No Crank, No Start

Hey guys,
just wondering if any one has had this problem...this first time this happend about about month ago and now twice this week. Only on cold mornings my Jeep will not crank AND if you jumper the starter it wont start. Yes, the key was in the run position when I tried to hotwire the starter. Basically its an 87' XJ with a manual tranny and 4.0. When the problem occures with no crank no start the guages will read when keyed to "run" position and the radio turns on. Problem is I hurry off to work and when I come back in the afternoon it fires right up and I can't duplicate the problem to diagnose it. I don't want to start throwing random parts at it because I want to diagnose it so I know whats wrong then I know its actually fixed, you know? Anyway, I'm thinking some type of feed circuit or relay could be acting up when cold or maybe intermittent ignition switch. Any of you guys ever encounter this??? :repair:

Bad battery, 90th percentile. Pull the battery, fully charge it, have it load tested.

Post back results.

Battery is fine, its bran new and load tests good. It cranks fast and hard if I jump the starter solenoid but it still wont start. So I'm loosing more then just my starting circuit. It seems like one of the circuits on the ignition switch is intermittent or some type of relay is acting up. Soon as the day warms up and I come home from work it cranks and runs. It just sucks because the only time it happens is the mornings when I have to be some where.

Ignition switch does seem suspect here....

is there an aftermarket alarm in it. if so that could be the problem.

im surprised that the load test on the battery passes, everything you describe (especially the failure when cold) points at a faulty battery.

Are the battery cables in good condition and not corroded at all?

GrimmJeeper said:

im surprised that the load test on the battery passes, everything you describe (especially the failure when cold) points at a faulty battery.

Are the battery cables in good condition and not corroded at all?

Click to expand...

Passing a load test when warm and passing a load test when cold is entirely different--won't crank the engine COLD, but cranks it when WARM.

Stick the battery in a freezer for a few hours and then load test it.

Try replacing the ignition solenoid. Plain and simple. I've had the exact same issue with my 87 MJ. Replaced the battery, still had the same issue. Replaced the ignition relay (actual name of it), problem went away...

I had an intermittant no start on my old one; if I put together enough socket extensions to reach through the engine bay and whacked it with a hammer, it would start. Bad solonoid or a dead spot in the starter, I guess. I just replaced the whole thing as a unit so I dunno which.

i had this problem on my 89' cherokee. turned out all i did was unplug the cps(camshaft positioning switch) put some di-electric grease on it. then i took the neutral safety switch off cleaned it up and it fired right up.