JeepS2000

Hi all,

A week ago while driving, my check gauges light came on in my 1999 Jeep Cherokee Sport 4wd 4.0L and my radio shut off on the way to the grocery store. The tow truck driver gave my a jump off his box but said that I probably wouldn't make it home on the charge that I had so I had it towed to my house. When we got to my house, we couldn't get it started from his box. So I removed the battery and alternator and took them to autozone, both of which tested fine. So after re-installing them I replaced the battery cable terminals as they were severely corroded.

After switching out the terminals, the car will take a jump and start but will not start on it's own. Even after the jump, the check gauges light remained on. In addition, the car was hard to steer and white smoke was coming out of the exhaust. I'm assuming this is due to an overtightened serpentine belt?

So besides possibly having to loosen the belt, I'm not sure what I should do to it next to get it running. Would replacing the cables be the next step? And where to buy them is another question I have. I looked online at autozone and it seems I can't get a positive cable for my year and model. Should I buy that one from the dealership?

It might be somewhat obvious from my post but I'm very inexperienced when it comes to working on cars. Before removing the alternator, the most I'd ever done myself was changing engine oil and MTF.

Thanks

JeepS2000

I guess one last post before I take it somewhere and have it looked at.

Today I replaced all battery cables and it still won't start on it's own. I jumped it from my mother's SUV and it took the first jump so I let it run for a while. Upon removing the jumper cables, the jeep shut off and afterwards refused to take the jump.

Any ideas before I throw in the towel?

sycoglitch

I've never seen this thread up before, you should have bumped it earlier brother. To start I dont think your battery is good. How old is it. Did you ever replace the cables and freshen the grounds up to. And clean the batteries terminal. The battery might have a damaged cell which would cause it to not be able to start your jeep up

Also how old is the current drivebelt. That you can get online from napa, advanced auto, rockauto.com me personally hate autozone I find there items inferior to other stores. Do you have a Haynes book at home for your jeep

JeepS2000

The battery is from 11/08 according to the sticker on the side of it. I tried having it retested earlier today but it has sat too long and needed to be recharged but I didn't have the time to wait. While it's possible that the battery is bad, shouldn't there at least be one other problem since the jeep died after removing the jumper cables?

The battery cables and terminals are 100 percent new. I ordered them a week ago and put them on today.

The drivebelt is of an unknown age. Possible original belt. When I took it off, I didn't notice any fraying.

sycoglitch

A bad battery can cause it too slowly die after a Jump start. Lights would work but jeep won't start. I should have asked though, what happens when you tried to restart it, did it try to turn over or just click click click.

I had an issue with mine recently. My alt wire was lose under positive clamp. Jeep would run at 12.6 volts start, sometimes slow, and if I let her sit all day she wouldn't start. Since the wire was lose the battery wouldnt charge right but I still had electric just not enough juice plus the alt would work over time.

JeepS2000

At the moment, the battery is out of the vehicle. I'll put it back in tomorrow morning. If I recall, when I tried to start it it would make no noise at all.

Also, when I took the jumper cables off, the car died immediately and not slowly.

colorado_96

the alternator sounds bad to me

Bigwillie

yup your jeep should run with no battery in it. if you cannot jump it and let it run without cables then the batt/alt might both be bad IMO.

77olds

No, this isn't correct.

SOME vehicles can run just on the alternator, but most modern vehicles with a computer and all of that usually can't.

I'm betting you have a bad battery. You had it tested at Auto Zone, and those guys don't know how to read the signs of a bad battery that simply passes a charge test.

When my battery failed, it had the same symptoms.

I could jump it with a jump box and it would run on it's own until i took the jump box off, then it would die. I had to run it for 5 minutes with the jump box on before it would run without it, and even then it died shortly after I pulled it into the shop.

I replaced the battery and the problem was solved.

Bigwillie

ah didnt see it was a 99. im not sure if it will run off the alternator alone. mine does but it is a 96.

awsgrayrd

I had this issue not too long ago after 3 weeks with a new yellow top Optima battery. Posted the issue on here and everyone who replied said it was alternator. Sure enough stuck that old Napa battery in, started it up, put a full load on it immediately after starting and i was getting 11.4 reading off the alternator. Sure enough the community was able to lead me the issue. I replaced the alternator, got the warrantied Optima battery from AAP to replace the one damaged due to it living off the juice that luckily died as soon as I pulled into the driveway. The symptoms I was receiving before pulling up to the house was the radio shut off on me, then my interior lights started to go noticeably dim.

Definitely try another battery that reads up to par and recheck your alternator with a full load on (headlights, heater on blast, radio, etc.). It didn't dawn on me that it was the alternator at first, I thought maybe I had the luck of the draw with a defective Optima. But like I said, luckily I still had the old battery that had a good enough charge to crank it up, because after sucking all the juice out of the Optima on the drive home it was not giving me anything! Give it shot, keep us posted. Best of luck!

V/r,
-awsgrayrd.

Sean1125

I had the same exact problem with my xj. Everything checked out fine, I thought I had a bad ground but they were all good. I ended up replacing the alternator and the battery and now she runs like a champ.

JeepS2000

Hmm, guess I'll start by replacing the battery and then the alternator if the battery alone doesn't solve the issue.

It's going to make me pretty mad if one or both of them are the problem as I had them checked out ha.

Either way thanks for the responses. I'll update if that does or doesn't fix the issue.

Sean1125

No problem, I went the exact opposite route though... If you by a new battery and the jeep starts right up that's great... But if that brand new battery gets drained due to a faulty alternator you still have to buy an alternator. I would by and install an alternator first. Just my .02

JeepS2000

Thanks for the help all. It's running now.

I can't believe that even though my alternator tested fine, it clearly wasn't.

Only remaining issue is that the car barely steers now. I believe that I have the belt routed right (checked on alldata) but when visually inspecting it while the car is on, it's definitely moving way too slow. Should I just go to autozone and rent a belt tensioner gauge and take it from there?