I've got a 2005 Jeep Grand. While I was leaving my girlfriends house last night, I put my key in the ignition and moved to to the on position, the dash lit up as normal. When I went to turn the engine on, the ignition clicked 2-3 times, then the entire dash went out. My initial thought was that the battery was dead, so I tried jumping it with her car, but that didn't work. I bought a new battery this morning, thinking that, if it was the alternator that had gone out, a new battery should be able to, at the very least, get me home so I can figure it out. The new battery did the exact same thing, 2-3 clicks and lights out. I have no idea what could be causing this issue.

I replace the starter about 15-20k miles ago, but even when that went out, I don't recall the dash lights going out.

Can anyone help me figure out what is up with my Jeep?

TL: DR; Jeep won't turn over and the dash lights go out every time I try despite a brand new battery.

 

Clean the terminals on the battery and cables, inspect the cables for corrosion under the insulation.

 

I know its a weird thing but I had the exact same thing except that mine died for no reasons in traffic.

Long story short... battery connectors looked very clean but there was a hard clear film preventing good contact. When the load of the starter was felt, everything else went dead.

cleaned the battery terminal thoroughly (I used sandpaper its more abrasive) and I never had problems since

NOTE: it could be a bad contact anywhere. The battery is just the most likely place to cause the problem

 

I will try this and report back.

 

As I was cleaning the terminals, I ended up jiggling the positive cable a little. When I did that, I heard some noise, so I investigated the cable a little more. It turns out the plastic insulator had come off the cable after the initial split. With the insulator pulled back on them both, the two would touch, causing the system to short. So I re-wrapped the cables, secured the insulators with some electrical tape, and refitted the terminal. Problem solved.

If I hadn't been cleaning the terminals, I wouldn't have noticed the cables touching. So thanks for the help.