kilbrethj

i noticed my jeep while starting was turning over real slow and every once in a while it makes a wierd electrical noise. so i had my battery tested and it was on the lower end. replaced the battery and it still turns over slow and makes the wierd noise. i am nervous cause i am moving away to school in a week and i don't want to get stranded this winter that far away from home..... please help 96 4.0l auto

okcjeeper

Have the starter tested and then the alternator if the starter is fine.

Abovetimberline

yep,mine was doing the samething and I just got done changing the starter a few minutes ago,great now.

DeluxeCrusader

How does it run once its started? any stalling?

Can you tell where the noise is coming from? open the hood, have someone start it, and see if you can hear where its coming from.
What sort of noise is it?

While your hood is open, test your spark plugs.

damn, you all beat me to it, i guess i have to start typing faster.

kilbrethj

yah. i gotta find time to do that i guess then. is it hard to pull the starter from these. i have never even looked at it yet

kilbrethj

it only makes the noise once in a great while. like if i turn the key and it doesn't start right up. and i go to turn it again it makes a really wierd noise. like an electrical noise. i can't explain it with words haha

Abovetimberline

I just pulled mine and put it back in with my son in about 20 minutes,in the supermarket parking lot,it is about 100 degrees here today so I guess we just wanted to be out of the heat.had a spare in the plastic box i carry.

kilbrethj

well i went to start the jeep this morning and it turned over even slower, then it just clicked when i turned the key. then it started turning over again and started up. o drove it for about 5 minutes. shut it off for about 20 minutes and started it back up. afer letting it sit it turn over perfect. not slow at all. i have shut it off and turned it back on about 3 more times after that and it starts right up just as good as new. tested the voltage on the battery at high idle (bout 2000rpm) and it was reading about 14 so the alternator should be good right? i am stumped?

Abovetimberline

my starter did the samething,it is common for a starter to this when they start to go out,mine did this for about a month,even had to tap on it with a hammer to get it to work,it finally died yesterday,so I changed it out and all is good now. 14 volts is normal for the alt.

kilbrethj

how many bolts hole the starter up. what about wires going to it. i have not looked at it yet

reddragon72

this right here tells me that you have a power drain somewhere. you come out and it barely starts then you run it for 20 min and it starts without an issue. if it was your starter it would always crank slowly all the time even if you ran it. So how do you tell if you have a power drain? you get a 3v flashlight bulb and remove your positive cable and use wiring to put the bulb in series with the battery. no key no nothing just as the jeep sets without it being on at all. Now if the bulb glows then you have a power drain, if it blows you have a major drain. if you need more detailed instructions then let me know, but you can get the just of this test as you are simply using the 3v bulb to see if there is any power running from the batter, and yes 3v is needed as a 12v requires to much current and youll never see it lite even if there is a slight current flow. if the bulb is lite then start pulling fuses, one at a time till it goes out and touble shoot from there, but it sounds like you have a current drain somewhere, maybe a radio or amp???

also one other issue can occur and that is a bad/corroded starter cable at the starter, you can slide up under the rig and find the starter cable and wiggle it, if it breaks off then you know the culprit. this is a highly unlikely issue since you said it is clicking, which is the solenoid not getting enough juice. so go with the light bulb check and you might be surprised. :-)

kilbrethj

ok. where can i get the 3 volt bulb, and how excactly do you put the bulb in series with the battery? haha sorry.. i hate electrical stuff.

BlueXJ

2 wires and 2 bolts. Disconnect the battery first. Starters like most electric motors have brushes. They are a carbon based material and as it wears it accumulates dust which is detremental to making good contact with the armature. The tapping with a hammer clears that dust and allows the brushes to make enough contact to start the engine. A rebuilt starter is around $75 with the old one as a core. Most can be disassembled by a competent mechanic and just replace he brushes for about half that amount.
Good luck.

reddragon72

any standard flashlight with two batteries will work. just take the bulb out and or leave it in the holder and connect to wires to it, one to the small little metal bead on the the bottom and the other to the side of the bulb. now disconnect your positive battery cable and take on wire and attach it to the batter and the other to the battery cable and see if the bulb glows, or burns out. if either occurs then you have a constant pull on your battery.

I say he has a battery drain and not a starter issue cause he has said numerous times that it will try to rotate and then stop and he hears a clicking noise. It doesn't matter if the starter has bad brushes or any other issue, this is his starter solenoid kicking in and out rapidly. the reason is cause there is not enough juice getting to it, and to prove it all he has to do it look at his dash lights and interior lights while he is starting it in the morning and see that they are dimming to almost nothing... Also he says after he runs it for 20-30min it starts fine, so both of those clearly show he has a drain in his vehicle somewhere.

have you installed a new radio or an amp? if not then your only other choices are the alternator and ignition switch(those things are really crappy in our jeeps, I'm on my second one and it needs to be replaced)

JeepCoMJ

it's the starter. I'm gonna bet (and I'm a bit over half sure this is the case) that it is covered in oil. leading cause (aside from dirt/mud/water getting in it) of starter failure in a 4.0 is oil coming from the valve cover getting all over the starter. if that is the case, also look at doing a valve cover gasket sometime soon (after replacing starter of course)