My 96 AX-15 XJ is having some troubles folks. Some times she doesn't even try to turn over and 2x I've tapped the starter and she has fired right up. Push starting works great and when running I have no power loss or dimming of lights (I think that rules out alt). When she does fire, she sounds awful as she has a really slow lugging turn then finally kicks over. Temps lately have been between -13 and 20 so it is cold, but I have been using my block heater for the morning starts and my battery was tested on the XJ with power off, at start up, and at idle and tested fine. Also, the starter did pass 3 attempts on a bench test but I have no way of giving a load test at this point.

As you've guessed it, I'm thinking starter, but don't know if it could be other electronics, like the ignition switch (I hear those go on XJs but the symptoms don't seem to fit that). Also, I'm not sure if there is a bad connection somewhere or what a layer of dirt could do. I really want to eliminate all other options first since I don't have a spare $100 floating around for the starter.

What do y'all think and what else should I check? Thanks,

s

 

put test light on small wire on starter next time it dont start if light lights when key is turned to start replace it but tapping should be pretty straight forward it going out

 

Sounds like the Solenoid on top the starter.
They have a copper plate in there that gets a burnt spot and doesn't make contact occasionally and when that happens you can tap on it and it will go ahead and start.
Other times it can be a bad armature with a dead spot.
The starter shouldn't cost $100.
Look in your local phone book and see if there is a starter/altenator shop around.
A lot of times you can visit one of them and just say fix it (no warranty) but they're replace the bad parts for $25 plus parts. Maybe $35 to $40.

 

Make sure you have clean and tight electrical connections at the battery, the starter and the ground on the engine. Also make sure you have good contact between the starter and the bell housing of the transmission.

 

yup, sounds like you have a bad battery cable.
check your cables for any splitting/corroding, if everything seems tight.
check the smaller positive cable that goes from the battery to the PDC.

 

Thanks all for the help. The past 2 days has produced some additional symptoms that may help in the diagnosis.

Occasionally when starting the XJ, when it would turn over, it would make kind of a sputtering 'scratchy' sound and all the accessories (e.g., interior lights and CD player) would flicker. This happened for about 5 seconds before it would just quit and no fire. It felt like I was getting abducted by aliens, only my @ss didn't hurt afterward.

What gives??
I'll check everything suggested after work today.

s