jeepgirl420

Hey all. I've got a 97 grand Cherokee limited with the 4.7l engine.in it. Well a few days ago my boyfriend was starting it up to come home from work and he says it cranked twice then stopped. We towed it home, I took the starter off and had it tested. It was good but the little bolt on the solenoid was loose. I manged to get it back in and it started fine for a few days. Well today I go out and it won't start. I try pushing the bolt back in again. Nothing. I check my battery. Its charged. I go get another starter,( from a junkyard I'm broke), and this time the bigger post on the solenoid is loose and it still won't start. I've checked my fuses, not sure how to test the relays, battery connection is good. I've tried jiggling the shifter thinking maybe the NSS was acting up. Nothing. Just makes a click like the starter is beginning to engage but stops for some reason. Its quite aggravating. This jeep has given me nothing but problems since day one. How I miss my Cherokee classic, rip .
Can some one please point me towards the next things to look at? Is this a familiar problem to anyone? If you don't have any ideas can you just point me towards the nearest grenade launcher please? Ha ha. This is my only vehicle and I've got to get it fixed tomorrow. Thanks in advance y'all.

maverickdan

Any way this could be your problem. Also how do your battery terminals/cables/grounds look?

Triston.xj

Doesn't turn over all or just make a click?

jeepgirl420

I figured it might be. After the problem with the one I just replaced. My battery posts are good. I.just cleaned them and they aren't loose. I won't lie about the cables, they could be replaced, but they aren't bad either. No frayed/broken/bare wiring or anything. I get power to lights, radio, seats, etc. , but just a click when I turnthe key all the way. The ground coming from the battery looks.good from what I remember. Ill grab a flashlight and go check again. Thank you!

jeepgirl420

Won't turn over at all. I can hear a click coming from under the jeep right around the area of the starter so I am assuming that's where the noise is coming from. It did the same with the starter I just took off and I got it to run again for a few days by pushing the loose bolt back in the solenoid. This time the larger bolt is loose and it makes the same noise, so.I can't help but think its the loose bolt again. Just trying to get some troubleshooting done before I go back to the scrap yard. The guys there didn't have the best customer service skills. Ha ha.

Bustedback

Test the battery. I don't mean testing by seeing if the headlamps light. I mean load test the battery with 200 amps and see how much of a voltage drop there is under a load.

ET JEEP

In order for the Jeep to start you need a good fully charged battery, good clean and tight cables at battery, ground and starter connection. As pointed out have the battery load tested at auto shop. Or connect a voltmeter to the battery and check the voltage reading as you try to crank the engine. Voltage should not drop below 10 volts. If it goes way down you have a bad battery.

You can do a voltage test at the solenoid wire. Have a helper turn the key to start as you check voltage at the solenoid. You should read battery voltage. Be careful as engine may turn over or disconnect wire and test at wire.

If you have a good battery and voltage at solenoid wire you may have a bad battery cable going to the starter or the starter itself is the problem. You might try tapping the starter with a rubber mallet as helper tries to crank engine. If it makes an attempt to start or starts then the starter is the problem.

Testing the starter at the auto shop is not the best test. That test is done with no load and starter may check out. But under load it will not work.

jeepgirl420

Thank you to both of you. I've got a digital multimeter. I used it to test the battery and it read 12.48. How would I test the starter with my multimeter. I read something that sounded really complicated about testing the resistance in ohms and converting it back to amperage I think it was. I have to find a helper to help me test the load on the battery. Bf works nights so its just me all day. Otherwise I would have that already done Lol. I would appreciate some clear directions as to how to test the starter with my multimeter tho. I dont have much experience using it yet. Thanks again guys!

jeepgirl420

I had an alternator that passed three shop tests but not work on my jeep so I kinda lost faith in those shop testers anyways. Ha ha

dave1123

I think the starter SOLENOID is bad, not the starter. Take the starter out and remove the solenoid. There are heavy copper contacts inside that are probably burned. They won't carry the amp load nesessary to crank the engine. If your lights don't go out when you hear the click, the battery, wiring, and starter are good. The click is the solenoid coil pulling in the contacts.

On older starters, there are 2 square headed copper bolts and a copper washer inside. I've salvaged them by taking the bolts out, turning them around so the good side was facing in, and flipping the washer over. It's worked a couple of times for me.

jeepgirl420

You ROCK! I knew there had to be a way to try and fix it. Lights don't dim when I turn the key. However if the solenoid was bad wouldn't it test bad on the machine? Probably not since its not under load like we discussed earlier. Couldn't the loose bolt going into the solenoid also be the problem? Perhaps it isn't contacting what its supposed to be? It rotates and wiggles up and down ever so slightly.

jeepgirl420

So I just got back from the shop. You know how I said they sold it to me with no nut on it? Well that was the reason the post was loose. Now to put it back together and see what happens. Thanks y'all

jeepgirl420

Woo! Got it. Thanks everyone. It was the loose post. The guy at the shop didn't believe they sold it to me without the nut that keeps that post steady. Thanks a bunch everyone!

dave1123

That nut holds the terminal bolt in place. It's there so you can tighten the cable clamp without breaking the plastic. ANY GOOD parts man should know this. Years ago, a good parts counter guy would open the box of a new one and show you what you should be looking for. Now-a-days, I don't walk out of a parts store without checking out the part so I know what I'm getting. You have to be doubley cautious about used parts.

It really burns my ***** that you got stuck without that stupid nut! If you knew about it, you could have used your old one.

Just so you know, I'm 68 years old and have been working on cars and trucks since I was 16!

jeepgirl420

Yes I usually do compare the new part to the old part, but they took so long to get it to me the one day I just wanted to get the heck outta there. I stood around for an hour in the Az heat waiting for these butt nuggets to get my part. I have only been working on cars since I was 18. I'm 23 now. I've got a degree in mechanics to. None of it seems to.matter when I walk into the parts store and start talking shop. All the guys look at me like I'm speaking a different language! I think it has something to do with only being 115 lbs. Ha ha. Thanks a bunch Dave. I wish there were more helpful people like you out there!