Hey guys I'm having a strange issue with my jeep. For the past week it has been cranking slowly on start-up. This morning it wouldn't start at all. After work I cleaned the terminals and it started. However it failed to start again. Since then I have cleaned the terminals a lot more, jumped the car (left it hooked up for 20 min), swapped the relay, checked the fuse, wires are all connected), tried in neutral and wiggling the shiftier, and it still wont turn over. It's getting dark and stuck outside of my garage. Any advice on what else it can be? I've been researching on here but would like to get this fixed early in the morning. Any input on where I should start first troubleshooting tomorrow?

Thank you,

 

Do some searching on cleaning the ground points, there's a few key places. Battery, alt and starter all functioning properly? Multi meter on them?

 

Battery seems charged well and jumping the car should have eliminated it as a suspect. I'm thinking its the starter. Would it crank slowly when going out then start randomly if at all later on? How would I test it?

Thanks for the input!

 

You missed what VTJeep said. Clean ALL the terminals in the starter loop, that includes grounds. Think of the current flow as it loops from the battery + all the way back to -.

 

After some quick research: Hook a voltmeter to battery and have someone crank engine. Voltage at crank should be 10.5v minimum. Below that and battery is issue. Test the starters voltage off of positive terminal. It should have 12v minimum going to it. Less than 12v indicates a possible issue with the main wire- loose, corroded.. If this all checks out then test the activation wire. Disconnect it, It should only get voltage when vehicle is starting. Again, 12+ volts is the goal. Anything less and it's the starter or ignition switch.

 

Thanks for the advice. It finally stopped raining and I will try this this afternoon.

 

Well that was easy... I sprayed terminal cleaner on the starters connections and whacked it with a hammer. It started like a champ. Because I'm not sure which of the two solved the issue only time will tell. I'm happy having it narrowed down to the starter tho .

 

Haha, nice! Buddy today goes, "this old farmer I know used to fix everything by swearing at it while simultaneously smashing it with a hammer... Worked every time." Gotta love easy fixes.