Randy Strye

Hello!
On Tuesday, the wife went to leave for work only to find her 1998 Cherokee wouldn't start. Turn the key and just silence. All power seemed okay.
First we tried to jump it, which made no difference.
We took the battery to two different auto parts stores and it checked out at both locations.
So, when we got home, we tried to tap the starter while holding the key but nothing.
I made absolute sure it was in park, as well.
I removed the wires from the starter and cleaned them, then replaced them and still nothing.
From there, I went to the internet. YouTube channel "BleepinJeep" had a demonstration on how to test the starter by using a screwdriver to connect the two terminals. Success, the Cherokee started right up! Still nothing with the key, however.
On jeepsunlimited.com, I found someone that described the same issue I was having and mentioned that he removed the starter relay and jumped terminals 30 and 87. Again, success! The Jeep would start with the key.. however, in the same thread (and I've since verified), he mentioned that this bypasses the Neutral Safety Switch. I tried replacing the relay to no avail.
This leads me to believe the NSS the issue.
My question is: other than the obvious issues with bypassing the NSS, is there anything to worry about leaving the relay jumped like that for a few days until we can get it replaced so she has the ability to commute to work?

Thank you and advance and I appreciate any input!

MoparNJeep

Will be fine but you can also put relay back and just start the Jeep in neutral as another option

rklettke

You can pull the nss and clean it yourself. It's not too bad of a process, there's a write up here on cherokeeforum if I'm not mistaken. Wish I knew you could just jump the relay when mine went out haha.

Randy Strye

awesome.
Good to know. Thank you guys... puts my mind at ease a little bit.
I'll definitely try to clean it before replacing it... autozone wants almost $300 for one..