Justin88

Hey everyone,

Finally got the Jeep working right I thought until I got half way back home which is a two hour drive, and I stopped by a travel center and when I came out it wouldn't start. I jumped the vehicle and found that I had to hold the gas down to keep it running. I limped it back home but I don't know what the problem is. My GEN light came on which I know is for the alternator which I replaced less than a month ago. The weird thing is that my battery stays charged when its running so the alternator working somewhat. It won't turn over and nothing comes on when I try to start the vehicle. Acts completely dead. When I was limping home last night it would kind of jump or jolt a little similar to a sputter I guess(hard to explain). I changed the spark plugs and wires on it and didn't know if maybe that was it. I'm really kind of lost at this point with it so any idea's would be great.

SeriousOffroad

Did you have your battery tested when you replaced the alternator?

TheJerm

X2 a bad battery wont have enough cranking amps to start your motor. Also check all the connections and grounds

Justin88

I bought a brand new battery and put in it when I replaced the alternator.

TheJerm

loose connections then? bad battery/alternator? it can happen when new. To test to see if you alternator is good, start the jeep and unplug the battery. If it runs just fine then the alternator is good.

razor02097

This sounds like what happened to my sister's XJ... it just wouldn't start... a jump would make it start but wouldn't idle... turned out to be crud on the battery terminals prevented good connection. Cleaned them and it works great now.

A clue was the battery terminals where very hot.

Justin88

Well I went out and cleaned the terminals and it started up. However it still won't run right. Still sputters and acts like somethings wrong.

chindo

Check your grounds, may not have enough juice if it has to use some volt to get to a ground. Also check your Starter cable may have been corroded and needs to be replace. Do a volt drop on the cable and see how many volts your losing thru it.

Justin88

Well, found the problem just thought I would let everyone know what it was. I guess one of my new spark plugs I put in was messed up. The metal clip was touching the electrode or whatever and causing it to misfire. Bent it back and it runs fine now.