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Wont crank

O

ocskipper

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Orange County
Just took my xj up to big bear for the weekend and ran into a real PIA. It ran fine all the way up there but after sitting in the cold for the day it would not crank at all. full battery power but no crank at all. I had to pop start it to get home because jumping it wold do nothing. Took it to the shop today and they said there is no power going to my starter and said that there is a ton of after market wiring from and alarm and stereo system under the dash. They didnt sound too confident about fixinng it and I am really tight on cash this Holiday season. Any help woud be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
 
Year/engine/etc.?

So tired of asking.
 
Same thing happened to one of ours.
Power to the accs. but no starter. The big wire to the starter fatigued and broke inside the wire covering, ended up being an easy parking lot fix.
So, start with the obvious. Good luck.

My exact outfit; "It's a 96 2.5L 2wd with the 5 speed"
 
Ok, so you have battery power to the starter but no power to energize the solenoid?
 
Ok. There is a positive main cable from the battery to the starter. There is another smaller positive lead from the starter relay to the solenoid. The starter grounds through its mounting to the engine.

I'm guessing that there is no power to the solenoid on the smaller wire, otherwise the shop would have thrown a battery cable on it and had you down the road.

There is a starter relay in the PDC--power distribution center under the hood. You can try swapping the relays around, they should all or most be the same part number.

You might have a clutch pedal starter interlock, check there.

The ignition switch could be out of adjustment, not so likely, but check there.

Do a search on security and sentry systems, there have been a number of threads on here on how to defeat them.

Good luck.
 
Ok, so took it to the shop after big bear and they said that the "main harness" plug or something of the sort under the dash came unplugged. They zip tied it in place and for two weeks everything has been fine. I go to leave for work this morning and the same issue occurrs. NO CRANK with full battery and power to the accessories. Can someone direct me to this plug so i can check to see if it came loose again without taking it to the shop. Any other ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
 
I'm not sure what the "main harness plug" is, but you should be able to see something like this by laying underneath the dash, probably on the drivers side. And look for that ZIP TIE. Are you SURE it was underneath the dash? You could also try taking a screwdriver to jump from the big wire on the starter to the small terminal. That should make it crank. MAKE SURE YOU ARE IN NEUTRAL with the parking brake engaged.
 
UPDATE: Went home on my lunch break to try and fire it up with jumpers and it did turn over with heavy delay/strain. Seemed to run ok once it finally turned over but would not idle...sputtered out and died as soon as I took my foot off the gas. This is so frustrating.
 
ocskipper said:
UPDATE: Went home on my lunch break to try and fire it up with jumpers and it did turn over with heavy delay/strain. Seemed to run ok once it finally turned over but would not idle...sputtered out and died as soon as I took my foot off the gas. This is so frustrating.
Click to expand...

Could it be that i just need to reset my idle? IIRC i did this just by disconnecting my positive terminal and reconnecting it on a dodge i used to own.
 
ocskipper said:
UPDATE: Went home on my lunch break to try and fire it up with jumpers and it did turn over with heavy delay/strain. Seemed to run ok once it finally turned over but would not idle...sputtered out and died as soon as I took my foot off the gas. This is so frustrating.
Click to expand...

This sure sounds like it might be battery related. A marginal battery or resistance in the battery connections.

Was the battery LOAD TESTED? Load testing is the only accurate way to determine battery condition. With a weak battery, stalling is a very common symptom.

Verify the battery first and freshen all connections and the battery posts themselves. If it still is symptomatic, get a meter. With the key in the ON position, you should have approximately full battery voltage at the starter. If you do not have good voltage at the starter, you need to start working your way back into the engine bay to see why you are experiencing voltage drop (bad cable, etc).
 
what should it read in mV and where would i test it at the starter? the big black wire going into the back of it? could it be something as dumb as my battery cables?
 
i went home and tested the battery with a multimeter and it read 0.13 mV while other good batteries were reading around 12.6mV. I left nothing on in the jeep and it ran fine the day before. Do bad batteries just drain out like that even if nothing is drawing power?
 
ocskipper said:
i went home and tested the battery with a multimeter and it read 0.13 mV while other good batteries were reading around 12.6mV. I left nothing on in the jeep and it ran fine the day before. Do bad batteries just drain out like that even if nothing is drawing power?
Click to expand...

I think you mean that other good batteries read around 12.6 volts, not millivolts.

Take it out and take it to a parts store where many will (for free) perform a LOAD TEST. It is the ONLY accurate way of determining battery condition. Meter testing is in many instances, inconclusive.

You must verify the condition of the battery before moving on!
 
mV- no wonder it sucks! Not enough juice to keep everything (obd2, ignition, fuel pump...) going!

If you're talking voltage, 12-14 volts is healthy, preferably on the higher end of said scale.

How bright are your headlights with XJ off compared to running? They will be a little dimmer even with a healthy juice box, but if it's pretty big then you know that the battery can't effectively support a ~100 watt load, let alone cranking the engine over while sending signal to the computer and fuel injection systems! An old school diesel guy told me to leave the lights on for a few minutes (I forget the exact number) and see if the engine turns over like it's healthy. If it does, the battery is good, assuming all connections are good as well.

I would check your wiring connections also, but this sounds like a battery issue.
 
Vehicles being jumped will often crank slow because of the length and weak contact of the cables to the battery posts. And XJ's always run rough when the battery has died until they "re-learn" a little and start to smooth out.

Start out by cleaning your battery connections with sandpaper or scotchbrite until they are shiny, then clean debris with electrical contact cleaner, spray start, or brake cleaner. Re-assemble snugly. Do the same with your grounds, starter connections and alternator connections. Make sure that you have good connections from the battery cable clamps to the wires. I've often seen some pretty shitty connections where people have used the connectors with the sheet metal clamp held to the terminal with small bolts. Don't use that type. I melted one once while cranking the starter.

Then try charging your battery for AT LEAST 4 hours on a decent charger, not a trickle charger or "battery maintainer". With the key off, you should have 12.5 or so volts. After you start it up, if the alternator is working, it should go up to about 14.5 volts.
 
Any update?
 
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