Ackwards

Hi folks, needing a little help here by no means and I a good mechanic, but i can get it to work. few of my friends are tech school grads with big trucks and they help me tinker with most everything, and electrical is where I need practice and I think this is a simple fix I can do myself with the help of you all.

Right now my buddies got a 98 cherokee sport in the yard that ran in January and I was going to scrap for him, but when he told me he parked it and just didnt start the next time he tried, i knew I might have my summer mud truck so...

DISCLAIMER: I want a truck to beat on, this thing has 221k and im gonna try to let her live out the last days right, beating on the dirt roads all summer long, I just want it to run and to see if i can get her to pass inspection one last time. And safety is number one, but If it dont kill you it makes ya stronger so what I'm saying is lets make it

AS CHEAP AS POSSIBLE and as EASY AS WE CAN TOO.


So I threw a charge on the battery yesterday, looked under the hood, check fluids and such. turn the key, a dead battery sound for two seconds, then nothing except the little click from the passengers side by the PDC, whats that click anyway, i know its a sign of something working

Came home to find a manual for her and found this site, after finding a manual and preparing my trouble shooting list I noticed I'm really gonna need your help.

The manual im using is off
http://www.jeep4x4center.com/knowled...ex.htm#service

I selected jeep cherokees years 1996-2001

Jeep manual says to

1. check battery and cables

2. Starter circuit wiring

3. Starter relay

4. Ignition Switch

5. Park and Neutral Postion switch, seen you guys call in a NSS or neutral safety switch but the jeep manual listed it as a PNP, but for all the intense porpoises the NSS and PNP are the same

6. Check the starter solenoid
6a. Starter motor

So while I go out to get a few other things done, maybe a few of you can chime in on a few of my ?'s

Questions for step 1. (battery and cables) I figure i should get a fresh battery to test it with even though the one that sat in the car since then was dead, but it took a charge, im terrible with electrical so bear with me please If the terminals look alright after a good brushing, no need to replace them if there just a little old right?
So battery check terminals check, what about the wire running from the battery to the ??? PDC right? Im gonna go look at the jeep again today so I can see how that cable looks and where it goes.
I want to check the grounds like i've seen recommended and all that good stuff, anyone got a easy to read working mans diagram of where the ground locations are?

Questions for step 2. (Starter circuit wiring)
Is this gonna be loose wires or is it like the area where I think the engine starter motor relay (starter relay) terminals will plug in like a fuse or a plug in the wall?

Questions for step 3. (Starter relay)
This is a little square thing in the PDC (power distribution center) with the terminals 30 85 86 87 etc. . . so to test this theres some silly process which i can not yet understand but you will help me

Questions for step 4. (Ignition switch) To my knowledge of what ive read this is in the steering column? Is this the acutal place the key goes into or something rigged to it, cause i can turn it and hear the click under the hood but no action from the starter. So its probably not this right?

Question for step 5. (NSS or PNP) SO I'll try jiggling the shifter, starting in neutral and running it through the gears and what not to check this fix. But if it is i can follow a guide one of you has made probably?

Questions for 6 & 6.a (starter solenoid and starter motor)
Guy who has it now said he banged the starter with a hammer and tried that, but will y'all tell me how to test these two and see if my starter and solenoid are good or not?

Hope you don't mind the long post, tried to be as informative as i could and not just ask "halp meh puhleash car wont start"

Thank you already for reading all the way to hear, hope you can help me and hope this might help someone else too.
Thanks,
Mike

CCKen

Here's photos of where your ground points are in the engine bay. The primary grounds you are concerned with are G100 and G101. G101 is at the ignition coil mount bracket. G106 is by the PCM on the left inner fender. Make sure these grounds are corrosion free and secure.

These are ground points only. You should make sure the postive (+) connections at the PDC bus and at the starter are free from corrosion as well.

I think your battery is history....

salad

+1 to what CCKen has.

To test anything you're going to need a multimeter to check resistance and voltage clicking at the PDC indicates the starter relay is flipping (path from ignition switch is likely good) but silence down below tells us the solenoid is not engaging.

It's very possible the battery has a dead cell. They'll show the correct voltage but not be able to deliver enough current to do anything interesting.

This made my day

Ackwards

Thanks guys, cars now cranking thanks to a good wiggle of the shifter, running it through the gears did the trick,

was trying to jump it with a cranking battery from the boat in his yard with it on the battery charger on the 10 amp engine start mode, a pum pum pum pum from the starter, it might not be getting enough amps to really turn the motor over, its what it sounds like to me, but we will soon find out.

Its been sitting for a while so im back here grabbing a can of starting fluid and the tool box before i drive back to her and she if she'll turn with a little shot a go-go

thanks for the amazingly informative and quick response cck,

and salad, i think i might be having that problem using two batteries, not enough power in the battery to crank the starter fast enough.

when i take the good one outta my work truck and throw it in there it should make the worlds difference i think.

see yall real soon.

Mike

Ackwards

salad im glad you liked that,

theres not much to say, a fresh battery wasn't needed i sprayed some startin fluid on her and whabang a few half *** cranks, and then a little gas pedal to push some freshness in and rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhvvvvv vvvvvmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm


she runs, took her to the gas station and threw 5 bucks in and went to hit the closest dirt road, was throwing her down the old wagon road at about 40 and she was walking right over every hole. I never drove a cherokee till now but love ford explorer sports, the 2-door model.

But now the aura of jeep is around me an cause there gonna keep driving her, i gotta get my own!

CCKen

Bass,

You're stuck on Cherokees now. LOL

Change the oil and filter before going any further. Use 10W-30 with a WIX oil filter.