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New battery, won't start/turnover/crank
09-30-2013, 03:25 PM
#1
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New battery, won't start/turnover/crank
Hello all,
Been awhile. I've been frantically searching the forums for this issue, but it seems fairly specific compared to a lot of the topics I've ran across.
Last week a mechanic friend of mine was riding in my 96 XJ and he mentioned that the battery seemed to be on it's last leg, as start up was a bit taxing. I don't drive the Jeep all that often, and it has a tendency to sit parked for weeks on end. However, this morning when driving around running errands, starting the Jeep became more and more taxing on the battery, and it finally reached a point where all the electronics will light up, but the engine will not turn over, the starter won't click or anything. There is essentially no action when turning the key, but the power appears to remain constant.
Assuming it was just a dead battery, I went and purchased a new one, however the same problem lingers. All electronics have power, however there is no turnover/cranking/clicking when turning the ignition. My #1 culprit is poor wiring -- as the battery terminals and cables are fairly corroded and they most definitely need replaced. Additionally, I cannot even crank the terminals down tight enough on the new battery to keep everything solidly connected.
Other points to note:
I tried tapping the starter a few times, to no avail. Hasn't helped yet.
There ARE reverse lights when in R
The Jeep will still not start in neutral, leading me to believe it's probably not the NSS
Only the startup was noticeably lacking in oomph... once the Jeep was up and running all seemed well, and it drove perfectly fine
Right now the Jeep is stuck in my office parking lot, which isn't the end of the world. At least I won't get a street sweeping ticket at my apartment.
The plan of attack is for tomorrow -- a coworker is going to bring some voltage meters so we can check the old battery to see if that was part of the problem. We'll also attempt to jump start the Jeep and disconnect the battery to test out the alternator.
I'm guessing this is just a poor connection due to shoddy wiring and poor terminals. Previously, the old battery itself would have issues where the connection would go bad, and you would have to go wiggle the wires and sometimes disconnect/reconnect one end before it would start up again.
Basically, at this point in time, is there any other quick and dirty ways to attempt a fix before more diagnostics can be done? I tried tapping on the starter, starting it in neutral, cleaning grounds, etc. I'll have some more info tomorrow once we're able to run the alternator test. It just seems odd to me that an alternator or starter would phase out that quickly. The replaced battery is from 2008 and rather beat, so I figured that was part of the problem along with the crappy wiring.
Been awhile. I've been frantically searching the forums for this issue, but it seems fairly specific compared to a lot of the topics I've ran across.
Last week a mechanic friend of mine was riding in my 96 XJ and he mentioned that the battery seemed to be on it's last leg, as start up was a bit taxing. I don't drive the Jeep all that often, and it has a tendency to sit parked for weeks on end. However, this morning when driving around running errands, starting the Jeep became more and more taxing on the battery, and it finally reached a point where all the electronics will light up, but the engine will not turn over, the starter won't click or anything. There is essentially no action when turning the key, but the power appears to remain constant.
Assuming it was just a dead battery, I went and purchased a new one, however the same problem lingers. All electronics have power, however there is no turnover/cranking/clicking when turning the ignition. My #1 culprit is poor wiring -- as the battery terminals and cables are fairly corroded and they most definitely need replaced. Additionally, I cannot even crank the terminals down tight enough on the new battery to keep everything solidly connected.
Other points to note:
I tried tapping the starter a few times, to no avail. Hasn't helped yet.
There ARE reverse lights when in R
The Jeep will still not start in neutral, leading me to believe it's probably not the NSS
Only the startup was noticeably lacking in oomph... once the Jeep was up and running all seemed well, and it drove perfectly fine
Right now the Jeep is stuck in my office parking lot, which isn't the end of the world. At least I won't get a street sweeping ticket at my apartment.
The plan of attack is for tomorrow -- a coworker is going to bring some voltage meters so we can check the old battery to see if that was part of the problem. We'll also attempt to jump start the Jeep and disconnect the battery to test out the alternator.
I'm guessing this is just a poor connection due to shoddy wiring and poor terminals. Previously, the old battery itself would have issues where the connection would go bad, and you would have to go wiggle the wires and sometimes disconnect/reconnect one end before it would start up again.
Basically, at this point in time, is there any other quick and dirty ways to attempt a fix before more diagnostics can be done? I tried tapping on the starter, starting it in neutral, cleaning grounds, etc. I'll have some more info tomorrow once we're able to run the alternator test. It just seems odd to me that an alternator or starter would phase out that quickly. The replaced battery is from 2008 and rather beat, so I figured that was part of the problem along with the crappy wiring.
Last edited by jayrock; 09-30-2013 at 03:36 PM.
09-30-2013, 03:53 PM
#2
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Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Canton, MI
Posts: 8,357
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Year: 1999
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0
Hello all,
Been awhile. I've been frantically searching the forums for this issue, but it seems fairly specific compared to a lot of the topics I've ran across.
Last week a mechanic friend of mine was riding in my 96 XJ and he mentioned that the battery seemed to be on it's last leg, as start up was a bit taxing. I don't drive the Jeep all that often, and it has a tendency to sit parked for weeks on end. However, this morning when driving around running errands, starting the Jeep became more and more taxing on the battery, and it finally reached a point where all the electronics will light up, but the engine will not turn over, the starter won't click or anything. There is essentially no action when turning the key, but the power appears to remain constant.
Assuming it was just a dead battery, I went and purchased a new one, however the same problem lingers. All electronics have power, however there is no turnover/cranking/clicking when turning the ignition. My #1 culprit is poor wiring -- as the battery terminals and cables are fairly corroded and they most definitely need replaced. Additionally, I cannot even crank the terminals down tight enough on the new battery to keep everything solidly connected.
Other points to note:
I tried tapping the starter a few times, to no avail. Hasn't helped yet.
There ARE reverse lights when in R
The Jeep will still not start in neutral, leading me to believe it's probably not the NSS
Only the startup was noticeably lacking in oomph... once the Jeep was up and running all seemed well, and it drove perfectly fine
Right now the Jeep is stuck in my office parking lot, which isn't the end of the world. At least I won't get a street sweeping ticket at my apartment.
The plan of attack is for tomorrow -- a coworker is going to bring some voltage meters so we can check the old battery to see if that was part of the problem. We'll also attempt to jump start the Jeep and disconnect the battery to test out the alternator.
I'm guessing this is just a poor connection due to shoddy wiring and poor terminals. Previously, the old battery itself would have issues where the connection would go bad, and you would have to go wiggle the wires and sometimes disconnect/reconnect one end before it would start up again.
Basically, at this point in time, is there any other quick and dirty ways to attempt a fix before more diagnostics can be done? I tried tapping on the starter, starting it in neutral, cleaning grounds, etc. I'll have some more info tomorrow once we're able to run the alternator test. It just seems odd to me that an alternator or starter would phase out that quickly. The replaced battery is from 2008 and rather beat, so I figured that was part of the problem along with the crappy wiring.
Been awhile. I've been frantically searching the forums for this issue, but it seems fairly specific compared to a lot of the topics I've ran across.
Last week a mechanic friend of mine was riding in my 96 XJ and he mentioned that the battery seemed to be on it's last leg, as start up was a bit taxing. I don't drive the Jeep all that often, and it has a tendency to sit parked for weeks on end. However, this morning when driving around running errands, starting the Jeep became more and more taxing on the battery, and it finally reached a point where all the electronics will light up, but the engine will not turn over, the starter won't click or anything. There is essentially no action when turning the key, but the power appears to remain constant.
Assuming it was just a dead battery, I went and purchased a new one, however the same problem lingers. All electronics have power, however there is no turnover/cranking/clicking when turning the ignition. My #1 culprit is poor wiring -- as the battery terminals and cables are fairly corroded and they most definitely need replaced. Additionally, I cannot even crank the terminals down tight enough on the new battery to keep everything solidly connected.
Other points to note:
I tried tapping the starter a few times, to no avail. Hasn't helped yet.
There ARE reverse lights when in R
The Jeep will still not start in neutral, leading me to believe it's probably not the NSS
Only the startup was noticeably lacking in oomph... once the Jeep was up and running all seemed well, and it drove perfectly fine
Right now the Jeep is stuck in my office parking lot, which isn't the end of the world. At least I won't get a street sweeping ticket at my apartment.
The plan of attack is for tomorrow -- a coworker is going to bring some voltage meters so we can check the old battery to see if that was part of the problem. We'll also attempt to jump start the Jeep and disconnect the battery to test out the alternator.
I'm guessing this is just a poor connection due to shoddy wiring and poor terminals. Previously, the old battery itself would have issues where the connection would go bad, and you would have to go wiggle the wires and sometimes disconnect/reconnect one end before it would start up again.
Basically, at this point in time, is there any other quick and dirty ways to attempt a fix before more diagnostics can be done? I tried tapping on the starter, starting it in neutral, cleaning grounds, etc. I'll have some more info tomorrow once we're able to run the alternator test. It just seems odd to me that an alternator or starter would phase out that quickly. The replaced battery is from 2008 and rather beat, so I figured that was part of the problem along with the crappy wiring.
09-30-2013, 04:01 PM
#3
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just did some googling to find out why not to do that, makes sense. care to elaborate a bit? seems like it could just cause all kinds of hassle with the electrical system. is there any other easy ways to test the alternator?
looking forward to even just trying a jump, as that should give us some more info. won't have much new info until tomorrow unfortunately.
looking forward to even just trying a jump, as that should give us some more info. won't have much new info until tomorrow unfortunately.
09-30-2013, 04:26 PM
#4
Seasoned Member
My universal solution for ALL battery related issues is to clean the terminals to bright metal. You may have to go further and check the entire ground loop, like where the ground attaches to the block.
10-01-2013, 03:21 AM
#5
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Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Blue Springs, MO
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Year: 1993
Model: Grand Cherokee
Engine: 4.0L Laredo
just did some googling to find out why not to do that, makes sense. care to elaborate a bit? seems like it could just cause all kinds of hassle with the electrical system. is there any other easy ways to test the alternator?
looking forward to even just trying a jump, as that should give us some more info. won't have much new info until tomorrow unfortunately.
looking forward to even just trying a jump, as that should give us some more info. won't have much new info until tomorrow unfortunately.
*Once you do get it started, you can test the alternator output with a volt meter on the battery terminals. It should show a couple volts higher than battery voltage with the engine off.
*Also, the 'crappy' wiring should be addressed regardless of what the problem ends up being. Good Luck!
10-01-2013, 07:49 AM
#6
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Year: 1999
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0
The electrical system you're refering to is the Powertrain Control Module (PCM). The PCM is very sensitive to voltage spikes and could cook the PCM by disconnecting the battery or alternator when the engine is runnng.
10-03-2013, 12:16 PM
#7
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bumping this for posterity's sake
ended up getting towed to a shop that was near my office where it died.
turns out the problem all along was the poor connection from the battery, as the negative terminal was so old and corroded it could not be tightened down enough for a strong enough connection to even activate the starter. they tested everything else including the starter and alternator, and the rest of the system checked out fine once the new battery terminals were replaced.
good news, original diagnosis of poor connection was correct. thanks to the wealth of information on these forums it was easy to check things like NSS off the list of potential problems. Thanks again everyone for the input!!
ended up getting towed to a shop that was near my office where it died.
turns out the problem all along was the poor connection from the battery, as the negative terminal was so old and corroded it could not be tightened down enough for a strong enough connection to even activate the starter. they tested everything else including the starter and alternator, and the rest of the system checked out fine once the new battery terminals were replaced.
good news, original diagnosis of poor connection was correct. thanks to the wealth of information on these forums it was easy to check things like NSS off the list of potential problems. Thanks again everyone for the input!!
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10-03-2013, 12:38 PM
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bumping this for posterity's sake
ended up getting towed to a shop that was near my office where it died.
turns out the problem all along was the poor connection from the battery, as the negative terminal was so old and corroded it could not be tightened down enough for a strong enough connection to even activate the starter. they tested everything else including the starter and alternator, and the rest of the system checked out fine once the new battery terminals were replaced.
good news, original diagnosis of poor connection was correct. thanks to the wealth of information on these forums it was easy to check things like NSS off the list of potential problems. Thanks again everyone for the input!!
ended up getting towed to a shop that was near my office where it died.
turns out the problem all along was the poor connection from the battery, as the negative terminal was so old and corroded it could not be tightened down enough for a strong enough connection to even activate the starter. they tested everything else including the starter and alternator, and the rest of the system checked out fine once the new battery terminals were replaced.
good news, original diagnosis of poor connection was correct. thanks to the wealth of information on these forums it was easy to check things like NSS off the list of potential problems. Thanks again everyone for the input!!
10-03-2013, 01:50 PM
#9
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just picked it up from the shop and it starts PERFECTLY. hasn't started this great in the almost two years since i've owned it!
moral of the story -- if you're having a slow startup/cranking, make sure those battery connections are good to go!
Last edited by jayrock; 10-03-2013 at 02:02 PM.
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