weird battery issues

i'll start from the beginning, cliff notes on bottom. edit: 97 4.0l aw4

1st problem: I cut my fenders and on the inside seam i bent that back. Well, apparently on the passenger side water was getting in there and then traveled inside the jeep to the passenger front floor board. There is a fuse box there. That is just background because im not sure if that has anything to do with this.

2nd problem: My jeep when on the initial start of my journey hesitates, i looked on here and it seems that the AIC, IAC, something like that could be the problem.

Now to the battery, issue, or i think its the battery. I bought the battery a couple of years ago, its the cheap walmart $40 battery. Its been fine for this long. Then i bought a winch and hooked it up, i never used it because i didnt have a controller. So the next day i leave work to go to lunch and then as I'm leaving the jeep starts then dies as soon as i start to go. Then it wouldnt start, winch still connected. So i push it out of the way, and disconnect the winch and try and tighten the leads on the battery cables. One was kind of loose so that could be the problem. I went had the battery checked and charged at O'reilly's. They said the battery is fine and gave me a quick charge. Put it back in jeep and the jeep started up just fine and i went back to work.

The next day leaving work I go to back up out of the spot and the jeep dies. So i start it and hold the gas down as i go from Reverse to Drive. I get it out of the parking lot, however my radio turns off then on, all by itself. A few minutes into the drive the radio resumes normal operation, stock radio, btw.

The next morning, the signs of a dead battery, click click click as i try and turn over the motor.

So i leave it till the weekend to try and work on it. That was wednesday, saturday i go out to see if it will start, sure enough fires right up, the battery reads normal and i turn it off and start it up again, so i go back inside thinking the jeep gods have smiled on me once more.... :laugh:

That afternoon i was going to leave to try and help out a guy that got stuck. I go out to the heep and it starts the whole not being able to hold an idle issue. So i then rev the motor some and the normal idle resumes.

fastword to monday, Leaving work in the jeep and the click click click returns, I get a jump from a coworker and make it home. Now with the very cold temperatures here, windchill from 0 to 15 at night and in the twenties during the day you'd think a bad battery would really be bad at the end of the week. Well today i go out to the jeep and, you guessed it, it fires right up :explosion

any ides what would cause this? EDIT: I also changed out the battery leads on the battery side to new ones. The positive lead wasnt clamping down enough, so i thought i "fixed it" when i did that.


Cliff notes: Jeep starts sometimes, sometimes not. The battery could be the problem, it has been jumped and shows a low voltage with the dash gauge, but then a few days later will start right up. Any help would be appreciated.

What year/ engine?

All of this really sounds battery related. I'd swap in a known good one for a test or have it load tested again. (be sure all battery connections including the battery posts are shiny clean) That first test might not have been conclusive.

If you have a voltage gauge in the cluster, what is it reading? Should be around the 14 mark, give or take. Gotta make sure that your alternator is KEEPING your battery charged properly.

Most likely, it is your battery connections. Whenever you start to have an issue like this, or just as preventative maintenance, it is important to clean the battery and ground connections. Take them apart, polish them with scotchbrite or sandpaper, clean up the dirt with spray start, brake cleaner or electrical contact cleaner, and reassemble securely. I've seen a lot of problems with crummy battery to cable connections where the wire is held to the connector with the sheet metal clamp and a couple of bolts. Those are meant to be a temporary emergency fix. I melted one myself with excessive starter cranking.

Once you know this simple and cheap step has been taken, you can start to check out the other stuff.

i posted the answers in the OP, oops

I got a battery terminal cleaner, brush thing. I cleaned the terminals and the leads on the battery side. I guess i need to check the other end to see if it is corroded over.

on the guage i'll have to go and check, but i think it is right in the middle if not just to the low side of the hash mark on the gauge. I started the jeep and then took off the positive cable to see if it was an alternator problem, it ran fine for like 10 minutes, so i dont think that is the problem.

So this is probably a cable being dirty problem then?

Thanks for the quick repsonses, trying to get this done today lol

Probably. But it's hopeless to start checking anything else anyway until all the connections are GOOD.

ok i'll go and check/clean if needed.

You have to disconnect them to check them, so just clean them anyway while they are apart. They might look good on the outside, but be corroded between the surfaces.

The battery is just to the right of the 14 mark on the battery gauge. Is it possible for a cell to go in and out of being good? Like it is on its way of dieing...or do they just die all at once?


I had the negative cable from the winch disconnected from the battery, today I disconnected the positive cable. Maybe something with the winch is going on, i bought it used and the guy had to replace the electronics on the top of the winch, the names escapes me now lol. So i'll see if that has something to do with it

Is that 14 with it running? What is it with the key on, but engine not running? It should be above 12? The dash meters aren't so hot. Do you have a multimeter that you could use to check voltage right at the battery? Engine off, should be 12.5 or so. Running, should be above 14. If a cell goes out, the voltage would be significantly reduced. IIRC, batteries have 6 cells, so if you lose one, that would be down 2 volts.

without running it is about 12, running it is just a hair over 14.

Your intermittent click-click-click would make me suspicious of the cables, as the battery has been charged and load tested.

Try removing the cables, both ends, then check them with an ohm meter--resistance should be at or near ZERO. Also, the ground strap from the rear of the head to the firewall is problematic. Replace it with a 4 ga. cable, and make sure the mounting surfaces are clean and things are tight. A little corrosion inhibitor will keep those connections good for a long time, available at most hardware paint departments.

Thanks for the help guys!

I went today to oreilys and was going to have them test the alternator battery and starter(for good measure). My battery was pretty bad, it had less than 8 volts, but showed just a little under 12 on my gauge cluster haha. So i got a new one and i'll see how this one will do, i got a AGM or something like that. that thing is just a hair bigger than my battery box, so im going to have to do something with that.

So 1 of my 3 problems is done lol