Carsten

Apologies for the third thread today but this time it's serious. Jeep decided to refuse to crank, instead the ABS light comes on together with the BRAKE light when I turn the key to start. Right after turning the key to ON, the CEL and a red light saying GEN (means what??) left of the seat-belt light come on but go off after several seconds.

Yesterday I had the headlights go out for half a second while driving which may be related or not. The start problem showed first last night and this morning, but then it did start on the 2nd or 3rd try. Not anymore now.

Any suggestions for fixes? Something easy like a loose contact or switch (where to look)? Thanks.

76ANTHONY

WHAT KIND OF VOLTAGE DO YOU HAVE AT THE BATTERY? opps caps

hubbazoot

This is just an idea, but it MIGHT be the cause, I had one of my wires (I think it was up to the distributor cap, idk it was a long time ago) ground out.

Carsten

I tried it with and without connecting a second battery. I don't think battery voltage is the problem.

Carsten

What do you mean by 'ground out'? ground as in grind or ground as in earth (I'm German)? Loose? Connected to some metal and thus establishing unwanted ground connection?

hubbazoot

Estabilishing an unwanted ground connection

UNCC_99XJ

Sounds like something has grounded....errr I mean "established an unwanted ground connection" .

Have a look at all your connections, especially those around the battery, and have a look at the battery terminals as well. When was the last time you cleaned them? Mine give me hell and some no-start's from time to time and a good cleaning usually does the trick.

Carsten

I just got the Jeep yesterday so no time for cleaning. And the no-start nonsense just began 12 hours after it was mine. Will look for the connections and see if it helps. Not sure why the ABS/brake lights come on when I turn to START. Maybe just get a new relay just in case.

finneys98xj

just unplug the relay if it don't start after that the relay is fine.

Carsten

which one is the ABS relay?

finneys98xj

Pull the panel and look on the panel

Carsten

Ok I pulled the fuses and checked them for continuity one by one, all good. It doesn't start neither with nor without the ABS system relay. The grounds from battery and engine are good. Couldn't look into the starter area though.

Battery voltage was just over 12V. My messing around with it lowered it just under 12V, and now the GEN light is on too - I guess it wants 12V and above. But I don't think the voltage is it. It's completely refusing to crank which it did just fine a few hours before and yesterday.

Since I don't have time in the week, I'd push it to the shop right there on the parking lot. It's big but not a Jeep shop. Any votes on the shop finding the issue? (Austin, TX btw.)

Thanks for your help so far!

Carsten

Ok, after a lot more reading I'll do the following tomorrow:
1. Check reverse lights and play with the gear selector, it could be the NSS.
2. Jump the starter (where to find the wires?). If it runs then, it could be the NSS.
3. If that doesn't fix it, check starter (how long does it take to replace it?).
Any comments / other ideas?

76ANTHONY

maybe 20 minutes to replace the starter. pretty simple

Carsten

Ah great. Where do the cables connect under the hood? I guess the starter is the black round tube on passenger side where engine and transmission meet? Can I change it without raising the Jeep?