91 jeep cherokee 4wd 5 sp, 6 cyl wont start

[matcee]

91 jeep cherokee larado, 4wd, 6 cyl, acted like it had solenoid problem, had to tap it to start, three days later, tapping wouldnt work anymore, put in new solenoid, brother in law put it in backwards, heated it up, finally turned it around worked for a week.
then no more. bought brand new solenoid and put it in, not even a click, every so often it will try to start makes a sound like dead battery, rest of the time not even a click, still have lights, battery acting like dead cell now, 8 volts while dead, 9+ while running. tried other batteries after making sure full charge no click no nothing, replaced starter relay, and positive battery cable, still nothing. Any ideas? possible fusible link? starts when i pop the clutch and that is all, wont even start with a jump. Im at my wits end i need this car for work and will not even be able to use it, dont know how else i will get there at this point.

[Saudade]

Check the battery ground. If you jump the car again, connect the ground cable directly to the engine block (not the - terminal).

[matcee]

battery is grounded both to the block and to the firewall. thing is it still wont start, wont even click and the battery has a full charge. but if i pop the clutch she starts and runs just fine,

[Saudade]

Sorry, what I meant was to remove them and ensure the contact surfaces (cable and block/body) are clean. Make sure the cables themselves are not corroded.

When it makes a sound like a "dead battery", what sound is that, if you don't hear the solendoid click?

You can "jump" the starter at the solenoid. Just use a small jumper wire to connect the small terminal on the solenoid directly to the + terminal of the battery. This will energize the solenoid and should allow the starter to crank. Do not connect it to the either of the larger ones. These are for the starter circuit (bad things will happen). If you get it cranking, then it may be your ign switch or a bad wire somewhere.

Also you can take a heavy cable, like your regular jumper cable or even a screwdriver and place it across both of the big terminals (complete the circuit). This will bypass the solenoid and should allow the starter to crank. Be carefull you don't touch the casing or other structure (you'll get a lot of sparks).

There is also a relay in the engine compartment. It could be bad too. You should be able to switch it with one next to it.

[matcee]

Thankyou ill try that in the morning, do I keep the wires hooked up (the ones to energize the solenoid?)

[89ltd]

the starter itself my need replacing, when they go bad they draw a lot of amperage.

[NJPagan]

Very often a hammer bump to a DC motor (an automotive starter motor) will restore operation (once, maybe twice) because you're restoring brush (the carbon brushes inside the motor) contact to the armature. Try a continuity test through the motor. If it's open (no continuity) you might have cooked the winding in it or it may be as simple as servicing the armature and replacing the brushes.

[Saudade]

Try each one separately. Do not leave any jumpers on if you try the screwdriver trick. Only leave on the orignal wires.

Since you did not change out the starter, I'd agree with the other that this is your next likely culprit.

However, I'm a bit concerned over you getting only about 9+ volts when started. Just make sure you're using a full 12 V source (jumped from another car or freshly charged battery).

[matcee]

well turned the key on and the voltage dropped to like six so not only that, last night put jumpers directly to the battery cables itself and nothing, when jumping across solenoid, nothing, so tend to think it might be brushes? other thing is the temp guage jumps all the way over to hot when I key it. after starting it yesterday jumped someone elses battery off of mine worked just fine, no dimming of the lights at any time, so going to take the battery to be tested, how will i tell if it is just the brushes and not the windings?

[89ltd]

why not replace the starter, are you going to try to fix it , windings, brushes, whatever, probably $60 will fix your problem.

[89ltd]

89 cherokee, my temp gauge will go up max when turning over, after starting it drops back down, normal i guess...