rteecher

I last drove my 97 cherokee a few weeks ago, and noticed the rig was lacking in power. I parked it and inadvertently ran the battery down. Today, I put jumper cables on it and was able to immediately get the starter to turn over good enough to normally get it going. Not this time though.

I finally got it running when I held the gas pedal down halfway (yeah, I know it's fuel injected). As it was warming up, I had to continually give it a little throttle, or the rig would die. When warmed up, it idled on its own.

Then I turned the vehicle off, waited a few minutes, and turned the key...... nothing! No clicks or turns of the starter. Headlights are bright, so battery seems to be up enough to turn it over.......... Any ideas?

tjwalker

Marginal battery voltage. If the engine management system doesn't see enough voltage, you will have exactly the symptoms you are seeing.

Clean battery terminals and battery posts until shiny. Charge your battery overnight. Or "load test" the battery to see if it's up to the task.

I would be surprised if this was anything except a marginal available voltage situation.

dukie564

^^^ x2

NPx

Also classic neutral safety switch problem. Under normal conditions, the NSS will not allow the XJ to start if it the transmission is in gear. When it gets gunked up and dirty it won't allow the vehicle to start even with a full charge on the battery. Everything works but the starter.

rteecher

well, you guys have given me some food for thought! It's too late to work on it tonight, but I'll sure give it a go after work tomorrow.

Mmurdock

This is definately a battery problem. Try charging it at 2 amps over night then stop by an auto parts store which offers free battery testing and have it load tested. That will tell you if it's shot or if it will last a while longer.

Batteries can also fail with no warning what so ever. The battery in my wife's car developed an internal fault the other month. She drove it home parked it over night and the next morning the car wouldn't start. The battery showed 12.6 volts, so I started replacing things. A month later I gave up and called a wrecker to have it towed to the dealer. Even though I had charged it over night and it did not start the tow truck driver wanted to see if he could start it with his booster pack. I was stunned when it started right up. The battery had an internal fault which caused the voltage to drop when a load was put on it. I could have saved myself a month of frustration if I had pulled the battery and taken it to be tested.

Don't screw with anything else until you know the condition of the battery.

rteecher

well, i guess it'll give me a good reason to upgrade to a sealed battery!

(looking at the bright side......)

Mendax13

i dont think it would be the NSS this time since it wont idle cold. but once warm it idles fine. with NSS itll start or not. at least that's my experience. i could be wrong. but i dont think its the NSS this time.

dukie564

agreed the NSS is not the cause here. The Jeep would either start, or it wouldn't. There would be no signs of life at all from the engine.

NPx

Yeah, my response wasn't real complete. The OP's last line is what made me think NSS as part of the problem. However, the first set of symptoms suggests other problems. If the NSS is by chance part of the problem then one other symptom of a faulty NSS is usually no backup lights so that may be something to check.
dn

CPLSeraphim

Check the battery, as stated above. I just went through this a week ago in my Saturn. Headlights and radio, fine, but clicking from the starter area. Shortly after, my starter just kept running and running. Key on or Key off, had to bypass the starter and by a new one and a new battery... Def get the battery tested, because if you don't and you end up paying over 400 bucks for a broken cell in the battery, you will kick yourself in the @ss. I still got the bruise. lol,.

rteecher

I finally had some time to change out the battery, and yes, it was bad. It would charge, but wouldn't hold it very long. Anyway, replacing the battery seems to have taken care of the problem.

dukie564

413maxwedge

Yup classic plate separation.Enough power for acc. not enough for starting.Nice catch guy's.

rteecher

Well, it turned out to be a bad battery and I believe, a faulty NSS.

I hate it when two random things go wrong at the same time!! Makes it 10 times harder to diagnose.....

I had to order a new NSS, but it hopefully will arrive this week.