duddlylovesmyjeep

I have a 2000 cherokee classic. So far no major problems- until yesterday. We went mudding down some trails, and when we got out of one trail onto the road there was a weird clicking, sort of straining, sound. We ignored it and kept going (whoops). We got about half way down another trail when the check guages light came on the dash and the battery guage dropped to zero. So we shut it off, and when we tried to start it again, it was dead. We jumped it with a 4-wheeler and that worked at first, but it was squealing and sounded funky, so we shut it off. But then we were unable to jump it again. When we tried it again the lights on the dash would flicker and the sound coming from it was a loud, fast clicking from what we believe was the starter. We got the battery checked out at walmart and they said it was fine and still had plenty of juice in it. So now the question is...is it the starter or the alternator that's causing it not to start/run? Thanks.

5-90

It helps to give model, year, and engine (even if it's in your profile. Some guys like me are checking six boards at once...) and I'm fairly sure you've got a few symptoms you've left out, as well as possible fault-causing conditions ("I was on some trails yesterday" doesn't tell us much, y'know?)

Just sayin' - there's no such thing as "useless information." If we don't need it, we can ignore it - but it's better to think "I didn't need that" than to pepper you with questions...

Some general tips:

1) Search up where I've gone into scratch testing of the battery, alternator, and starter in detail. It's about an essay, and I get tired of typing it. I really do need to make a writeup online one of these days...

2) You tested the battery. How? DMM check? Load test? Hydrometer to check electrolyte density per cell? A DMM will tell you if there's a "surface charge," but it's really meaningless unless you put some load on the battery and watch it. My favourite is a hydrometer test - I can compare cells and see if one is heading South. The "essay" I cited in (1) tells you how to load the battery and load the charging system to make sure where the fault really is.

3) Have you checked the mains connections (battery/PDC/alternator/starter motor/grounds) yet? These can get dirty and/or corroded and cause you trouble - particularly the grounds. These really should be your first check.

4) Since you have a "Check Gages" lamp, you have ChryCo wiring and controls. Just for fun, there should be a DIN relay in your PDC marked Starter Motor (a DIN relay is about a 1" cube, not including terminals. A Mini-DIN, if that's what you have, will be about 1/2"x1"x1", not including terminals. Both are relatively inexpensive, and you should be able to find them locally. Test by substitution, since I haven't finished designing or building that relay tester I've been kicking around...)

Anything else I'm not thinking of? Anyone?

duddlylovesmyjeep

I fixed the original post so it make a little bit more sense now. But I don't know how the battery got tested or whatever, but it's definately fine. So now I'm just wondering if it is the starter or alternator, I've heard both from different people.

5-90

If you don't know how it got tested, then it's not "definitely fine" - you don't know the pass/fail criteria (which is why my basic electrical testing writeup is so long. It gives the hows and whys, and what you need to know to pass or fail something.)

Search for posts on electrical testing under my moniker (5-90) on this and other Jeep boards - you'll find it. Bookmark it, then print it and stick it in your shop notebook. If you search for posts using alternator, battery, and starter with my username, you should be able to find it fairly easily. I'm fairly sure I've posted it here before anyhow.

tiwvr1

SQUEALING NOISE IS A SIGN. Take serp belt off and spin alt. by hand, if it feels rough, then its a bad alt. Or you can get it to start and put a volt meter on the back of the alt. where the wire for the battery goes, you should have around 14.5 volts

goldenlandscaping

go to advance auto and they will check both for free they will even come to you if you are fairly close to them most likely in town