CJ: CJ7 won't start

[nutJobLimey]

OK Noob here so have some fun if you like. A dad working with his son so we can both learn a little about life.

So I decide to replace the worn out dash from my newly acquired '85 CJ7 Laredo. Prior to doing this it started fine. Now when I turn the ignition I see the 4x4 light come on briefly, I hear a click but no fire. Dash, side and headlights all function as you would expect.

Already checked the battery which has 600 cold cranking amps and plenty of charge (about 12.4volts across the terminal)

Can't think that anything I did behind the dash would have wrecked the solenoid and while it could be the starter motor, there was nothing previously that gave me any suspicion it was failing.

Looks like all the emissions has been deactivated when I look under the hood so wiring diagrams are only partially useful.

So what plainly obvious thing have I missed? I'm thinking it is one wire behind the dash (there were several just disconnected prior to dash removal) and I replaced mechanical temp and oil pressure gauges with electrical ones but can't see how that would affected it.

Any help would be appreciated.

[RAT]

OK Noob here so have some fun if you like. A dad working with his son so we can both learn a little about life.

So I decide to replace the worn out dash from my newly acquired '85 CJ7 Laredo. Prior to doing this it started fine. Now when I turn the ignition I see the 4x4 light come on briefly, I hear a click but no fire. Dash, side and headlights all function as you would expect.

Already checked the battery which has 600 cold cranking amps and plenty of charge (about 12.4volts across the terminal)

Can't think that anything I did behind the dash would have wrecked the solenoid and while it could be the starter motor, there was nothing previously that gave me any suspicion it was failing.

Looks like all the emissions has been deactivated when I look under the hood so wiring diagrams are only partially useful.

So what plainly obvious thing have I missed? I'm thinking it is one wire behind the dash (there were several just disconnected prior to dash removal) and I replaced mechanical temp and oil pressure gauges with electrical ones but can't see how that would affected it.

Any help would be appreciated.

Could possibly be a short. Maybe you pinched a wire or two when re-installing the dash.

[nutJobLimey]

Thanks

Could possibly be a short. Maybe you pinched a wire or two when re-installing the dash.

Hey Rat, thanks for the answer. I guess this forum has strong telepathy skills because I've just come up from the garage having solved the problem. It could have been a pinch as well. Amazing how much retrofitting can occur in 30 years

The hot wire to/from the coil needs to go via the Tach to/from the ignition which was not on the main wiring diagram but on an accessories sheet. Not quite logical (to me) to connect a red wire to a red w/tr but there you go.

I have been really happy with the various forums out there for CJ's. Uncommon to many forums, you can get 6 or 7 posts down and still find people are kind to each other.

Not regretting getting the old girl, not one bit.

Cheers

[RAT]

So it's running now! Great! Always a good feeling. There is a wealth of knowledge here on MJR. We're a bunch of nutjobs but... you're familiar with that concept.

[6spdYJ]

The wire colors do all kinds of goofy changes once factory connectors are involved. Part of it comes from OEMs using what is on-hand to build according to spec's. Part of it is due to using old stock for a new model year and just having the connectors match. The best thing to have is a year specific diagram that shows gauge and color per wire.
You will have a hard time finding someone here who likes to poke fun at noobs. Especially a dad working with his son. Congratulations and welcome.
Good call Kurt

[daniel_buck]

Glad you got it running!

Oh, and welcome! And post up a photo of the jeep :-D

[nutJobLimey]

Here's the CJ7 prior to any work being done on it.



The original color was burgundy and our plan is a Stainless dash, fix rust holes (minor) and RhinoLine, charcoal carpet and black trim inside. Clean up the exterior white color with black fenders, bumpers, mirrors etc. New BestTop cloth seats in front, probably will keep this a 2-seater vehicle to reduce liability. Probably will be a fair weather vehicle but it did come with a black fiberglass top. The stainless running bars on the side are welded on, so probably easier to keep them and blend them into the stainless dash. It has full doors one of which was really badly damaged and equally badly bondo repaired. Trying to decide the best move there.

Not sure what I think about the Chrome F150/Bronco wheels, only have 4 and struggling to find a 5th but haven't looked too hard yet. Clearly we are tricking this out rather than restoring it. Probably some of the bigger decisions will come after pressure testing and leak fixing and we know whether or not we have an engine that can run for a while or not.

Under the hood, we'll probably change everything out as we clean it up. Already put in blue aluminum Valve cover. There was nothing more than a sponge filter over the bbd2 carb and so trying to decide if I do the little chrome air filter or go back to big black pacer air filter. All emissions seem to be disconnected and in Georgia where we don't have to do emissions on this age vehicle, so probably will not go back. However as we did the dash we decided to leave the ECU in just in case.

So it's kind of the perfect project vehicle (now it runs again) because we can do lots of things to it but still enjoy it as well.

All input is welcome.

[1 Bad F N Z]

Looks like a nice little rig. Enjoy.

[USMC 0369]

[COLOR="#800000"]Are your wheels 4x4.5 or 5x5.5? I may have a spare laying around for free (you just pay cost of shipping.)[/COLOR]

[daniel_buck]

CJs are 5x5.5


Looks like a nice jeep project! And you are right, the funnest projects are the ones that you can drive around too

[dirtman13]

CJs are 5x5.5

My CJ isn't.

Nice CJ by the way and welcome to MJR.

[daniel_buck]

My CJ isn't.

And you call that pile a CJ! :geek: haha

[nutJobLimey]

Hey USMC, thanks. Maybe you could PM me a picture so I can check it looks the same and we'll work out the details? no hurry...plenty of other things to do