This last monday I went to start my cherokee. Hadnt ran in like 2 days, battery had very little charge and the starter solenoid just clicked. Hooked another battery up and it started right up. Tuesday it happened again, did the same thing and it started. Yesterday it did it again and threw the charger on after realizing the jumper battery was dead too.

Last night the battery was what I would call fully charged at 8 PM or so. Started this morning at turned over snow at 8AM today. By 3PM the thing was dead and just clicked. I have now tried 2 batteries. One good Exide and an expensive 6pack type. Both are good batteries as far as I know.

Is there anything that commonly drains current off over a 12 hour period? I can shut it off, let it sit 2 hours and starts right up.

Another wierd thing is, about a week ago my power seats and windows stopped working. Power mirrors, radio, and fan works though.

When I start the Jeep usually on the charger now, the lights are dim, radio doesnt work and the door buzzer is dim for about 30 seconds, the voltmeter is at 7 too. After 30 seconds of running it seems the altenator kicks in and everything works. Lights brighten up, fan kicks in ect.

This has only happened with the last week with -10 temps. Ran fine to now. Never had a problem with batteries.

Is there anything that commonly causes power drain over night in -10 weather? Anyway related to the seats and windows not working? What fuse trips to cut the windows and seats off anyways?

Thanks! I might just resort to pulling fuses over night now unless anyone has any suggestions.

 

auto stores will check the alt for proper charge

 

If you have access to a multimeter that can read current you can hook it up and view how much current is being drawn from the battery and pull fuses to isolate where the problem may be. This would be a lot quicker than pulling different fuses every night.

If he can jump the vehicle then drive it around and restart it then it is probably not a bad alternator.

Also depending on what type of battery you have, charging it then discharging it every night is going to damage it.

 

Is your glove box closed? Ask me how I know..... lol

Mine was draining so bad that even trying to jump start it from a running vehicle it would not fire up.

Just glad I found the glove box light before I started tearing into other things.

 

Not necessarily. A bad diode in the rectifier can cause the charging symptoms. In the cold, there is extra strain put on the charging system, it takes more power to turn over, your running the defroster, blower up on max, etc etc. If there is a toasted diode, in that rectifier it can charge under normal operating conditions. With the extra strain, the alt has to work harder to keep up. With extra load and the bad diode, it can allow voltage to flow where it shouldn't, collapsing the magnetic field, and stops charging. (I think thats how it works, correct me if i'm wrong.)

Ive got the exact same thing going on in my Jeep. Id get the alt checked asap. This could cause damage to your expensive battery's , making them junk. (A toasted battery could be your draining issue).

 

"If he can jump the vehicle then drive it around and restart it then it is probably not a bad "

Completely untrue. The alternator in my toyota pickup went out and I had it jumped 3 times and did the old drop the clutch while she's rolling trick twice. Every time it I did it it would run, but no radio, gauges or anything electrically powered. If I turned the lights on it would instanly kill it., lol found that out the hard way

But before it completely died, it did exactly as he described here went through 3 batterys before we figured it out because it was reading as a good alternator

 

I stand corrected.

 

Lol wasn't trying to be a ****, although now that I read my post it kinda seems that way. We thought something had to be staying on to drain the battery, but instead the battery just never got recharged lol

 

sounds like you have a short some where go through your wiring and you will find the problem most of the time right away

 

Im not saying 100% that it isnt the altenator, but it probably isnt the altenator. Right after I hooked up the charger I let it sit 2 minutes and it started right up. The battery had like 10 volts and stuck my voltmeter on and watched it go to 14.5 volts instantly within the first 30 seconds of it running. Thats to the battery posts.

It charges fine once its running, just has a power drain that takes over 8 hours or so.

I unhooked the positive terminal on the battery and Ill stick it back on tomorrow when its cold again and see if it starts. I expect it to.

Still dont know why my windows or seats dont work. Everything else is fine and works though.

I was also reading a Haynes manual (useless for the most part but anyways) it mentioned that there was a fuse on some models between the alt and the stater solenoid. It said the symptoms are some accessories not working and a no start condition. I looked and didnt see any fuse. I assume this is only on the non 4.0 or non renix 4.0's. All I know is I dont have a fuse.

 

did it say fuseable link maybe when you put the cable back on is there a light or heavy spark when you first touch it while putting it on

 

To test for battery drain hook up a test light in series between the battery and the pos terminal but make sure that you dont break the circuit when you do it. Its a PITA! Dont use a multimeter it may blow the fuse in the meter. Not a big deal but it is easier with the light. Now to test the fusible link use the multimeter and set it to ohms put one lead on one end of the cable an the other lead on the other end. There should be near 0 resistance if the meter says the circuit is open tho then a fusible link is bad or fuse is bad or cable is bad. But its prolly not your cable or alternator. My money is on a drain or u need a new battery

 

I had a similar problem in one of my cars, for the life of me I could never find the drain, money was tight and couldn’t afford to take it to a auto electrician, so I put one of those battery cut of switches on, I ran extended cable into the cabin so I didn’t have to keep popping the hood, worked great for me, hope you find your drain, but as a last resort try one of these..
http://www.harborfreight.com/side-post-battery-disconnect-switch-67086.html
http://www.harborfreight.com/battery-disconnect-switch-97853.html
http://www.harborfreight.com/heavy-duty-battery-cutoff-switch-66789.html
http://www.harborfreight.com/battery-cut-off-switch-92688.html

 

This would be the BEST way to find the short. It's possible a 12+ wire is grounding out just enough to kill the battery but not blow another fuse...Tj

 

Well I started up this afternoon after it sat over night with the battery disconnected. Started up just fine. And thats in -7 weather not being plugged in. So that means the battery is fine.

My main thought is a relay got stuck, or something rubbed and is grounding out.

When I put the positive cable on the battery there is a bigger spark then I would call normal.