• Welcome to the new NAXJA Forum! If your password does not work, please use "Forgot your password?" link on the log-in page. Please feel free to reach out to [email protected] if we can provide any assistance.

Electrical Gremlins - Dead Battery

Brad M.

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Utah-opia
No lie, I suck at electrical stuff. Got in the jeep at work to drive home and there's this buzzing noise. Like a mad hornet, seriously. Constant in pitch and volume, just bzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Turn the ignition to "on" and it goes away. Drive home, pull in and shut it off - same thing. Didn't have time to check it out right then, other than poke my head around and it definitely sounds like it's coming from right under the glovebox. Came inside for a couple of hours before I could get back out to it (yeah, I had the thought to disconnect the cables but I didn't) and big surprise, jeep is dead in the water.

Anyone ever had anything like this? My Optima Red Top has gone dead on me twice in the last 2 weeks for no apparent reason. It's 7 yrs old, but each time I've trickle charged it right back up to 100% and everything is fine. Then this buzzing tonight, not sure what to make of it...

Ideas?? :dunno:
 
Sounds like some kind of warning buzzer, but I'm surprised it would be located under the glove box area.

The blower motor resistor pack is down there, never heard one buzz, but with electrics?

Grab a piece of vinyl tubing, 1/2" to 3/4" I.D. and about 3' long, roughly, and stick one end in your ear and move the other around under there--it will take you right to the source.
 
Charge your battery and get it buzzing again...then start pulling fuses one by one until you hear the buzzing stop. Once you found the right fuse, you've isolated the circuit and can start focusing on that component.
 
No lie, I suck at electrical stuff. Got in the jeep at work to drive home and there's this buzzing noise. Like a mad hornet, seriously. Constant in pitch and volume, just bzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Turn the ignition to "on" and it goes away. Drive home, pull in and shut it off - same thing. Didn't have time to check it out right then, other than poke my head around and it definitely sounds like it's coming from right under the glovebox. Came inside for a couple of hours before I could get back out to it (yeah, I had the thought to disconnect the cables but I didn't) and big surprise, jeep is dead in the water.

Anyone ever had anything like this? My Optima Red Top has gone dead on me twice in the last 2 weeks for no apparent reason. It's 7 yrs old, but each time I've trickle charged it right back up to 100% and everything is fine. Then this buzzing tonight, not sure what to make of it...

Ideas?? :dunno:
Happened to the PO of my MJ (good friend of mine) - turns out that on some models, if you don't turn the vent fan all the way off, it'll keep running after you shut the vehicle down. Not sure if that's true on a 99, or if maybe it's only true on 91s with extremely "customized" electrical systems, but it drained his battery every few days till we figured that out.
 
Thanks for the replies. Got some troubleshooting ahead, but hopefully I can get it figured out and save my trusty old Red Top.
 
Back
Top