You are running a six year old battery. Change it.

 

I agree BEFORE YOU CHANGE THE STARTER, CHECK THE BATTERY!!!!!

the accessories and lights can stillcome on if the battery is partially dead, TRY JUMP-STARTIN' IT!!!!

Sorry for the all caps!

 

You're over thinking it, replace the freakin battery!

 

I have to agree with the guys above. Try the battery first. Its six years old, its had enough. And just cause its putting out enough voltage doesnt mean its putting out enough amps. Volts dont mean s**t without amps. If that doesnt work then move on to your starter.

 

Thanks for all the responses, I appreciate it.

Its the starter. Buddy came over and we knocked on it with a long screwdriver and it turned over.

So.....where/who has decent starters at a decent price? Thanks again, I REALLY appreciate it.

PS: I plan on putting in an Optima yellow top this summer, I know my battery is getting old but it is a Die Hard Platinum so I havent really worried about it too much.

 

Glad to hear you got it figured out.

 

theres a write up on here of using the older style xj starter on newer xjs save alot of cash

 

here you go https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f51/87...rite-up-88369/

 

Thanks man, I appreciate it. Ive been looking on line and MAN, the prices are ALL OVER the place. Everything from $70 to $170 (and stuff up to $400). Gonna call NAPA in the morning and see what the price is on the 98 vs. the 99. That swap is EASY if it'll save me $100. Again, thanks!

 

I had the exact same problem last week which ended in it being dead on Sunday. My friend wacked the starter and it engaged, then after a min of slow crank, fired up.

Thought it was either the starter or battery. Went with the battery, and my truck fires up fine now...no problems. The starter won't start if there isnt enough juice.

Did you notice that th emornings were the worse time and a slow crank? Did your truck run fine the rest of the day after your first start up?...unless it sat for hours?

My truck fires up like a champ now...also changed the plugs...fixed my windows (damn window lock problem)...fixed my hood latches...fixed ac...changed wipers...painted end caps...added marvels and got rid of that damn tap, tick noise.

But try the battery if it was slow cranking on your start ups after it sat a bit...

 

OK, so things are looking bright. Here is the outcome and some more details to help someone else who might be in this situation and add a few things here that I accidentally omitted in my original postings:

At the start of all this, this spring, I did put my battery charger on it a few times and did a trickle charge, regular charge and tried to jump-start it. It made no difference on the cranking which made me start thinking about the starter immediately.

After searching all over the net and making a few calls to the "local" parts stores (some over an hour away since Im in the middle of nowhere, Maine) I found that NAPA had a brand new, lifetime warranty starter for $194.09 on a 1999. They had the 1998 for $99.49, so I went with that and Ill be doing the conversion that storm101 did in his write up (the link to his write-up is posted below). I didnt ask any of the suppliers for other years prices, figuring that $104 with tax for a brand new starter with lifetime warranty was a good deal. Who knows, a 1990 might have been $60. Wont hurt to ask. Also, NAPA had re-man starters with lifetime warranty for $79, but I figure the extra $20 for a new one wasnt a big deal.

https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f51/87...rite-up-88369/

Which reminds me, I need to send him a PM. Thanks to everyone and storm101 for the info. It was a great deal of help.

On a personal note, Ive been off my game lately with a scrambled brain because my grandfather, who has raised me from the day I was born, has been fighting cancer the past few years and they found throat cancer in him the day before this all happened, so I havent been thinking straight. A clean head DEFINITELY helps in identifying problems. So again, thanks to all who chimed in on this thread. I hope it helps someone else out.

 

Hey all, just wanted to add to this for future benefit:

I swapped the starters today and it was pretty easy. HOWEVER, a point of advice to add to storm101's post. I purchased the 1998 starter for my 1999 which has the plug & play instead of ring terminal. I was going to cut off the plug and add a ring terminal like storm101, HOWEVER, here is where it gets REALLY GOOD!

My 1999's plug was attached to the starter with a flat piece of metal in the starter plug that connected to the starter, which had a similar flat piece of metal, with a screw. SO, I just unscrewed the plug from the old starter (my 1999) and on the post of the new one, instead of clipping the wire, stripping it and adding a ring terminal, I just slid the connectors flat piece of metal's screw hole over the post and tightened down the nut.

So anyone needing a 1999 starter can probably do this too. REALLY simple. I can get some pics probably tomorrow when its light out, but it was REALLY easy and if you get a 1998 (which was $99 for a new one at NAPA with lifetime warranty) this should be an easy swap and you can keep your plug. VERY NICE! DO NOT cut the plug off before taking things apart. You might be sorry.

Thanks again, storm101. Great write up.