TrophyKartNM

1991 Cherokee limited, hooked up my boat to it pulled out of the driveway running, about 30 feet from where i started it just completely quit..... put back in park, and it cranked and cranked and cranked, no start back up. Unhooked my boat and now it wont even crank and electric fans and abs does not come on? Lights work, battery connections good??
HELP!!!

Last work that i did was wire up a flat four trailer plug, have not checked those connections but could brake lights, tail lights cause a condition like this? I searched everywhere on here for this condition but couldnt replicate on any of the threads?

HELP PLEASE if you can

1991 Cherokee limited
4.0 HO 187k miles
Automatic trans
8.8 rear end swap
3" budget lift

razor02097

I would suspect a problem with the ignition switch... However start with the simple things... fuses, relays, smoke, fire...

TrophyKartNM

Checked the big fuses and relay's under the hood, all looked good, didnt really dig into the fuses under the dash, but i thought that all the engine control fuses and relays are under the hood....right? and again it was running fine up until it just quit, no sputter, no spit, no hesitation??

Oh and i forgot that the window's wont roll up or down either, everything else seems to be working!

razor02097

Not really sure about the 1991 fuse locations... When you turn the ignition switch to various positions are there any indications it is working? Buzzer, lights, anything?

TrophyKartNM

Interior lights work, dash lights work (pretty sure) no buzzer when key goes in ignition, headlights work, tail lights work.
I have an electric fan that was wired to come on when the key gets turned on and that does not come on when the key is on, additionally the ABS pump would do the same (pump when key was turned on) and that is not working either? And the turn signals dont work when the key is on? I messed with the shifter to make sure the NSS was working/not working but no changes in neutral or park and shoved the shifter real hard forward to make sure it was all the way in Park.
Seems odd to me that it would start and run and suddenly just shut off? then not refire if it was the NSS, could the CPS be bad (grounded out on hot manifold) cause this? I keep reading online that CPS or NSS would be best guesses?

razor02097

Did you wire the fan to a relay or are you powering it from the ignition circuit?

If it is the NSS sometimes you can try shifting into neutral and crank. If you can you may need to clean, adjust or replace the NSS.

TrophyKartNM

wired to the ignition circut, was this way when i bought the jeep used. They used high quality wire and connectors in the install and i have not had any issues since i bought the jeep 8 months ago with the fan, so i really dont think that is the culprit?

Same simptom in neutral, nothing at all.... tried that first off when it died in the middle of the street

razor02097

I don't mean to insinuate poor installation. I asked because the electrical demand of the fan could in some circumstances exceed the electrical supply and cause damage or blow fuses.

TrophyKartNM

Ok got ya! Like i said its been that way for 8 months with zero issues on the draw or battery going low or the alternator showing high output or anything like that. Its only a little 8" fan that is on the one side of the radiator, but i see where you are going with it. However the ABS pump in my opinion would draw a TON more than the little fan and now it is not working either?

Just seems funny to me that either of these would be tied into a shutoff symptom and no restart symptom? But if you have other ideas on that i am open to those ideas as i just want to drive the thing and get some time in the dirt with it!!

karl4x4

Very weird problem.

From experience, 99.9% of electrical problems are related to bad connections

I recently had a weird issue when I turned my lights on and the thing stalled and wouldn't start. Some things worked and some didn't.. it seemed totally random.

I pulled out the schematics and multimeter. After an hour on the side of the highway (very frustrated) I decided to go back to basics. I cleaned the battery terminals (looked cleaned before), put back in and it started right away with no further issues since.

The "back to basics" often works.

PS: you should definitely have a fan relay. The ignition line feed is designed to fire up your ignition system and a few other low current draw things. Check the voltage there (where you connected the positive for your fan) when ignition going on and off to see if it switches accordingly.
Good luck

TrophyKartNM

****UPDATE******
Well here is a more detailed update,

Went out to the jeep this morning just to see if it would start..... fingers were crossed, and unfortunately still nothing, but i played around with the key in the ignition a little more and the buzzer (seatbelts?) only buzzed at certain places throughout the turn of the key? i would get to a spot where it buzzed and would turn the key just a fraction and the buzzer would then turn off?

Ignition switch possibly? When it died it seemed like somebody turned off the key (ignition switch?)

Thanks for the opinions!!

karl4x4

Do the test using a trouble light (see my last post).

When fault finding, dont just look for what is wrong. Also look for what is NOT wrong.

If you have a voltmeter, you can also go to the battery terminals, check the battery voltage with AND without trying to start it. First, check with the voltemeter leds directly on the battery post then repeat test by touching the actual connector or cables (both sides).

That will define which direction to start the fault finding.

TrophyKartNM

Quick bump,
i did one of the tests that Karl4x4 reccomended and the voltage at the battery is 12.47 with the key off, the voltage stays that way when the key is on, and doesnt change when turning to try to start it??
Additionally i noticed some "burnt" looking wires on the relay just to the firewall side of the battery, is this an ignition relay or what function does this relay provide to the entire system? I am going to pull the relay all the way out to make sure its really burnt but could this relay fail cause this issue?

Thanks for all the help,
Ryan

karl4x4

Ok.. got it.

the brushes on your starter are worn. ITs very common. most people replace the starter but for about 20bucks, you can get new brushes.
just take the starter off, take the back cover off and put the new brush rack in.