Weak battery Charge

I've got an 88xj 4.0L which is not getting a good charge from the battery. I've replaced my old battery, which was quite old, and no change. My instrument panel reads in the red, close to 9. My best guess is a bad ground or a short somewhere that is draining battery. Some other symptoms that may be related are, when the lights are on, nothing else works. No radio, no interior lights, wipers get sluggish, directionals stop working.

Just for fun - first, back-check the panel gage with a DVM. They're notorious liars, especially RENIX.

Having done that, check for corrosion on all your mains connections and on the ground strap from the firewall to the cylinder head (driver's side rear.) That ground is an especial problem-causer on RENIX.

Make sure your starter motor isn't covered with oil - that can cause "current leakage" if it gets onto the mains lead to the starter.

That's what comes to mind first - and of those are things I've seen in the past.

5-90

Very interesting thanks, I'm pretty sure my starter is definately covered in shit. I live in a pretty harsh climate so things get dirty quickly. I was on my way to clean everything before I began tearing things appart anyway, so hopefully that will help my problem.