striperman36 wrote:
Starter motor spins when I jump the solenoid but does not engage with the engine
The fact that the starter spins when you jump the solenoid means that your basic problem is that you are not getting power to the solenoid under normal conditions....that is the problem you need to trace....I doubt it is the starter motor!
This type of starter motor uses a lever in the solenoid that pulls out a gear to engage the flywheel or TC. At this point the solenoid makes a large contact which supplies 12 volts to the starter motor to turn it. This is not the type of starter motor that has an inertia gear that flies out to engage the flywheel as the starter turns...this is the type of starter system that Bendix invented. So if the starter motor is spinning but not engaging then it is probably the solenoid but I still believe your fault is in getting power to the solenoid in the first case.!

Edit to add: I think you probably jumpered the wrong connections on your solenoid together; you probably jumpered the +12 volts thick cable from the battery direct onto the starter motor and bypassed the solenoid completely so of course the motor will run without engaging! I tried to see the connections on my 2002 2.5 CRD but they are a bit difficult to get to without getting dirty all over.
