No start,radio,turn lights,ect.. only head lampd and running lights work

[kingdolan]

1990 Jeep GW 360
This is a mystery to me. New battery full charge 12+ volts. Only the head lamps and running lights work, also tailgate works with key. Starter does not engage, not even a click. And nothing else seems to be working either from radio, wipers, turn lights, fan blower for heater nothing. I can crawl under jeep and make starter turn engine over with a screwdriver, but no spark to plugs or coil.
I just put the heater core back in after I removed it to replace the passenger side exhaust manifold, it had a hole the size of a tennis ball hid behind the heat shield, 2 broke bolts closest to firewall had to be drilled out.
Took it out for a test drive to check for leaks in heater core, I had already cranked it and warmed it up 40 minutes prior to test drive. drove about 7 miles or so and was stopping at supermarket any way. Just as I was pulling in parking lot it died and had to call a tow truck to get it home.

Could this be the ' Ignition Starter Relay ' gone bad? if so what is the best way to test/check it to know for sure?

Look forward to hear how easy a fix it is or not from the tech experts.

[Tripwire]

check your fusable links near the battery

[nograin]

If it dies on the way in then its not the starter relay or solenoid. IIRC 1990 has a chrysler type relay that in turn trips the Ford type starter solenoid.

Died while running is either going to be fuel or ignition. You'll have to look for clues. The suggestion to check for burned fusible link is reasonable. 1986 up had seperate link on each circuit. 1990 the links will be near that starter relay.

If you dont have a service manual, for a diagram go here;http://oljeep.com/gw/elec/GW_wiring-1990.html
Open and copy/print ignition schematic, and wiring diagram 8W-page 5 "starter system" for the fusible links.
The short wires labelled 10 then 18 gage Green or 14 gage Brown are fusible links.

Other possibilities.
Did it run out of fuel? Seriously. I've had the rubber hose connecting to the fuel pump go south. The pump is then sucking on air.
Things like that.
I like to narrow it down if there is nothing obvious. So I check for fuel in the bowl, and spark after a quick looksee for anything obvious. If both those check out, then pull spark plug looking for a clue. Just keeping it methodical and logical.

[babywag]

No crank and just a few things working screams fusible links.
Be sure to make sure no wires shorted to ground.
Common cause is harness falling onto exhaust manifold on the passenger side.

[Mass]

Might also check your ignition switch on the steering column. Mine had a melted terminal and a burned contact so it would only engage the starter after a key cycling marathon. The other problem was no radio or cig lighter power 50% of the time. Both problems went away with a new ignition switch.

[PBG928]

Check ground wire on drivers wheel well as this is main ground for most circuits. One black wire with ring terminal next to washer tank.

[kingdolan]

UP-date

First of all, I would like to say Thanks to who ever put this forum together and a special Thanks to all who posted suggestions on what to look for.

Turns out it was a fusible link. Well you can replace the fusible link or even use a but-connector to put it back together, but what needs to be done is to discover what caused the fusible link to fail.

I had a short in the wiring harness that runs across the whole length of the value cover on passenger side. Same side that had a base ball size hole in the exhaust manifold, which caused a small fire and melted the insulation on about half the wires. I cut out the ones that were damaged and soldered in anywhere from 6 to 12 inch pieces as needed or so I thought. But I missed one and that is the culprit that cause the fusible link to fail.

I start in to fix the bad wire when I had an after thought. I wanted to move the wiring harness off the top of engine and ended up redoing everything I did before. Now wires are off the top of engine and everything back together.

I cranked it up last night and boy oh boy did she sound good. Today I took it for drive to run some errands and she died on me, but was able to coast to a shady spot to look for clues. After being parked in the shade for some time, checked to see if there was spark to coil and plugs yes got spark. I did this cause she would turn over just fine but would not hit. She finally started and went straight home, about 4 miles. I will be looking for clues tomorrow and post what I find as time permits.

[acct21]

THAT sounds like a bad ignition module. Random stalling, then restarts after some time -- is commonly a bad ICM.

[babywag]

Coils can do the same. If it stalls again check for spark immediately.
Feel the module, it should be warm but not untouchable hot.
If it's an aftermarket module most are poor quality and have a very high failure rate.

[jpcoutts]

My first thing to do in similar situations is clean the battery terminal connections (posts) and all other connections in the starting/ignition circuit. It seems to be a constant need on nearly every FSJ (CJ's too!) I've ever had. All older Jeeps and other older vehicles I suppose have this issue.

[67GMC]

I'll vote for bad ignition module...

[kingdolan]

well it seemed everything was fine until a month age when I could not get it started, to shorten update, this is what i found to be the problem.
{Distributor Pick-Up Sensor} wires coming/going to distributor to wiring harness were rotten/insulation cracked/wires green-corroded. So now I will be searching the forum for post on how to replace the "Distributor Pick-Up Sensor"

[Brynjminjones]

I had that problem on my Ford F100 (uses a very similar ignition system). It stuttered then died on me one day, and wouldn't restart. I thought I'd run out of gas!

Replacing the pickup sensor is a pretty easy job, you just have to take the top of the distributor apart (can be done without removing the whole thing).

I replaced mine with a new pickup, but it had really strange problems afterwards. In the end I found a used original pickup and that did the trick.

[tgreese]

well it seemed everything was fine until a month age when I could not get it started, to shorten update, this is what i found to be the problem.
{Distributor Pick-Up Sensor} wires coming/going to distributor to wiring harness were rotten/insulation cracked/wires green-corroded. So now I will be searching the forum for post on how to replace the "Distributor Pick-Up Sensor"

The plastic connector on these often falls apart. Corrosion is a common issue too.

You need to take the distributor apart to replace the sensor. It's an easily found service part. Do you have the TSM for your year? Distributor comes out to do this. Both distributor removal and sensor replacement is covered. You will need a small puller to remove the trigger wheel, and the sensor is underneath. Check the TSM - well covered there.

[kingdolan]

Oh my <> tgreese , man you sure hid the nail square on the head and sunk it below the surface. There was so much green crud/corrosion gluing the connectors/plugs together it was impossible to pull them apart without them disintegrating. Now I need to find that wire harness side of the connector/plug. Anyone with an idea where to find the connector/plug ?
Or if push comes to shove, I could use a different type 3 prong plug