So this is the issue: I have a 1984 jeep cherokee 2.8L, I bought a new battery for it started it up and shut it down a few times, power was good. Then a week later I went to start it up again... no power, no lights, no nothing. Thought the battery died. So I charged it up battery is all good.

Go to hook it up again and nothing. I have literally touched and done nothing to it since I last started it. My step dad says it may be a Ballast resistor blown, which i have no clue if it has one, and have no clue where it would be located.

My other thought is my idiot uncle was in the garage and may have been jealous that I inherited it, so maybe he pulled something and messed it up. I tried checking all of the plugs/wires and nothing is different.

Cliff notes:

-Started a few times all good
-week later no start, nothing touched
-no power, no lights, not a single thing makes a noise
-uncle has been in garage
-ballast resistor may be blown if it has?
-checked fuses

 

if you checked fuses, try checking the wires to your starter seliniod, if im not mistaken theres one on the fire wall and connects to the battery then one down on top of your starter, pass side about 7o'clock. check your coil and see if its hooked up right.

 

Start with charging the battery. A new Battery won't have much of a charge and if you leave it hooked up can draw it down dead..

 

If the Jeep has a short somewhere it will draw even a new battery dead in a few days.

 

he said he checked and recharged the battery. im not sure if it has a ballast resistor but i think it does. on my 88 it is on the driver side fender right by the air box. it has 2 wires that go to it. hth

 

It does have a ballast resistor but that would have nothing to do with the lack of overall power.

Check your cables first.
Now would be a good time to upgrade to better cables or at the least some new ends.

Also, check the positive cable where it connects to starter.
IF it is like most Cherokees it is probably coated in oil and if you jostled the cable while installing new battery, oil/dirt/yuck can get in there and cause a lack of current flow.

 

Thanks for the help guys... But it turned out to be the last thing to think about. The new battery is faulty period.

I took out the battery from my mustang, stuck it in the jeep, powered up and it started up with no problem. Then I stuck the new jeep battery in the mustang and nothing happened, no power.

So looks like I will be taking the new battery back to Canadian tire for a refund. Like I said befor I stuck it on a battery charger all night long, and it showed that it was fully charged. There wasn't even a small spark that you normally get when you hook up the positive and negative wires.

 

Glad you got it started again. Did you ever locate the resistor block for future reference? BTW it only goes to the fuel pump and not the starting curcuit.

 

Good to hear you got it fixed...