Ive never had this happen before, but a jeep has actually left me stranded. I got in it and started up just fine, and drove it a block and a half. shut it off and went inside for a few, when I came out it wouldnt start. no clicking,no whining, no noise at all. first thought was to check the terminal connections, but nothing worked. so either the wiring is bad,the starter is toast or the battery crapped out. my question is which one?

I dont think its the starter cause it worked perfectly 10 mins earlier.
so could it be the battery? all my lights come on and everything, but is there a voltage level where the starter wont crank at all? normally you either get clicking or whining as it struggles, but i got nothing. so that makes me think wiring.

just trying to get an idea if a low/bad battery could do this in the jeep.
mine is a 97,4.0,auto

 

First take off both battery terminals and clean ,clean clean . My jeep did the same thing,had lights and everything ,wouldn't even click ,that did it for me.

 

maybe its the selinoid? mine does that and i just touch the leads together with a hammer and it starts right up

 

Try having someone start the jeep while you tap on the side of the starter/solenoid with a long screwdriver, or prybar. (just don't accidentally touch the two posts together) To my knowledge there is no low voltage shut off. If the battery is dead your lights would be dim and the jeep should still crank just super slow and without enough power to start. My guess is, if the lights are still on and everything else works/appears fine then its the starter.

 

Try starting it with the transmission in neutral.

 

Hope something here works for ya! I also think it's the solenoid... Good Luck.

 

happened to me once or twice, this worked. Not sure what it is, but that's a project for later.

 

x3 Its the NSS, If you just wiggle the shifter while your trying to start it or shift it to N

 

im pretty sure my jeep wont start in nuetral, my nss was bad on the 90 and i had to wiggle it like that, but it doesnt seem like thats the issue. i just found someone to help so ill try some starter finesse. why touch the leads together with hammer? and then next post says do not touch leads together?

 

From what you've mentioned I would also suggest the NSS. If it's only partly bad it will still start in nuetral however once it totally goes it won't start in anything and nothing happens. Since the NSS also acts as the reverse light switch turn it on and put it in reverse and see if the backup lights come on. If it is the NSS it's easy enough to bypass and get moving by looping the 2 black ground wires together. The old smacking the starter with a hammer trick sometimes gets them to work a bit longer if the get stuck.

 

Sounds to me like a bad starter relay...

 

Make sure the battery is grounded.

 

well i went back down to the jeep and it started on the first try. i got in it and drove it right to the parts store. and when I shut it off it wouldnt do anything again. then I tighten all the connections,tried tapping the starter,nothing worked. the nss doesnt seem to be the issue, the reverse lights work and no jiggling required.

I pulled the battery, it tested fine, I put it back in and used some of their battery grease tightened it up and it started again. I dont know what is going on.

 

Is your battery strapped down? If its not I have heard of stories of the batteries bouncing up, hitting the hood and shorting out. Could be a possibility...

 

starter is prob the issue, mine did the same thing, i had to hit it with a piece of wood to get it to start. One day it flat out quite. It had given impressions of a week battery before all this started.