This morning my 01 GC 4.0l did not start. No clicking, no lights no nothing. Battery was completely dead. It is a new Bosch 850 CCA battery, less than 2 months old. I jump started it with another car and had to keep revving the engine or else it would turn off. After about 20 minutes it idled on its own. Has been driving fine so far today.

The only thing i have done to the Jeep since I bought it was replaced the stereo. So i retraced all my wires and ensured the Constant Hot was insulated as well as the Ignition Hot. I disconnected the Neg cable and put a Test Light between the battery and the Neg cable and it comes on. I had my son pull all of my fuses one at a time and nothing, the test light stayed on.

My question is, other than my radio which i think i have sufficiently checked, does anyone know of anything that fails on these vehicles that would cause a battery to drain over night? Also, when I get out of the car I get a static zap as soon as I touch metal, anyone know if this is normal due to the seats, they are not leather.

Thanks

 

Hey GI, disconnect the alternator, ALL the wires, and try you test light again.

 

ok, I'll try it again tomorrow. I traced all the radio wires and retaped all the powered connections and checked all the grounds. I put it back together again and put my charger on my battery for the past few hours. I'll leave it outside tonight and see what happens tomorrow. Besides it's cold as S*** outside right now.

 

The static shock you are getting is a result of your body becoming charged due to the interaction of your clothes and car seat material.

The problem is particularly prevalent when the humidity is low – with high humidity, moisture in the surroundings prevents the build-up of static. At zero Celsius (32F) and below, the air cannot hold any moisture and so the air’s relative humidity is 0%.

I used to suffer this problem – my solution was to ensure that I was holding on to something metallic (vehicle door frame) as I exited the vehicle. That way any static build-up is discharged as it is generated, rather than allowed to build up – resulting in a shock when suddenly discharged.

 

So now we get a weather lesson! How cool! Ground yourself by touching some metal with your keys and you won't get a shock. You can also spray your seats with Static Guard.

 

Holy Crap I just got schooled from across the ocean!!!

Learn something new every day, thanks

 

Alternator gets my vote.