DirtyBomb

so im driving home last night, truck is running great, nothing weird, then it just shuts down on me. will not crank or pop start. towed it back home and i cant figure this one out. my ground on the battery was way loose, but tightened everything back up and nothing. all fuses good too.
when i put the key in and turn it, its supposed to buzz, i dont have that and when i go to crank i get nothing. it seems that anything that is switched to the ignition will not work, blower, radio, stuff like that. but my parking lights, headlights and overheads turn on.
wtf? i dont want to spend $45 on another ignition switch for that not to work either. it shouldnt be anything with the nss, my truck starts in any gear without pushing the clutch, at least it did before this. cant seem to find anything loose.

any ideas? i need this fixed asap, this is my daily and i hate electrical. on top of that its at my buddys house 10miles away from all my tools :/

DirtyBomb

fuel pump does not turn on either

Guntar13

lets start with what year?

Are you getting power at all to the dash? Interior lights turning on? I'd check the wiring to the starter very carefully, also check the negative cable where it grounds to the block.

DirtyBomb

96 4.0 5spd. Dash lights work, my headlights and overheads work fine, they are on seperate switches.
I have to go to work but tonight ill check ground wires and prob get new battery connectors

MtnHermit

STRONGLY suggests to me that your ground battery terminal is heavily oxidized. Tightening it will NOT break through the oxide.

Remove both battery terminals, clean until bright metal (both terminal and post) then apply some oil, white grease, etc and reassemble.

90% sure that will solve the problem.

docmedpros

i do agree with the gentleman before me but i had this issue and had to replace the key ignition module, it was a *****...

DirtyBomb

My battery terminals are pretty darn clean, I'm gonna replace the negative connector just cuz its crap.
Besides, if I wasnt making good connections, wouldn't that affect the 600w of lighting I have? I can turn on every light on this truck and they are as bright as ever.
Do ignition switches just "go bad"? Like i said,.there were no symptoms leading to this. Always cranked when I turned the key, now out of no where it just craps

docmedpros

mine literally just died, don't know why but replaced it. then i said **** it and just set up a push start

DirtyBomb

I also have a98 xj for parts. Ill x reference the part numbers and see if that switch will work. So if that doesn't fix it, at least I didn't waste.$45

DirtyBomb

I wanted to do a push button start with a toggle for the ignition switch, I just have more important things to worry about than a fancy ignition, so ill rig something i.figure it out

docmedpros

yeah mine is a trail rig but road worthy. hope it works out for you