I have a 1996 Jeep Cherokee with the inline 6 cylinder. I started the jeep and started to back up and it cut off. I put it back into park and tried to restart. The starter would not engage. Put it into neutral and still the starter would not engage. I noticed the blower motor was also not running with the key in the run position. The battery is ok and if I jump the starter it will engage. I checked the fuses in the box in the engine compartment I found two mini fuses that had no positive power. One is a 10amp and the other is a 15 amp. I added positive power to one of the fuses and I heard the blower motor come on. I left the power on the fuse and the jeep restarted. I drove it home about 15 miles with no problems. I tried to restart it when I was at home and it would not restart until I put power back on the one mini fuse.

Thanks for helping .

 

Replace the fuse?

 

The fuse box in the engine compartment is called the Power Distribution Center (PDC). There is a diagram of the fuse layout on the PDC inside cover. Which two mini fuses had no positive power?

 

I'm guessing its your ignition switch. Open up the steering column trim and check out the connector, wires, and the switch. That switch and connector on a 96 is exposed to a lot of heat on a 96 because the full amperage draw for the blower fan runs through it. It can melt the wires and connector easily if the resistance gets to high due to age, corrosion, carbon building, etc. But it also feeds power back to the PDC for a number of items needed for starting.

Get in there and at least do a visual inspection.

 

x2 - Sounds like ignition switch.

In my 95 with the same switch when I put it in "Acc" to listen to the radio the blower runs if it's on.

 

Thanks I will check the ignition switch in the am .