Weird starting problem on my 5.9 jeep

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273

273

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It started off with my interior light sometimes staying on
and couldn't be shut off and killed my battery, so I replaced the battery and it's ends and pulled the fuse.
Now sometimes it won't start it acts like the battery's dead and head light and stuff won't come on, nothing at the key then all a sudden the head lights would come on and then it will start or at least the starter will click. Any ideas?? Its a 5.9 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee
 
Sounds like bad battery connections, bad cables, or even a defective battery.

Get yourself armed up and ready "next time" it fails. Get a voltmeter, test light

When it won't do "anything," probe the battery terminals directly with the headlight switch on. Any power on the battery terminals? If yes, probe the clamps.

If this doesn't show up anything, have someone twist the key to start and hold it while you probe

Stick the meter probes in the tops of the two battery posts. With key in start, you should have more than 10V the more the better

Stick the probes onto the two battery clamps, with key in start, same as above.

If voltage drops at the clamps....................

Put one probe on the battery clamp, one on the post. See if there is any voltage there. If so, you have a bad connection. Do this one at a time on both pos and neg

If that shows nothing, stick one probe directly into the top of the neg battery post, and the other on the engine. With key in "start," any voltage? Should not be much, the less the better.

Follow the POS cable, where does it go? A junction bolt? direct to starter?

This might get more tricky, as I'm not familiar with these. If you can get a clip lead on the starter post, do so, hook your meter to this clip lead and the other probe to the top of the POS battery post. Key in start should be very little voltage. Less the better.


If this seems OK, take a breath. You must be losing it SOMEWERE

Hook meter to starter post and to engine block. With key in start, you should have at least 10V, more is better

If less, it's in the cables,/ terminals somewhere or bad battery. Recheck battery voltage

If Above 10V and it won't crank, it's a starter issue.
 
Thanks 67Dart273 for that detailed post,hopefully I can get it started after work tonight, I'll try everything thing out tomorrow. I know the head light switch is screw every once and a while all the lights will flash on and off giving a light show and on my way to work the bass kept cutting out kn my stereo even though it was charging.
 
Sounds like your audio system might be overloading your "car" systems.
Lights flashing can be from high output headlights and stock wiring.
High power draw add-ons really need to be powered separately, may well require higher output alternator and
should be isolated by relays.

BC
 
Lights would do that before I even installed the stereo, the other day is the first time my bass would cut in and out but hasn't done it since, I haven't had a chance to check it out yet, but its still acting up but will start if I keep trying the key but find it weird that there no juice like the battery is disconnected the all a sudden its got power back and its a brand new battery and ends. Im gonna see if I can figure her out later today.
 
There are 2 positive cables involved. The largest one goes to the starter alone. A smaller one goes to the power distribution bank. All the manually operated switches do is signal relay operation. When the headlight switch is turned on you should hear relays click. Same applies to ignition switch.
It is possible that the contacts in those switches are bad. I've seen that often, especially in ignition switches. In fact as we speak I have a 99 Town&Country that jogs the starter after the ignition switch has been in the run position for a while.
First is verify the power supplied is adequate then move on to the manually operated switches.
 
Figures now that im carrying a test light and meter
My Jeep hasn't acted up since
 
Ya scared the gremlin! But, rest assured - he'll be back. I carry a meter and test light in my ragtop tool kit. And the little ba**ard has now migrated to my '02 Dakota!

BC
 
Just in case someone has the same problem in the future, turned out to be the headlight switch, I guess it would short out and draw all the power?
 
A lot of these modern cars things like the door switches and other dome light switches, etc, do not directly switch the lamps. They trigger circuits in some magic box buried somewhere and the box decides what, what if, and for how long to turn something on. I've got a 98 Ranger with a factory theft alarm that can not be armed, as anywhere between 1 second and a week, it will randomly "go off."

The Ford dealer's service manager (who told me he has "18years experience" didn't even want to believe it is a Ford system)
 
I have one of thoes 5.9L Jeep Grand Cherokees also. Do you know that they were only made for one year? Pretty rare. What color is yours, black, charcoal, or white?
 
It white with black interior, there pretty fast for a jeep :)
Its a little beat I take through the trails, what ever was wrong it was in the headlight switch it self, But when it acted up it would kill the power to the whole jeep makeing it act like the battery was disconnected.
 
I'd consider that piece of crap Lucas multifuntion ignition switch. Just a thought...
 
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