What is a starter?
The starter is a small motor, powered by a battery. It gets the engine of your car running. A starter relay sits between the battery and the starter motor, transmitting power. Without a properly working starter relay and motor, you won’t be able to even back out of a parking space without a jumpstart or tow.
What are common bad starter symptoms?
Something sounds off
One of the symptoms of a bad starter is a clicking noise when you turn the key or push the start button. However, a starter can die without making any sound at all, or it may announce its impending death with whirring and grinding noise—so listen up!
You’ve got lights but no action.
If you try to start the engine only to find that the dashboard lights up, but the engine doesn’t power up, you might have a problem with the starter.
Your engine won’t crank.
Is your engine not revving up, even after attempting a jumpstart? At this point, it’s time to call roadside assistance and get your car to the nearest Firestone Complete Auto Care. If a jumpstart won’t fire up your engine, nothing other than a certified technician will!
Smoke is coming from your car.
The starter is part of your car’s electrical system and subject to blown fuses and short circuits. When you’ve been desperately attempting to start your car, the starter can overheat making electrical issues—and the accompanying smoke—more likely. If you see or smell smoke, call for help rather than turning the key harder, again!
Oil has soaked the starter.
Your starter can usually be found on the driver’s side of the motor, just below the left bank of cylinders. If you pop the hood only to find that your starter is drenched in engine oil, your bad starter might be a sign of another problem—an oil leak. Unfortunately, what starts out as a few drops of oil can slowly and sometimes unnoticeably turn into an expensive problem, so keep an eye out for oil leaks to avoid starter issues of this nature.
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How do you troubleshoot starter problems?
Assuming you’ve already tried to start and jumpstart your car, try one of the following troubleshooting tips.
Look under the hood
Check the battery and battery cables to see whether everything’s in working order. A weak or dead battery, or even faulty battery cables, could be causing the problems with your car, not the starter.
Tap the starter
Try lightly tapping the starter a few times with a hard object, making sure not to pound it. In some cases, this gentle tapping can help power it back up, since you’ll be tapping the electrical components back in contact with each other. Know how you can sometimes bang on the side of an old TV to bring the picture back into focus? It’s kind of like that. But like your wonky television, your car may only react to this fix temporarily—just long enough to get you to your nearest service center.
Adjust the transmission
Let’s say your car’s automatic transmission is in the “park” setting but the car won’t start. If that’s the case, try starting the car in “neutral.” If it starts in “neutral,” there may be a technical glitch that’s preventing the car from starting in “park,” like a faulty neutral safety switch.
Check the fuel gauge
We know it seems silly but…is your gas tank empty? That’s a sure reason why your car isn’t starting!
Now that you have learned to identify the causes and problems that can damage your Wrangler’s engine, we can move forward with the removal and installation process:
Jeep Wrangler Starter Removal
- Disconnect and isolate the negative battery cable.
- Raise and support the vehicle.
- Disconnect the starter solenoid electrical connector (1) from the starter solenoid terminal.
- Remove the battery cable nut and battery cable from the solenoid stud (2).
- Remove the starter mounting bolts (4).
- Remove the starter assembly (3) from the transmission.
Jeep Wrangler 3.6L Starter Replacement Installation
- Position the starter (3) inside the transmission.
- Install the starter mounting bolts (4) and tighten to 55 Nm (41 ft lbs.)
- Connect the starter solenoid electrical connector (1) to the starter terminal.
- Install the battery cable and nut to the solenoid stud (2). Tighten the nut to 11 Nm (97 in lbs.).
- Connect the negative battery cable and tighten the nut to 5 Nm (4.5 in lbs).
If you would rather skip the DIY route, our mobile starter replacement service comes to you anywhere in the Davie area. Call (954) 826-5523 and we will get your Wrangler starting again.
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