So this Cherokee I just bought turns out to have a mess of problems. I've been driving it since Saturday and this is the first time it's done this. I started it this morning and everything went fine. I realized I left something in house, turned it off, went in the house, came back out and it wouldn't start. When I say it wouldn't start, I mean when I turned the key to crank the engine I got nothing. The starter didn't turn on. I tried a few more times and nothing, no noise at all. It was acting as if the battery was dead (but it wasn't). I let it sit for about 10 minutes, tried again, and it started like a charm. Any ideas what this could be?

Tim

 

Could be your battery cables getting loose, or worst case your starter is starting to fail. I would check your cables first.

 

Your neutral safety switch needs to be cleaned. There is a couple of places on here that tell you how to do it. Until you get it cleaned, when it happens try shifiting it into neutral and try starting it there. Also sometimes shifting out of park back into park will let it start. I have the same problem and I am going to have to clean mine soon. Good luck.

 

I've looked in the service manual and found a few things it could possibly be, but none of the options say anything about it occasionally working. Thanks for the tip. After doing some thinking and allowing my frustration with this car to dissipate, I'm thinking corroded wiring/connectors are definitely a possible culprit. This XJ did sit for a bit (about a year) so I'm sure that didn't help the wires/connectors out.

 

I am having the exact same problem
but I can use a bar to stick down to jump the two bat posts on the starter
it spins the starter but it dos not engage it
I can then use the key to start it up just fine

 

after doing some service manual reading, i think this issue is definitely with the park/neutral position switch. since i've gotten the vehicle, it would never start in neutral and now park's giving me trouble. i'll give it a look at later but if anyone has any other ideas/experiences i'd love to hear them.