Hey guys. I've been having a lot of "fun" with my 1988 Cherokee for a while now, and this problem has been popping up and vanishing for a while now. After I first bought it, it ran well enough, but sometimes when the load was too much, the car would cut everything off for a few seconds. All it would require was putting on the safety lights until I could restart the engine, and I could drive again.

I changed the battery and this was no longer a problem; the car had had a small, weak battery and so I assumed this was the source of the problem.

Recently, the car had begun to give me power issues again, and attempting to get a jump actually killed the battery. After replacing it (with a similar "gold top" battery) the car again began to shut off sometimes while driving it. This time though, it did several new things.

First, it ran as if the battery were already drained. The voltage levels when started were normal, but if I drive for a while, it drops to a point where it looks as if the battery is going dead. I have checked both the battery and the alternator, and found nothing wrong with either.

The second thing is that when the car shuts off, ALL power dies. I'm not even able to put on the emergency blinkers to let people know I'm having a problem. The power will stay like this for anywhere from 30 seconds to 10+ minutes with no real explanation, then the car will once more start and run like normal (or at least normal for this car).

I've had a friend help me go through the car carefully, looking for the problem and we were unable to understand what exactly was causing the issue. The only thing I saw that might have something to do with it was a corroded starter relay, which I plan to replace as of this posting to see what happens.

I am literally at my wits end with this car, as this is my only mode of transportation right now, I don't have the money or the time to put it in a shop for repairs, and I have the sneaking suspicion it's something painfully simple that's causing it all. If anyone has any ideas on this, I'd appreciate the advice.

 

Start at first post ground freshen....https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f51/cr...x-tips-153657/

 

I've actually already replaced the grounding cables and cleaned, scrubbed and checked the ground post on the side of the engine. Everything is clean, neat and tightly connected. I replaced the braided cable I had (which was nastily corroded with a nice big cable. I've also replaced the cable from the alternator to the battery with a newer, thicker cable to increase the flow of energy there.

 

The problem might be in that area, IIRC your year feeds the battery to a terminal on the starter relay, then all other power branches off from there through fusible links. Try cleaning up the stud and wiring terminals and reassembling.

 

OK, I completely replaced the starter relay with a shiny new one... on effect. The car is still doing it.

I also recent had a problem with it at my friends house. The ignition coil wasn't getting any current for some reason. Fixed that (there was a wire somehow wedged in between one of the coil contacts and the base o.O, but just after I got home, for about a minute... car cut off again.

We looked at everything else before I found the problem with the coil, and I mean EVERYTHING, and there's nothing visible that should be causing this kind of problem. If anyone has any ideas, please post them.

 

What do the fusible links look like? They branch out from the battery terminal on the starter relay. Give each one a bend and shake while the engine's running- see if anything cuts out.
How's the ignition switch and connector look? Any of the pins show signs of overheating?