Jonwebb

Went to start my 2001 jeep this morning and go figure it dosent want to start. I turned it on and everything works and lights up, then i go to start and the solenoid clicks once and then everything dies and wont work gauges lights ect... turn key off and then back on and still nothing works. So i take the key out and leave for about 30 seconds, come back and everything works again but the problem repeats itself every time i try. The starter is new, the main starter wire from positive is new and the battery is good and holding a charge at 12.6 the terminals are also new and have been throughly cleaned as well as new spark plugs. All of the heavy duty 20-50 amp fuses are fine in fuse box but other then that i have not tried anything else because i was out of.time. I'm thinking maybe nuetral safety switch? Any other thought? I'm really need my car so pleas help!!!!

CPLSeraphim

The NSS wouldn't kill the jeep, lights and all.

bigvig

Did you try the NSS trick? Honestly, I think you might have a bad starter or alternator. This happened to me a couple years back in the middle of the winter. It started going real slow and it was a COLD winter, so I thought my 6 year old battery was dying. At first. Then symptoms pointed to the starter for sure. Something happened and it went away, then a few months later showed up with various symptoms. Came here, posted detailed info and I was pretty sure it was the starter. Most opinions were NSS or battery, and I dont think one person agreed with me on the starter. Well, it was the starter.

Same thing happened to my buddy and the garage put in a starter, 2 weeks later its doing the same thing. They raked him over and over for weeks replacing parts, keeping his truck, etc., until the swapped out the brand new starter. They put in a bad one. It happens.

And for ALL your stuff to die, thats either a short or a bad alternator.

PS: Its a Jeep, NOT a car. lol

Jonwebb

How would the alternator be causing the problem if its not running or even turning over? How should i go about testing for it?

caged

you have a bad connection or ground.
check all your battery cables at each end. also look for corroded wires. they can corrode internally and be difficult to notice. look for a bulge in the cable housing.

also make sure the battery connectors are tight on the battery.
try jump starting it. (boosting)

tjwalker

Either a bad connection or ground or a failing battery.

Voltage testing alone of a battery is absolutely not conclusive; you can have 12.6 volts and a battery that is toast. The only conclusive way to determine a battery condition is "load testing", which any parts store will do for you for free.

Jonwebb

So again how could it be my alternator?

bigvig

It probably isnt the alternator, but it COULD be is all Im saying. They have moving parts, get dirty and WILL fail. Then theyll drain your battery and give you even MORE problems(unless you have a catastropic failure and it seizes, burning up your belt and nearly causing a fire like mine did last summer, in the span of 3 seconds!). My GF in college came to visit me and on the way her alternator died. She pulled in probably just as the battery was about to die because the next day the truck was dead. I asked her all kinds of questions, etc., and we took the battery to a local store and swapped it. NOTHING! Eventually we had it towed to a garage, explained the whole situation and after some diagnostics, they figured that the alternator died. Without being RIGHT THERE, seeing exactly what the vehicle is doing, all one can do is guess and throw ideas out there.

But again, its probably a short/bad ground/bad connection somewhere.

And PS: Just because you have a new starter doesnt mean you didnt get a bad one. Did you even try tapping on it to see if it would turn over?

Jonwebb

I didint try cause i was short on time but u could be right about the starter but its been in about a lil more then a month so i didint think it would be it

Seabiscuit

Put it in neutral and then try to start it and make sure you hold the brake! This happens to me bout once every three months!!

Jonwebb

Well i feel like an idiot for jumping to such conclusions. Turned out to just be a loose ground connection from my battery jumped around. Looks like a battery hold down is in my near future