Went to start the 93 Jeep Cherokee sport the other day and it wouldn’t crank. Cabin lights and radio were on though.

Jumped her and batter seemed fine/ ran just fine.

Then I turned her off and smacked the battery terminals/ connectors a bit. She started right up several times.

Next time I went to drive there was absolutely no power/ wouldn’t crank. No cab light or radio either.

So far I’ve checked all the fuses, bought new battery connectors and cleaned terminals. No luck with that so I started chasing the ground and power. Everything seems fine but when I poke at the solenoid it’s loose. Starter is on there solid though.

So if my solenoid was loose, would that be a possible reason for no power?

If so, what size and thread of bolt am I missing? Thought about getting a new starter but that seems silly if all I need is a bolt

Pic 1 is a video I saw where it looks like there’s a bolt holding the solenoid.

Pic 2 is where I believe I may be missing a bolt?

 

I'd tighten the screws either way, but that shouldn't cause no-power at all. I'd start back at the battery and make sure you have good clean connections and that the cables are not rotten. If you still have the oem cables, it's likely they've deteriorated a bit. Any ground connections should be removed, cleaned and reinstalled. In particular the ground point on the passenger side of the block where a whole bunch of stuff connects.

 

The magnetic coil that pulls in the starter solenoid is grounded thru it's case so if it isn't tight, it won't carry the current to activate it. Electrical circuits are easy to understand as long as you keep in mind the ground part of any circuit is as important as the supply part. This is easy to overlook when on automobiles the metal parts of the body IS the ground circuit.

Keep in mind as well, all sensors and most electrical parts that are controlled by the computer are wired to power and the computer controls the ground. This is important to know when diagnosing an ignition or injector fault.

 

Thank you! I cleaned the terminals and what not but not the grounds. I found a screw to put in there but that didn't fix it. I finally got a new battery and that seemed to solve the issue even though battery tested fine. I may have a slow drain from my stereo amp but I made sure the shut off wire was in there good so hopefully it doesn't drain.

 

Thank you for the response! I replied about the fix above. Fingers crossed I don't have a slow drain since I just took apart steering column

 

dont cross your fingers, perform a parasitic drain test, takes 5 minutes

Google on how to do it