drcomanche

I still have the spacers, sorry it took so long for me to get back again. Seems like a constant back and forth. As for the sender, it's from a Cherokee, so it won't fit the Comanche. Some progress today, which is pretty nice, since I've been all out trying to find out why it won't start. I replaced my battery terminals in the hopes that it would fix my starting problem, but to no avail. Today, I got out and put my new headliner in the truck, and man, does it make a difference. This brings my interior up to 85 percent complete leaving the sound proofing, insulation, carpeting, and the little detail things like b pillar lights(I also wouldn't mind some of the newer seats). I put in some reflective insulation on the roof before I put the headliner up for a little extra. I took off my shelf it unit from the front that had water damage from a poorly installed front window which had ruined the felt like surface it had. I spent an hour or so removing the rest with some denatured alcohol that turned whatever it was to putty. I took it to it's bare metal, which isn't a bad look and matches my steering wheel spokes. I then reinstalled everything and then installed the visors I had put off for a while. My oil pan seal as well as my new rear main are en route, with the addition of some new custom battery cables, so more work will be coming.

Ok, I'm going to list all the symptoms again here to summarize them, including some new information, and hopefully somebody can help me out. New Parts: -Battery -Terminals -Starter Symptoms: -Not enough torque to turn starter and flywheel -Starter only receives 36 amps when I try to start the truck (800cca Battery) -WILL start if it's jumpstarted -WILL also start if I arc the posts at the starter -Battery checks out fine. Amperage and Voltage under load are good. - All primary grounds cleaned and greased -This problem used to only happen when the vehicle was warm after driving a bit Since I can start it with a screwdriver at the starter, I'm not in such a hurry to figure it out anymore, but I would still like to know. I have a set of new battery cables being shipped in that I'll install once they arrive. Till then, any input is helpful.

You can do that yourself with some seafoam, but I can't gaurantee the results. I, personally, would just take of the intake manifold and clean it manually. If you are looking to clean your valves, than you can do the seafoam or take it to the shop. I don't know which would be better.

The IAC is attached to your throttle body. It is a cylindrical piece with 2 torx bit screws holding it in, and a small plug on it. All you really have to do is take it out, spray the end of it with some carb cleaner, and scrub it with a toothbrush until the carbon buildup is gone. Be careful not to push or pull on the piece you are scrubbing. Then reinstall it and see if that solves your problem. If not, then I would look into purchasing a new one. They are fairly cheap. Is yours actually running with a carb setup? Or is it fuel injection? Either way, I would check out the basics first. Does it smoke when you start it? If so, what color is the smoke?

That is high for an idle. Mine is around 650 700 rpm idle. Have you looked into maybe replacing the Idle Air Controller? That can be a direct cause for what you are experiencing. Or even then, have you by chance cleaned the IAC?

from what I've heard, the three main grounds are the fender to the battery, the engine block to that battery, and the engine block to the firewall, all of which are fairly easily accessible.

I've read that it can mean that the grounds are bad, and by jumpstarting it, you are giving it a more reliable ground? Don't know if there is any truth to that or not.

Yeah. Jumpstart works perfectly, but no jump and it doesn't get the torque to turn the flywheel, but not an issue of the battery. It always checks out with voltage and amperage, under load or not.

Battery checked out at the store. My old one read just fine but they gave me a new one anyway, same readings. Still didn't work. I'm positive it isn't the battery.

Battery is brand new, so it's all raw metal. Clamps are also brand new.

Went out and exchanged the battery to get that out of the way and found out something interesting. It can start first try every try if it has the jumper cables hooked up. I can get a jump, and it works fine, but if I try to run off the battery's power, it does the one crank thing, like it isn't getting enough torque to spin the flywheel or overcome the pressure.

I'll try that out. In other news, I have a sound file, but this forum won't accept it, so if someone is willing to listen, I can send it to you.

The engine wasn't terrible, but it also wasn't taken care of like it should have before I received it. It had definitely had a period of old dirty oil staying in the engine, but when I got it, I changed the oil like clockwork. No problems then. Recently, I replaced the valve cover gasket, and when I pulled the valve cover, it had some significant buildup that can be seen in my build thread from the old oil. I scraped and shopvacced to the best of my ability and buttoned it all back down. Ran fine. Had plans to do the oil pan, and then this started becoming apparent that it was a problem. On a slightly unrelated topic, what should the oil pressure gauge be reading when running? I've always felt like mine ran kind of high.

The smell is very potent, but the smoke is black, but not a terrible amount of it. It isn't super rich or anything, just kind of, and I figured thats what made it chug at idle. The injectors shouldn't be leaking since they are new about 6 or 7 months ago and I don't think there is too much pressure in the system. How would I tell?

It did this exact same thing with the old starter as well, so I'm inclined to believe that it isn't the starter in this case, because the likelihood that both would fail in the exact same fashion at essentially the same time isn't very high. And even then, there are times where it turns over perfectly fine and the starter cranks just like it should.

I went to town today taking out the starter and looking around. No damaged teeth or anything of the sort and the gear spun freely by hand. It, once again, won't start, even with the slight movement of the idler pulley. I didn't get a chance to check the voltage at the starter, but still, sometimes it will work, other times it won't. Sometimes the starter tries but definitely gets caught up on something kind of like if it were in gear. And yes, it still does this when in gear. It will pull, get caught up, and then disengage. And then, some other times, it doesn't feel like it jams at all, but just quits after its half revolution. It feels like it is engaging, but not turning off so much as jamming like it's in gear. On a possibly related note, with the engine off, when I put it in gear, any gear really, and try to push it in the direction of the gear its in, it feels jammed and won't roll forwards if I were in first. It won't roll at all like this flywheel jam isn't just affecting my starter. I will continue my delve into insanity, and let you all know if any more symptoms pop up.

New symptom that may pinpoint the cause to someone. I talked to a friend of mine who used to rebuild cars and he said that he was stumped by the symptoms, but his last resort would be the timing. I took a look at the Idler pulley, and with the engine running, it seemed to wobble a bit (which I later found out was not true). So, the next day when it wouldn't start, I grabbed the idler pulley and tried to hand turn it to see if it had slack, and it fell back about a quarter of an inch with fair ease. When I went to start it, it started perfectly, no binding on the starter or anything. So, with this in mind, and it has worked a couple of times now, any more ideas as to whats wrong?

It has started doing this when the engine is cold now. Every time I try to start it. Somebody has to have something here. I've checked and rechecked the wiring, fuses, relays, terminals, everything. I want to say the starter seems to jam for a split second and then disengage.

Yep.

Looked again today to try to get more symptoms. I checked all the wires, connections, fuses, and relays, to make sure. When it does only the half crank kind of thing, it sounds like the starter winds up to go, but catches something that stops it dead in it's tracks and stops to avoid damage. So, to reiterate, it seems to get the flywheel, but the flywheel won't move, or is too tough to move, or something. Keep in mind, this is only speculation based on the sound it makes. Do these starters do that? If there is enough force that it can't proceed with operation, does it stop to prevent damage? And even then, how does this have any correlation to the temperature? I'm on my last rope with this problem. I can't stop anywhere anymore on my way around without it quitting on me. It used to only do this periodically, but now it does it all the time.

Oh, the fuel prime doesn't have anything to do with it, it just guarantees that I have something to ignite in there for the half crank it does, and sometimes it will spring to life on that. Basically, it just makes it so I can start it with just that half a cranks time. Plugs, wires, coil, cap, rotor, all sensors. The whole nine yards was replaced under there. And I did check the grounds and gave them a good sanding for contact. The battery is only about 6 months old, so it would suck if that were the case. It had the voltage check out, but I never checked the amps. And how would the amps relate to the temperature of the vehicle?

Yep. Runs perfectly, it just can't seem to crank over enough to start it. On occasion, if I prime the fuel pump enough times, I can get it to start with that little bit of a crank it gets, so I'm getting something, at least.

It has always seemed to run kind of rich, but as far as coolant goes, the last time that was refilled was about 9 months ago when it was flushed, and it has only lost maybe a quarter inch in the reservoir.

Well, I just replaced that entire assembly, so I think that is out, but for good measure, I'll recheck them.

I replaced the terminals, checked my battery, but still, as soon as it gets hot, it will do this. I'm not even sure I would consider it one crank. It does a kind of half a$$ed attempt at one and stops, like it has some kind of load on the engine when I go to start it. I checked the push rod, but for my truck, there is no switch like that. The rod it cut/broken halfway. If there is supposed to be one, however, there was a worked in switch on the truck for a few wires that, when turned off, will make it so that the truck doesn't start at all, and when on, will turn over just fine.