RANDOM POWER LOSS! EMERGENCY!!! PLEASE HELP!!!

OK SO THIS IS A HUGE EMERGENCY IM LEAVING FOR COLLEGE IN A WEEK AND I CANT HAVE ANYTHING GO WRONG WITH THE JEEP. OK SO IM DRIVIN ON THE HIGHWAY DOIN 70-75 TONIGHT WINDOWS UP A/C ON HEADLIGHTS AND FOGS (FACTORY) ON OF COURSE AND ALL OF A SUDDEN I START TO NOTICE MY HEAD LIGHTS RANDOMLY DIMMING REAL LOW AND COMIN BACK. NOW I HAVE THE ORIGINAL CRAPPY HEADLIGHTS THAT ARENT VERY BRIGHT SO AT FIRST I THOUGHT IT WAS THE CAR BEHIND ME FLASHING HIS LIGHTS BUT I LOOKED BACK AND IT WASNT. IT DID THIS A FEW MORE TIMES GETTIN WORSE EEACH TIME AND THE INTERIOR DASH LIGHTS STARTED TO DO IT WITH THE HEADLIGHTS. I GET OFF THE HIGHWAY AND IM SITTING AT A STOP LIGHT AND MY RADIO RANDOMLY CUTS OFF AND COMES BACK ON AND IT DOES THIS ABOUT THREE TIMES. I STOP AT THE NEXT STOP LIGHT AND IT DOES IT AGAIN ALONG WITH THE WHOLE CAR LOSING POWER TO THE POINT WHERE THE ENGINE ALMOST COMPLETELY DIES. SO I TRY TURNIN THE A/C OFF AND IT ALL STOPS AND WHEN I TURN THE A/C BACK ON IT STARTS ACTIN UP AGAIN. I GET HOME TURN THE JEEP OFF AND WHEN I TURN IT BACK ON ALL MY SETTINGS IN MY RADIO RESET. NOW MY JEEP IS A 1997 XJ COUNTRY 6 CYL. 4.0L AUTO WITH 130,XXX ALL NEW SPEAKERS, INDASH FLIP OUT SCREEN (RADIO/CD/DVD), AND AMPLIFIER FOR SUB-WOOFERS.

Possibly faulty ground. Check battery to fender, battery to head, and the ground that attaches to the firewall.

that makes sense and i will definately check that out but wouldnt it do it still no matter wether the a/c was on or off?

wow all caps. deffffinately not reading that.

Oizarod115 said:

wow all caps. deffffinately not reading that.

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x2 very annoying

A/C should make no difference.

Alternator maybe?

I would check and clean the battery connections and check all grounds.

Ron

i know a/c shoud make no difference but it does cuz it doesnt act up when the a/c is off it only acts up when it is on

The only thing I could see causing it only when the A/C is on is alternator or battery because of the amount of power the A/C draws.

here is a revison for those complaining about my first post bein all in caps

OK SO THIS IS A HUGE EMEGENCY!!!! Im leaving for college in a week and I cant have the jeep in the shop becuz I need it to get to school. Ok so im drivin on the highway doin about 70-75 tonight windows up a/c on headlights and fogs (factory) on of course and all of a sudden I start to notice my headlights randomly dimming real low and comin back. No I have the original crappy headlights that aren’t very bright so at first I thought it was the guy behind me flashin his bright but I looked back and it wasn’t. it did this a few more times getting worse each time and the interior dash lights were startin to do it with the headlights too. I get off the highway and im sitting at a stop light and my radio randomly cuts off and comes back on and it does this about three times. I stop at the next stop light and it does it again along with the whole car losing power to the point where the engine almost completely dies. So I try turning the a/c off and it all stops and when I turn the a/c back on it starts actin up again. I get home and turn the jeep off and then I turn it back on again and when I do all my radio are gone and reset. Now my jeep is a 1997 XJ Country 6 cyl. 4.0L auto with 130,000+ miles on it. Since it is and electrical issue I will add that I have all new aftermarket speakers, new radio that is an indash flip-out screen, a 1500 watt RMS class D amplifier for my sub-woofers, three sets of IPF off-road lights and a set of $20 cheapo lights from autozone for backing up cuz the factory back up lights don’t always come on. If u have any ideas tell me cuz im willin to try anything to make this problem go away at this point and as fast as I can too!

I'm suprised no-one has mentioned the serpentine belt yet. It's might be as simple as the belt slipping on the alternator pulley. Having the a/c on could make it worse (sorry I don't recall the exact belt routing on a 97). The next suspect on my list would be the alternator going bad.

For the intermittent backup lights, do a search on cleaning the neutral safety switch (NSS) - assuming this is an automatic.

well i have recently tightened my serpentine belt when i swapped in the newer style 99+ intake manifold but i did notice that it had some cracking in it but it didnt seem to be like enough to replce but then again what might not seem like enough to me may be too much to people who know a lil more about belts cuz ive only changed it once and i didnt do it a shop did and that was i beleive 2 or 3 or even 4 years ago so if yall think its time for a belt change then let me know but im probably gonna do it anyway just for good measure. and yah i know about the neautral safety switch thing but ive jest been to lazy about cleanin it

Either the alternator has gone bad or the nut on the alt that attaches the wire has come loose. Check the serpentine and the battery while your at it. This will be a low or no buck fix, Relax, and no caps. thanks, Make it easy on yourself, go to an auto parts store and have then do a free "load test" it will tell you which component is bad, Good Luck.

also i would like to mention that my jeep also came with the upcountry suspension package and for those of u that know what comes with it there is that engine block heater that has that wire comein off of it that u plug into a wall socket so u can heat the engine oil up in sub zero weather. well when i did my intake manifold swap that wire was zip-tied to the manifold and when i put the new manifold on i didnt have any zip-ties to zip-tie it back so its just layin in the engine compartment on the driver side fender tucked behind the engine computer. does anyody think that would be causin the problem im havin?

Yep go to an auto part store and have them do a free load test. You would be suprised how many bad battery cables I come across, They can look good on the outside but be corroded on the inside.