Hello all, new to the forum. Live in maine and I have a 97 xj sport, I have been with her for 7 years (the first 6 on the road). She was my first vehical and I love her dearly. About a year ago she wasn't road legal after 6 long years of a 15-21 using and abusing her. She sat for a while, I would start and run her every week or two (along with pulling a stuck f-250 out of the lake) so she didn't just sit there. About 6 months ago on a weekly startup it was dead, had not shown any signs of bad battery and it was only a year old. Rather than buying a new battery I jumped it from my fathers car, all went well and a few mins later she fired right up. This is where it gets weird... The moment we took of the cables she started running very rough and chuggy, similar to a cylinder misfire but more like 2 or 3 of them! my dad put the cables back on right away and all was fine, purrin like a warm kitten. We let her sit with the cables a moment or two take them off and chuggy once more... alternator is 2-3 years old and battery should be fine so I'm puzzled to say the least. Feathering the throttle made no difference, just a higher rpm chug. Once I got inside I noticed none of her gauges were working, windows were dead, radio dead but speakers playing an odd screech and interior lights were also dead. After a minute or two the chuugy got worse and she wanted to stall, then only feathering throttle would keep her alive. Then a headlight got extreamly bright and blew. shortly there after she just died... light a light switch got shut off and would not jump. I bought a battery for her and she drained it and remained unresponsive. NOTHING electrical works even with new battery (which shortly dies) not even the ignition chime or mileage when the key is in the on position... I was lost... and still am. I obviously suspect a major short but have no idea where to look, did not see or smell wires burning and cant find any burnt up parts. I am pretty decent with electricity but my multi meter was stolen of a job site recently, so I am without that at the moment. I know this is any odd one and it has way to many keywords to pull off a google search, but if anyone has any idea of where to begin it would be much appreciated. I don't have a huge budget to work with right now but I need to get these electrical problems out the way before I can start on the long list of other issues (ball joints, steering pump, and other similar unstickerable offence). I am getting her towed to my house from my fathers so I will have time to work on her. I have never paid anyone a cent to work on her, and I really don't want to start now. I miss my jeep and really want her to get back on the road, anyone every hear of anything like this?

p.s. sorry for the very long post

 

possible shorted alt ?

 

Like freegdr said, it may be a shorted alternator.

If the jump start was improperly done it may have smoked the alternator, or possibly the powertrain control module.

You may want to remove the alternator and take it to a shop/store that can test it for you. If the alternator checks okay it may be the PCM.

Review these jump start procedures and see if this is how it was accomplished:

TO JUMP START A DISABLED VEHICLE:

(1) Raise hood on disabled vehicle and visually inspect engine compartment for:

• Battery cable clamp condition, clean if necessary.
• Frozen battery.
• Yellow or bright color test indicator, if equipped.
• Low battery fluid level.
• Generator drive belt condition and tension.
• Fuel fumes or leakage, correct if necessary.

CAUTION: If the cause of starting problem on disabled vehicle is severe, damage to booster vehicle charging system can result.

(2) When using another vehicle as a booster source, turn off all accessories, place gear selector in park or neutral, set park brake and operate engine at 1200 rpm.

(3) On disabled vehicle, place gear selector in park or neutral and set park brake. Turn off all accessories.

(4) Connect jumper cables to booster battery. RED clamp to positive terminal (+). BLACK clamp to negative terminal (-). DO NOT allow clamps at opposite end of cables to touch, electrical arc will result. Review all warnings in this procedure.

(5) On disabled vehicle, connect RED jumper cable clamp to positive (+) terminal. Connect BLACK jumper cable clamp to engine ground as close to the ground cable attaching point as possible, not the battery negative post.

CAUTION: Do not crank starter motor on disabled vehicle for more than 15 seconds, starter will overheat and could fail.

(6) Allow battery in disabled vehicle to charge to at least 12.4 volts (75% charge) before attempting to start engine. If engine does not start within 15 seconds,
stop cranking engine and allow starter to cool (15 min.), before cranking again.

DISCONNECT CABLE CLAMPS AS FOLLOWS:

• Disconnect BLACK cable clamp from engine ground on disabled vehicle.
• When using a Booster vehicle, disconnect BLACK cable clamp from battery negative terminal. Disconnect RED cable clamp from battery positive terminal.
• Disconnect RED cable clamp from battery positive terminal on disabled vehicle.