

A cheapo fix would be to bypass the existing starter circuit altogether and rig up a push - button for the starter. Lots of owners do this for Jeeps that see serious off-road work as it helps in certain situations.

[cooniek9]

Thanks for the reply. I took your advice and bypassed the existing starter circuit, sloved the problem. Thanks again.

[MagicRat]

Glad to see it worked out. Thank you for the update.