I turn the key and nothing so i thought it was a dead battery. Nothing as in no buzzing sounds or lights coming on. As if the battery wasnt even there at all. So i go to jump start and put some cables on it but still nothing.

Where should i start. Ignition switch not working right? I checked some of the main fuses under the hood and they seem to be ok.

 

I hope your fix is as easy as mine was. I tried spinning the battery terminal and it moved. The terminal was shot. couldnt get it tighter. Replaced it and its fixed now. good luck!

 

I dont think its the terminal. It was working perfectly fine and then got parked for a few days and now its dead.

 

If it was running fine before you parked it, it very well could be the battery. How long did you leave the jumper cables on? It could take quite a while to get enough for a start.

 

If it moves thats the problem. Did you check fuses? I know someone that had thier fuses ripped out by some Ahole. Outside of that Im not much help.

 

I just tightened up the terminal and put some cables on it. gona let it sit for a bit before i try to start. but why would it go completely dead in a few days if it wasnt used?

 

it could be the ignition switch. look on youtube, there is a video which explains the working of it and replacing (assuming you dont know already)

 

How old is it?

 

its a 96 but now that the terminal is tightened up the lights are coming on inside but barely visible. gona try and get a charge on it then see if it cranks up.

 

Batteries get old in about 5 years. It all depends. Some later some earlier. And of course some are crap when they are new.

 

Theres an optima yellow top in it and i dont think its that old. i got the jeep used about a month ago.

 

Same problem with mine... The battery is only 2-3 years old. When I go to jump it with a smaller car it will hardly charge it. After I try jumping it with a bigger engine, it still takes a little time to charge before it fires up. Even then, I may have to rev the engine before it is able to start. After I let off the gas, it will then just shut off.

I just cleaned the battery terminal last week, and Im already having acid buildup as well.

 

My Jeep goes through batteries about every 2-3 years. All of a sudden, BAM! Dead battery that will only take a surface charge (IE: Dead cell, which is a dead short inside the battery. It'll show up as charged on a charger, but it isn't). I suspect the voltage regulator in the alternator to be bad.

 

I hope to see my starting charging system upgrade tomorrow thanks to Kelleys works in progress I figure I would get all the power and ground upgrade kit and then go from there. I hate splicing wires and will only do it to get home. You need good low resistance wires for the starting and charging system to work properly also sanding the grounds regular is a good idea, especially if you do a bunch of mud dobbin. If you did a generator upgrade or added a bunch of stuff like a winch, lights, pre-amp putting low resistance wires is a must to handle the load. Just bad battery terminals can ruin all kinds of stuff. So I say get the wires/connectors right then you can troubleshoot from there.
</SPAN>

 

I had the same problem on my 96 xj. I replaced the battery and alternator. But when I woke up in the mornings to go to work, dead battery. Turns out it was the terminals, I ended up replacing them a couple times after that. If yours is the same problem as mine was, it's the terminals. Jeeps eat them like potato chips haha.