north0house

Hey all,

I'm new here, but not new to Jeeps. I had an awesome '99 Wrangler for a good while and it always ran flawlessly. I never had a problem with it. I ended up giving the Wrangler to my younger brother and buying an '86 GMC... it was a money pit and I got tired of always sinking my funds into a vehicle. So, I went out and bought myself a nicely lifted '96 XJ. It drives beautifully, and mechanically, it's great.

However, I have been having problems with the electrical components. The previous owner was a full-time mechanic, so he did a lot of upgrades. One of the most recent ones, was a new ignition because the old one failed. It always has started, even if it's a little funky sometimes (not starting unless I turn the headlights on, trying to start and then failing, etc... all electrical). However, today I got back to the drop off point from work and went to start my XJ and everything started like normal, and then it sounded like something shorted (a click and then nothing). All the electrical was dead, no head lights, no interior lights, the stereo was dead... nothing.

After awhile, it was making a strange buzzing noise whenever I turned off all of the lights/stereo/etc. I tried jumping it with my wife's car. However, after letting it charge for awhile nothing improved. The buzzing continued.

Does it sound like a faulty starter or solenoid? Should I get a new battery? Should I clean off the battery terminals? Any ideas? This all happened in a parking lot so I didn't have a choice but to leave it over night... I didn't have any of my tools with me.

Any help would be appreciated. I just had the O2 sensor replaced by the mechanic, and funds are tight right now (my wife's old car caught on fire 1500 miles from home. Life has been rough lately)... so I'd rather not pay for a tow fee and another repair if I can fix it myself.


Thanks

DFlintstone

Please read this>>

Battery gasses have a nasty habit of helping a thin, hard crust form on the bat post's and clamps. They can look pretty good, but that micro-thin layer is a surprisingly good insulator. SHINNY! Lead is what you want. I use a pocket knife, (gently), for the insides of the clamps. For the posts I might use one of those post cleaner wire brushes, but still scrape it with a blade. If you have a condition where you have power, (dash lights ect.), then when you hit it power goes out altogether, that's a common result of a layer of oxidization there. Btw, a half *** connection could be expected to get hot during cranking, or while it's trying. Cleaning those is something to do now and then anyway, so if you are having starting problems, you might want to make sure you have bare lead on lead. Might save you some grief!



Granted with a jump you might think those were ruled out. But, unless you have cables that are pretty rare now, and supper connection to a supper source, that amount of current is tough for cables alone. The terminals need a good cleaning now and then anyway.



Be aware, 96 is the one and only tough "transition year". 90/91 waz pretty clean and clear. 99/10 I think? waz clean. (not so sure there). In 96 for sure things changed. You might be wise to know your month, and even have your VIN# handy while buying parts. Just a head's up there.