Dackr

Hey everybody,

I'm new here and don't know as much about my jeep as I'd like so I thought I'd drop in.

I've been having trouble starting my 95 jeep cherokee sport 4.0 4WD. I think it's an issue with the starter. It has a sluggish turn on the startup to spite a new battery and there are times when it refuses to start at all until you take it out of park and put it back. The guy at the auto parts said the no-start may just be a cable adjustment but the slow startup the rest of the time has me thinking the starter may need to be replaced.

Anybody else have this issue? Does the starter need to be replaced or is there something else I can do. I was hoping it was something simple after seeing starter prices online around $150 - $200. Ah well whatever it takes.

Any help or tips would be appreciated. Thanks.

nick_n_ii

The in out of park is the neutral safty switch there. The sluggish start is most likely a bad starter OR you bought a battery with to little cold cranking amps..

Dackr

Thanks nick. Is the there an adjustment I can make with the cable to solve the no start problem? I looked neutral safety switches at the auto parts and they where around $183 was hoping to not have to replace it. If the safety switch and starter need to be replaced how easy are they to do it yourself?

BlueXJ

The NSS can be rebuilt by you. Costs nothing but your time and patience plus a little grease. Follow this link HERE

Dackr

Thanks for the info BlueXJ and the link. That may end up saving me a lot of money. Is there a way to tell for sure if the starter is what's causing the slow starts? I baught the battery through Advance Auto just as I did last time and had them put it in while I was there so I don't think that's the problem.

XJ Stryker

You can always remove the Starter and take it to autozone for a free test if you would like. Your starter is prolly fine. Slow starts are a common issue with cherokees. A common fix is to replace your CPS sensor. It monitors your flywheel and once it gets to 300 rpm fires the injectors which then starts your engine if the CPS is not reading the flywheel well then it will take longer to start. HTH

Dackr

Hmm could be a number of things...

I just need to narrow it down. I am going to have the starter tested that's a good idea and I'll clean the nuetral switch as well. It seems to be one or the other.

Here's what's happening: I've never had a slow start in the 6/7 years I've owned it (nothing a new battery hasn't fixed anyway) until now and it only just started to get a little sluggish about two weeks ago. What's weird though, is I started having the whole 'won't start at all' issue around the same time. I've only had the no start problem once or twice over the course of several years (mess with the gears and then it starts) but now it's happened 3 times in less than a month. The last time it happened I couldn't get it started to matter what I did until finally we banged on the starter a little and it started up. So is it a starter problem?

These problems may be unrelated. Both might be simple fixes but the fact that they are happening at the same time, all of the sudden has me confused. Is there some problem related to both symptons? Could it still be just the CPS? Is there a cable setting I can adjust that will alleviate the no-start issue?

Ah well, off to remove the starter and have it tested...