Sometimes when you jury rig things and never get back to repair them properly they can come back to bite you.

 

You can validate the ignition circuit by checking for voltage at the starter solenoid. The small center post on the solenoid is at the end of the ignition circuit. If you get voltage there while a helper turns the key, all of the stuff in between is working.

 

One year old interstate battery in the trash can. Still can't figure it out but it's shorted internally somehow. I had just finished banzaiing some whoops right before that so go figure.

Thanks everybody I was stumped and I "knew" it wasn't the battery bc it was new. LOL

 

I have a 1997 jeep grand cherokee laredoa few weeks ago my wife was driving it, stopped to get gas, paid went to start and it wouldn't, guys from her work charged the battery which is 3 months old and it started up today same deal I was driving got gas and it wouldn't start, waiting for tow truck now, I've worked on the jeep quite a bit and I know some things but not the best yet still learning. Keys turns over all the way and you can hear something clocking but it doesn't fire up. It won't jump, can someone please help me

 

That sounds more like a starter going out

 

Okay, in the morning I'm going to take it off and have it tested, thank you so much for your help. I'm hopeful. It's always something with the jeep. I'll let you know how it goes.

 

If you heard a click, and -also- were not able to jump it. I'm going to go with bad connections, bad grounds, corroded terminals, or corroded ground connections. Every single person I talked to when I was having those issues told me I had a bad starter. The same starter that I have today, and is still working just fine. I'm sure 1000's of starters have been sold and installed under such conditions, and the ironic part of it is, is that many probably believe it fixed the problem, because by the time you install a starter you have disconnected, connected, and other wise jostled the exact connections that can easily cause these types of problems in the first place.

Not saying it can't be a starter. But checking connections, posts, clamps, and ground connection conditions is free and relatively quick.

 

I will have to figure out how to do all of these things and see if that's the problem, I had said before that I'm new at all of this and still learning. I know where the starter is located and two bolts are used to hold it in and that's about all I know. I'm afraid if I check something wrong I could mess it up more. It's weird every time it has happened is after getting gas, before hand it kept doing it but after a dlfew trys it would start, then eventually this happened, they charged the battery and put it back they said the battery was a little loose and tightened it started right up 2 weeks later it happens again when I first went to start it, it turned over kind of then acted like a dead battery and then at this point the key turns but in the car you don't hear anything, but when standing outside of the jeep you car hear a clicking noise. I was able to roll the windows up, system comes on everything. I did have a throttle body sensor that I replaced and went to clear the check engine light and it won't clear even took it to advanced and they couldn't clear it. The jeep did sit for a year until I finally decided to fix the body after a Collison. Thank you for any advice, bcuz lord knows I need as much as I can get, bcuz I'm new at this. 😊

 

My brother in law is a "mechanic" he came to the gas station to jury to jump it and listened too it, tried turning it over and automatically said it was the starter, but I wanted to hear someone else say that it could be that, even though he tends to be good at fixing vehicles and does it for a living, he doesn't actually get paid, so makes me weirry

 

I'm not saying he is wrong. Perhaps it is the starter. But -everyone- -always- says its the starter. I'm guessing he didn't wip out a multimeter, circuit tester, or do a voltage drop test during crank right? I guess there would be no need for all that when you already -know- its the starter.

A good way to test someone who -knows- its that starter is to ask them what other things it -could- be. If they can't think of anything, or can't specifically name a few things. Then they don't -know- its the starter....its that the starter is all they -know-.

 

Anyway, my apologies, I'm not trying to be difficult. I just went through needing to learn about the importance of good solid connections, good condition cables, and clean ground connections myself with my XJ. And it was frustrating, because everyone I turned to just -knew- it was the starter. Every single last one of them was incorrect, and not a single one of them suggested the simple, quick, and free stuff first. A starter is just a simple motor. They do fail, for sure. But connections, battery posts, batteries, clamps, and ground connections are in a constant everyday process of corrosion and degradation and on a Jeep -must- be maintained. Because it won't tolerate any shortcomings in this area at all. I would say minimum twice a year, these have to be checked and cleaned (once before winter and once before summer) even more if you live in a cold wet salty region.

 

I don't take offense, I appreciate it, I will certainly do these things first now that I know to try them. I've been reading forums on other sites and watching videos all night on YouTube, so hopefully I can get this figured out. Thank you again.

 

Is the starter and connections covered in oil? I've"saved" starters just by cleaning them inside and out. Clean all cables while off.

 

I was starting to get weaker starts this week, so today, while changing the belt, I decided to take a couple pics of the negative battery cables. As you can see the clamp was shiny as could be, but that cable copper is in bad shape, as was the negative post to chassis strap wire. I just cleaned these up about 4 months ago. I predict that if I had not cleaned them up today, that within the next 30-60 days I would have started to get random "click click click" no cranks.

 

Thank you guys I fixed it with all of your help, it was the starter. It was actually the original starter prttyl crazy it has lasted this long. 19 years lol