Glad it worked out for you.. I've had good luck with interstate batteries in the jeep... First one made it 10yrs... I'm on the second one 4 years and no sign of any issues... No mistaking the green case for a generic black battery with a different label like one poster has pointed out...I'd be afraid to see the price for one now though...

 

So how was the old battery tested? load test or simply voltage measured? Are you sure the problem was not simply a poor battery cable clamp connection?
I have 10 year old batteries that work just fine. How a battery is maintained is critical for long life.

 

Interstate batteries are terrible.

 

I am afraid you are victim to good marketing. Here is the first paragraph from interstates wiki:

Interstate Battery System of America, Inc., a.k.a. Interstate Batteries, is a US privately owned battery marketing and distribution company. It markets automotive batteries manufactured by Brookfield Business Partners, Exide Technologies, and others through independent distributors.

To the op, glad you got that solved. I try to think of batteries as fickle, unreliable, and readily replaceable junk.

 

I did a voltage test then brought it to an Advanced Auto Parts and they hooked their machine up to it and also said it was good. It passed all their tests. Read 12.6 volts.

Regarding the terminal cable connection, I made it a point to take off both the positive and negative and clean them up and put them back on. The negative post had some corrosion, the positive post was fine. I checked all the grounds during this process too.

Like I said in my original post, this Jeep has sat a lot lately because life got busy with other things. Granted, it sat in an unheated garage, but it also sat on the coldest day that NC has seen in quite a while. It was 5 degrees that day. Maybe it had a dead cell?

 

The fact that it had 12.6 volts on it pretty much negates a dead cell being a problem. One dead cell will give a little over 2 volts too low voltage rather than 12.6 volts. A correctly done load test should weed out a battery that cant turn the starter, as in that test a high load is placed on battery and the voltage drop is noted.

Now it is certainly possible the battery was weak, yet still reads 12.6 volts, in which case it may not turn starter, but it would also likely give dim headlights if left on for a while, and certainly will not pass a correctly done load test.
Either the load test was done wrong, or there is some other issue with the starter system, perhaps an intermittent issue, perhaps made bad by the very cold temperature?

 

It's entirely possible it's an intermittent issue. I'm unsure of the age of the starter. The starter has seen oil for sure. I would imagine too much oil and the starter could fail or act funny. Advance Auto did the test with their machine. I didn't see the results from the machine, but just took the guys word for it. I simply checked the voltage beforehand.

 

To that list I would add relays, especially the fuel pump one

 

I've got a circa 2018 battery in my XJ... so far still going strong. And at 115K actual odometer - even the original alternator is still going strong... not bad for 24 years old.

 

I had a very similar experience with my xj, everything was fine, then let it sit for 2 weeks (in warm weather) without starting and the battery died. I charged the battery up but it couldn't quite start my jeep, despite the battery being fully charged and testing ok. A new battery solved all the problems and haven't had an issue in almost 2 years now. My guess is the battery was your problem as well

 

I had two batteries go bad just last year, on two different cars, both showed 12.6+ volts and tested good but one couldn't even be jumped. Replaced them and all is good. Currently running 6 Walmart batteries, they seem to have a good warranty for the price and I haven't had any issues.

 

If a load test is run, it checks out good, yet battery is unable to crank the starter on an otherwise good system, that indicates the load test was not done correctly. If a battery passes a correctly done load test, it is proven that it has the ability to crank a starter.

 

NAPA Legend 7534 for a choice of battery. If you have not replaced B+ to starter cable lately, I would recommend doing so.

 

Being retired out of a Napa you really can't go by me but I am with cpttuna on this one.
I went with the better Napa battery then that one for my '00 but when the time comes am going back to that one which I had in there previously.
For no particular reason though.
If it makes anybody feel better last I knew that battery is a rebranded Deka.

 

I, too let my Cherokee sit for about 1-2 months with the battery disconnected while I worked on replacing a floor pan. Needed to move the XJ, so I reconnected and got nothing. Checked the voltage and got about 9volts. Bought a new battery and it fired right up. I have seen batteries that showed normal voltage with a voltage meter, but if you put a load on it the voltage would drop like a rock. Take the load off and the battery would show normal again but a tad lower then the original voltage. Always called these batteries "surface" charged. A auto battery load tester should reveal this type of battery easily. I have never seen one recover enough battery capacity to be useful even when trickle charged for a long time.

Also always have your battery held in securely! If it is not and you hit a bump it could jump up and short against the hood. About 30 years ago, I had that happen and the engine never ran as good as it did before!