But I can think of plenty of times that the connections themselves just had dirt and grime. I could jam all day long to my tunes and flash highbeams at each car that passed with no problem, but wouldn't even try to start. Clean the connections and POW! I'm ready to drive to Canada.

But seriously. Since this IS a community, as you mentioned, I'd say nine out of ten times I see a ludicrous suggestion someone within this community corrects it (not in a non-whiny, I-know-all way that I see on the majority of other forums).

I'm on A LOT of car-oriented forums; some technical, others not. This is one of the few I can come onto and get a massive, positive response that genuinely helps me in a HUGE way. I think complaining about a problem that is vastly overshadowed by the help you can, and will, get here is really kind of pointless. Everyone's just learning at different paces, mate; give 'em a break for trying to help and learn.

-T.O.

 

Did you ever stop to consider that people who don't know what their talking about most likely don't realize they don't know what their talking about?Some people are know it alls and some people know what they don't know and don't say anything and some people just try to help......right or wrong.Its up to the OP to decide where and who he listens too.We can't do it all for the OP even though we might like to.

 

This thread is awesome. Pure awesome, concentrated. No filler.

 

All depends on which battery cable.

I had a situation where everything worked but no crank.

Turns out a dirty/loose battery cable connection ( at the starter ) was the problem.

Remember the negative cable goes to chassis ground.

The positive cable branches off.

 

Miss Information always gave me too much to do. I prefer to ask Mister Information.

The best thing you can do for yourself is to gather as much or as many inputs as you can, filter and digest it all then approach the task in a systematic way beginning with the simplest, most accessible stuff.

 

when in doubt refer to the turbo encabulator...
http://youtu.be/rLDgQg6bq7o

 

funny, I have had vehicles that just clicked when trying to start it, and every time it was a bad/loose battery ground cable

maybe i should have tested the starter instead.....

 

The only real mis-information I can see about this would be suggesting to check blinker fluid levels, exhaust bearings, etc. Even a wrong answer now might be remembered down the road and will actually work. Who knows. Please get off the soapbox.

 

What the hell did I just watch...

 

while I respect your opinion, and I agree with you about posting misinformation, your example is pretty far off base.

On these vehicles the connections (grounds and battery terminals) are responsible for probably 60-70% of the "no start with a click" scenarios. There is no cost involved in cleaning those - and minimal time, and never a bad idea to do even if you are not having issues. A bad battery accounts for probably another 20%, and a bad starter is probably the last thing on the list - it really doesn't happen that often. So to make someone take off a starter to bench test it really requires more work than anything else, and is the least likely thing to go wrong all things considered

 

haha oohhh it goes right along with exhaust bearings, blinker fluid, piston return springs etc...

 

The plans for this were leaked onto the internet last year. I built one and it works great for my Subotomic Hydroplaner.

 

This is a forum for Jeep owners to discuss what ever they wish about their rides. This is not " ask the Pro desk". When a poster asks a question, it is up to him to gather the opinions of others and decide what to do with it. Do they sometimes get the wrong info, sure but you can get the wrong info from your local mechanic as well. Just because he may work at a shop and have grease on his hands doesnt mean he knows what he is talking about.

This place is no different than asking a friend a question. You have to take what you hear with a grain of salt.
If you believe everything written here as truth then you probably believe everything you see on TV. If thats the case than there is no help for ya anyway.

 

Go get em

 

Well put good sir....