Starter troubles... :(

ok so i just bought an '01 cherokee with a 4.0 and 5 speed in it with 97xxx miles on it. i let it set for about a month, month and a half before i got tags for it. i replaced the old battery. my problem is it doesnt want to start all the time. it turns over slowly and the starter sounds like its drawing way way way to many amps. often times it will only turn over once or twice and then kill the batt. ive made sure the battery is charged, have used jumper boxes and still get the same problem. i took the starter off and went into advanced auto and had them test it, they say its fine...im not so sure about that. my local mom and pop auto store was already closed for the evening so i couldnt get a second opinion. however i do have a reman starter comming tomorrow morning from the mom and pop store (they are the ones i normally deal with, they have been in town for the last 35 yrs, and used to built race engins for the local dirt track guys, they have never steered me wrong and i trust them). im going to replace the starter tomorrow after noon when i get off work, but im just worried it may not be the problem. my alt is charging at a constant 13.8v, a lil low but still ok. i went into advnced auto the other day to have them test the battery to make sure it didnt have a bad cell or anything, and they said it was ok...again not to sure about that. when i went in to get them to come out the jeep wouldnt start so i used their jumper box and it turned over slow but started, thats when they checked the battery. the jeep ran for about a min and a half and i shut it off cause they asked me to to check the alt huh: )i thought sure as shit it wasnt going to start again but it turned over rather quickly and started right up. so i dont get it anyone have any suggestions? am i barking up the wrong tree with the starter? should i take the batt. back to wally world and demand a new one? any input will be helpfull thx

First of all, use paragraphs, haha.

How are your battery clamps? Could be a bad connection with them. 13.8v charging is absolutely fine. If anything it's perfect. Thing is, it might not be suppying the amps you need to recharge your battery.

If your new starter doesn't work, I'd take a look at all the connections starting at the battery and ending at the starter.

Nomercy said:

am i barking up the wrong tree with the starter? should i take the batt. back to wally world and demand a new one? any input will be helpfull thx

Click to expand...

I would repalce or just inspect the ground, then the battery-to-starter cable and then the solenoid.

just replaced the terminal clamps with brand new ones a few days ago so everything is good there. ive checked all the crounds i could find too and everything seemds good. the starter had no corrosion either.

how can i check to make sure the alt is supplying enough amps, the only thing i have is a voltmeter, i guess id have to pull it and take it to the auto parts store?

I'd pull your starter and have it tested.

My '00 has been cranking slow for a while. I played around with the terminals, then pulled the starter and took it apart. Mine had one brush going bad(out of 4). i cleaned it up and put it back in. The cleaning has fixed it for now, but I need a new starter.

i pulled it earlier and had it tested and the yahoos at advanced auto said it was good....i think they are a buch of tards. all they did was put power to it and watched it spin. they applied no load to see how many amps it was drawing or anything...they actually jumped back when it started turning...

im installing a reman one tomorrow after noon, so we'll see how that goes.

Did they load test it? do you have a friend with a jeep? Use his to test with

it was the starter got my new on one in the pouring rain...:smsoap:

no they did not load test the starter. they are a bunch of gay ass retards in advanced auto...i hate going in there.

since you replaced the starter, you might as well inspect the remainder of the system.

i had a starting issue and it turned out to be both a bad starter and bad cables. the terminals on the cables had been cut down and the terminals replaced one too many times on my xj. the new starter helped the situation for a little while, but then the no start came back. i replaced the cables coming off the battery and i havent had an issue since. when i scrapped the cables, they had the green wire geremlins 2/3 fo the way from batt to starter, and the ground cable was severly corroded all the way though. this caused enough resistance to make the starter not want to run, but the alt was putting out enough juice.

when you replaced the terminals, did you notice ANY corrosion on the cables? if so, the corroded portion of the cable needs to be cut off and the terminal attatched to a bright, corrosion free part of the cable. the wire needs to look like a bright new penny. if you want to prevent future corrosion, you could use a ring type end with shrink wrap tube on it and then bolt it to the terminal, or pack the end of the cable with dielectric grease.

hth
stewie

when i replaced the terminal ends i trimed the cables back to a good portion of the cable and made sure everything was tight and new just like i like it

thanks