No start, but aux power works
04-29-2018, 04:19 PM
#1
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Year: 1999
Model: Cherokee(XJ)
Engine: 4.0
No start, but aux power works
Please help, kind friends. XJ ‘99 4.0 manual 5-speed.
She started fine this morning, then today I did some basic maintenance: driver side speaker (wrires were broken in the door boot which I reattached and saudered) and also the power window lock-out button (sauder points were broken). After I completed the fixes, I reassembled everything and started her up. She started like a champ. I was was just testing every thing so I turned off everything and went inside. Then about a half hour later I tried it again and no crank. Radio, A/C, dash lights, and all goizmos appear to work. Guage shows about 12volts. I tried to jump her from my other car and nothing. I don’t have a multimeter and wont be able to get one right away, so I can’t test the battery easily.
Any suggestions are welcome. Thank you.
She started fine this morning, then today I did some basic maintenance: driver side speaker (wrires were broken in the door boot which I reattached and saudered) and also the power window lock-out button (sauder points were broken). After I completed the fixes, I reassembled everything and started her up. She started like a champ. I was was just testing every thing so I turned off everything and went inside. Then about a half hour later I tried it again and no crank. Radio, A/C, dash lights, and all goizmos appear to work. Guage shows about 12volts. I tried to jump her from my other car and nothing. I don’t have a multimeter and wont be able to get one right away, so I can’t test the battery easily.
Any suggestions are welcome. Thank you.
04-29-2018, 05:45 PM
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Year: 1999
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Something could have killed the battery. Can’t rule that out and it was my first thought. But it wouldn’t jump. Guage shows shows current. And aux power works. So my feeling is that it’s something else. My experience with cars is very limited, so I’m hoping someone else can help me trouble shoot. Appreciate your reply.
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04-29-2018, 07:44 PM
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Year: 1999
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Appreciate all your replies. As I said I dont have a multimeter handy so I cant check the voltage at the battery. I’ll try to get my hands on one. But I did try jumping it and had no luck there. I can’t rule out a drained battery but I’m getting a charge for other components and it started earlier in the day.
Also saw a recommendation about starting it in neutral. I have a manual transmission. Forgive me if I am wrong but my vehicle has no neutral safety sensor. Maybe the clutch safety sensor is bad but I’m not entirely sure how to troubleshoot that. I tried starting it with and without the clutch engaged. With clutch pedal pressed, I get check engine lights and radio goes quiet. Without clutch pedal pressed nothing happens, no idiot lights and no radio. I’veso tried starting it in neutral ans in fisrt just to rule that out.
Thanks again for your ideas.
Also saw a recommendation about starting it in neutral. I have a manual transmission. Forgive me if I am wrong but my vehicle has no neutral safety sensor. Maybe the clutch safety sensor is bad but I’m not entirely sure how to troubleshoot that. I tried starting it with and without the clutch engaged. With clutch pedal pressed, I get check engine lights and radio goes quiet. Without clutch pedal pressed nothing happens, no idiot lights and no radio. I’veso tried starting it in neutral ans in fisrt just to rule that out.
Thanks again for your ideas.
04-30-2018, 07:06 AM
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No, your gauge shows voltage, not current, and the difference is critical.
It's very easy to have the correct voltage, but not have a good enough connection to allow the full current to flow.
If one of your battery cables is loose where it connects to the starter (for the positive cable) or the block (for the negative cable), you might have enough connection to show full voltage, but not enough of a connection to allow enough current to turn the starter, or even engage the starter solenoid.
I suggest two things at this point:
- As already mentioned, try starting it in neutral, and also move the shifter between all the gears several times. If your NSS (Neutral Safety Switch) is going out, it can prevent starting, and sometimes it's intermittent.
- Physically check your battery connections (both ends). Wiggle them, tug on them, try to move them. Visually inspect for corrosion. Pay attention to the cables themselves, particularly agt the battery end. Corrosion can wick its way up a cable and do damage under the insulation jacket where you can't see it.
04-30-2018, 08:50 AM
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No, your gauge shows voltage, not current, and the difference is critical.
It's very easy to have the correct voltage, but not have a good enough connection to allow the full current to flow.
If one of your battery cables is loose where it connects to the starter (for the positive cable) or the block (for the negative cable), you might have enough connection to show full voltage, but not enough of a connection to allow enough current to turn the starter, or even engage the starter solenoid.
I suggest two things at this point:
It's very easy to have the correct voltage, but not have a good enough connection to allow the full current to flow.
If one of your battery cables is loose where it connects to the starter (for the positive cable) or the block (for the negative cable), you might have enough connection to show full voltage, but not enough of a connection to allow enough current to turn the starter, or even engage the starter solenoid.
I suggest two things at this point:
- As already mentioned, try starting it in neutral, and also move the shifter between all the gears several times. If your NSS (Neutral Safety Switch) is going out, it can prevent starting, and sometimes it's intermittent.
- Physically check your battery connections (both ends). Wiggle them, tug on them, try to move them. Visually inspect for corrosion. Pay attention to the cables themselves, particularly agt the battery end. Corrosion can wick its way up a cable and do damage under the insulation jacket where you can't see it.
- I don’t have a Neutral Safety Switch. My XJ is a manual. You might be meaning a clutch saftery sensor. Tried starting it with and without clutch engaged. Wrote up the results in earlier comment.
- I’ll check the battery cables, but I do not think they are the problem. They were good enough to start her up a half hour before I encounterd the no-start
I will try jumping the starter as suggested up thread. Never done that before and not entirely sure how.
04-30-2018, 01:18 PM
#12
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And a very likely cause is what Mark said above: bad connections. This could account for not being able to jump start it, and a poorly charged battery. If, after checking positive and ground connections you are still experiencing the problem, I’d move on to the starter. I had a bad solenoid on the starter which exhibited similar symptoms, though jump starting it actually did work for me a few times prior to it eventually not working.
04-30-2018, 03:59 PM
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Assuming you checked all the related fuses.
Those battery cables need to be tight and the battery needs to be in good shape (though you'd likely get at least an attempt to start).
Beyond that, I'll second the excellent advice re: checking the starter.
If your clutch interlock switch (the fancy name for the manual version of the NSS) is bad, a lot of folks will just cut the plug and hard-wire the two wires together. You could troubleshoot it by pulling the plug off and temporarily wiring the 2 ends together to bypass the switch.
The starter is pretty easy to get out and you can take it to your local parts store (Autozone, advance, Napa) and they can bench test it for you. You can bring both the starter and the battery and get them both tested. That's an easy and free way to know if your starter and/or battery is(are) bad. I'd still put my money on a bad connection or a less than stellar battery.
Those battery cables need to be tight and the battery needs to be in good shape (though you'd likely get at least an attempt to start).
Beyond that, I'll second the excellent advice re: checking the starter.
If your clutch interlock switch (the fancy name for the manual version of the NSS) is bad, a lot of folks will just cut the plug and hard-wire the two wires together. You could troubleshoot it by pulling the plug off and temporarily wiring the 2 ends together to bypass the switch.
The starter is pretty easy to get out and you can take it to your local parts store (Autozone, advance, Napa) and they can bench test it for you. You can bring both the starter and the battery and get them both tested. That's an easy and free way to know if your starter and/or battery is(are) bad. I'd still put my money on a bad connection or a less than stellar battery.
04-30-2018, 09:34 PM
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And a very likely cause is what Mark said above: bad connections. This could account for not being able to jump start it, and a poorly charged battery. If, after checking positive and ground connections you are still experiencing the problem, I’d move on to the starter. I had a bad solenoid on the starter which exhibited similar symptoms, though jump starting it actually did work for me a few times prior to it eventually not working.
I checked the battery connections, sanded them down and made them tight. No start. No crank.
I tried jumping the battery again, from a different booster car. No start. No crank.
I tried tapping on the starter. Had my wife try the ignition before during and after tapping. Now, it might be that because i was standing at the engine and not inside the cockpit, but I thought I heard a click at the starter. But only on the fisrt attempt. Then no sound on repeat atenpts. No start. No crank.
I tried jumping the starter with the screw driver trick. Arched the terminals. The starter spun, whirred really. Had the wifey try the ignition while i arched it. No start no crank. Just whirring.
So, i will do as suggested and have the starter and battery tested by napa. As soon as i can get over there. Thanks again for your helpful suggestions.
04-30-2018, 09:41 PM
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Assuming you checked all the related fuses.
Those battery cables need to be tight and the battery needs to be in good shape (though you'd likely get at least an attempt to start).
Beyond that, I'll second the excellent advice re: checking the starter.
If your clutch interlock switch (the fancy name for the manual version of the NSS) is bad, a lot of folks will just cut the plug and hard-wire the two wires together. You could troubleshoot it by pulling the plug off and temporarily wiring the 2 ends together to bypass the switch.
The starter is pretty easy to get out and you can take it to your local parts store (Autozone, advance, Napa) and they can bench test it for you. You can bring both the starter and the battery and get them both tested. That's an easy and free way to know if your starter and/or battery is(are) bad. I'd still put my money on a bad connection or a less than stellar battery.
Those battery cables need to be tight and the battery needs to be in good shape (though you'd likely get at least an attempt to start).
Beyond that, I'll second the excellent advice re: checking the starter.
If your clutch interlock switch (the fancy name for the manual version of the NSS) is bad, a lot of folks will just cut the plug and hard-wire the two wires together. You could troubleshoot it by pulling the plug off and temporarily wiring the 2 ends together to bypass the switch.
The starter is pretty easy to get out and you can take it to your local parts store (Autozone, advance, Napa) and they can bench test it for you. You can bring both the starter and the battery and get them both tested. That's an easy and free way to know if your starter and/or battery is(are) bad. I'd still put my money on a bad connection or a less than stellar battery.