Hunter......Sorry, I guess I did not explain it properly. The solenoid only has power (test light comes on) only when I turn the key to "Start". When key is not turned to "start", the test light does not come on at the solenoid.
Yes, the big positive cable going from the battery to the starter is hot at all times....it was reading 12.6 volts down on the solenoid nut where the battery cable is mounted.

Starter Relay.......based on the Shop Manual, I learned that only the 5 speed manuals have a starter relay, and the Auto tranny does not have it. I even pulled out the radio/lower dash and sure enough, the Relay was missing since this is an Auto.

 

I was thinking about that darn "Reset" button which is located behind the instrument cluster. A few weeks ago I pulled out the dash cluster so I could "Reset" that switch since the "Maintenance Required" light was staying on. Here is a pic of what it looks like on a couple old clusters I have:







It is a little slide switch recessed in the back of the cluster. When I reset this switch I noticed that it did not "bounce" back to the original position, but stayed in the new position after I slid it down with a small screw driver. At the time, I was wondering if I was supposed to slide it back to its original position, or leave it in the new spot. I left it in the new position, and put the cluster assembly back into place. Was this a mistake?

Today I opened the box of the old clusters I had, and tried the same procedure.....I used a screw driver to slide the Reset Switch down, and these also remained in the new position. So, are you supposed to leave them in the new position, or slide it back to the starting position?
The reason I am asking is that I believe this "No Crank/No Start" issue started after I reset that "Maint. Required" switch in the instrument cluster.

 

I think your ECU looks OK you can look a bit closer.
This video show what to look for.

As to the overdrive switch, I still don't know.

I can't find the diagram for your year montero, but some years there is supposed to be an overdrive relay,
Generally this relay operate a solenoid in the transmission to let it shift into the last gear (or not). Some cars would use ignition switch to signal the relay to get the car to start with OD either ON or OFF, I am not sure. This should be downstream of the ignition switch and have nothing to do with cranking and starting. If you can find this relay then you can pull it and see if it affects your starting behavior.

 

Outlander.......That was a really helpful video.....in case I ever find a bad capacitor. So, the board "appears" good, but one never knows w/o some type of expensive test equipment. I guess I could remove the ECU from my other 94 Monty and plug in to see if it makes any difference with the "no crank" issue. (That Monty is a 3.0 also, but a 5 speed instead of an Auto.....but it should be the same ECU, right?)

Regarding the OverDrive situation, Hunter's question above got me to go try starting again to make sure this repeats all the time. In this case, it did not start with OD in the "on" or "off" position.

What would happen if I unplugged the cable that connects to the Park/Neutral Safety switch? Would this perhaps bypass the "problem", and allow the engine to crank and start?

My other question is: With a test light on the trigger wire from ignition switch to the solenoid, the test light properly comes "on" when I turn the Key to the Start position, and the light goes "off" when I release the key from the start position. So, if this is happening as it should, then what is preventing the solenoid from engaging and allowing the Starter to crank?

 

I might be completely wrong here, but with everything you describe, I think your starter is bad. It sounds to me that power is supplied to both solenoid aning starter as it is supposed to, but you still geti no responce (no crank). I had a similar situation just aver a week ago on a vehicle without any electronics. Once I confirmed hood 12v at all times to the starter and a 12v signal to the solenoid with key in Start position, the only possibility left was a bad starter. I replaced organs the engine turned over and started on the first try.

You didn't gear this from me, but you can try the good old screwdriver starter test... Make sure the car is in Park, E-brake on, ignition off etc. Perhaps have a helper inside smashing the brake pedal to the floor... Then take a big fat flathead screwdriver and simply short the 12v post on the starter to the positive post of the solenoid. It solenoid doesn't click and starter turn over - you got a bad starter.

 

Hunter.....I thought it was a bad starter or solenoid also. So I have already replaced the starter/solenoid with a new one, and have the same symptons.

I have been tempted to try the "screwdriver trick", making a connection on those two solenoid bolts to see if the starter will crank......but it is so darn tight down there, and hard to do without grounding out the screwdrivers against metal shields or other close parts. I probably should have added another wire to the top solenoid connections so I could have done it easy. I will look again and see if I can manage it w/o welding parts.

This morning I removed the ECM from my other 94 Montero LS, which is a 5 speed. The one that has this "no crank" problem is also a 94 Montero LS with an Auto Tranny. The ECMs were identical, with the same part numbers:




I opened the clam up to make sure the innerds "looked" normal:
Everything looked good......no runs, no drips, no errors from the capacitors:



So I put this ECM into the Monty with this crazy "No Crank/No Start" issue. Crossed my fingers and turned the key, and she started right up. I thought, "Yea Mannn! This solved the problem! Happy Days are Here Again.....". I turned the engine off, then tried starting in Neutral, and she started right up. I then turned the engine off and tried in both Overdrive "On" and then Overdrive "Off", and she started each time.

I then put the "bad" ECM into the 5 speed Monty (the organ doner), and she also cranked right up. Many times, this Monty also cranked up with no issues. So, I thought I would drive the Monty that started all this trouble to make sure all was good, the tranny shifting properly, etc. So, I hopped in the driver's seat, turned the key to start............................drum roll.......................................and nothing! No Crank, No Start!
Time to throw in the towell?????

I kept trying the key, and after 5-10 times, she did crank and start. So I drove her around and let the engine run 10-15 minutes and then parked and turned the key off. I tried to start again.........and the same issue......No Crank, No Start.

So, what in the world is the problem here? New Starter/solenoid, new Park/Neutral safety switch, ECM replaced, battery good, connections good.

Am I now forced to pull the Ignition Switch Assembly out and look for issues there?

 

I suppose it could be ignition switch. But how would you explain proper voltage to solenoid with key in Start position? Unless some other contact needed for starying is not energizing. But I'd think you would have crank and no start condition in that case.
Try the wire trick on the solenoid as you mentioned. See if it turns. Are you able to turn the engine by hand? Another thing to check is voltage drop on the battery positive and on ground wires. Perhaps there is an internal break in the wire that occasionally creates too much resistance under load.

 

Ignition Switch......I agree with you, if the test light lights up at the solenoid every time I turn the key to "start" position, I would doubt that there is any problem with the ignition switch. Plus, it seems fine, with no hang-ups, not hard to turn, no signs of any internal issues.

No one ever replied about the dash "Reset Button" which I posted pictures above. The reset button stays wherever you push it to......so when you go to reset it, are you supposed to slide it to the new position and leave it there? Or should you slide it to the "reset" position, and then slide it back to where it was? I mentioned this because the "no crank" problem started around the time I fiddled with the "Reset Button" on the back side of the instrument cluster.

I will try the "wire/screwdriver trick" on the solenoid tomorrow.....but I am pretty sure that the starter will engage pronto every time I make contact on those two nuts. Which leads me to leaning toward a "Jerry-Rig" fix here........I could mount a simple push-button switch someplace on the dash, and just turn the key to "on" and use the push button to start the engine. Going back to the way cars were up until the 1950s.

Voltage drop......I suppose one way is to run another temporary battery cable from the battery to the starter solenoid connection and see if that makes a difference.....if so, then your theory of the battery cable having an internal break would be the case. Another situation would be the negative ground wire that bolts to the top of the engine and goes back to the fender and battery negative terminal.....if that has an internal break, we would have the same "no crank" result.......thus, another temporary wire from the engine ground point to the battery negative terminal.

 

Is A-04 (pin 1) easily accessible?
If so one could disconnect from starter, clip a test lead and check the voltage change when the OD button is on/off and the key in the start position.
If the OD button is affecting this leg of the circuit you would just need to find where it lives on the schematic. Finding it on the schematic would be useful at any rate.
I'm "guessing" you would see 12VDC using a MultiMeter to GND. ( or a Test light to Gnd) You could test the PRNDL positions as well.

***** Just noticed your update about the OD button not affecting any more. ****
Great Crank No Start from ScannerDanner

 

jc......Thanks for the suggestion. The A-04 Pin should be the one I marked "Trigger Wire" in this picture. This is where I connected a test light to, and when I turn the key to "Start", the test light comes on. During the test, I also had a good 12.6 volts coming from the battery along that fat red and yellow battery cable in the pic. Thats a new solenoid and starter also. I guess my next test is to run an entirely different positive and negative cable to the starter and see if that makes a difference.....maybe the old one has an internal break as has been suggested?

The "ground" for the starter are the two big bolts that bolt it to the engine. I suppose I could also run a new ground wire from the battery to the engine as an experiment.



Good idea about checking for a voltage change as the OD is turned on and off......I will give that a try tomorrow.

Also, when testing the PRNDL positions, the test light "should" only come on when in Park and Neutral. If I get no voltage when in Park or Neutral, I will try wiggling on the shifter to see if that has any impact.......if so, I need to adjust the Safety Switch.