• NAXJA is having its 18th annual March Membership Drive!!!
    Everyone who joins or renews during March will be entered into a drawing!
    More Information - Join/Renew
  • 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.

99 XJ will not start, click, or anything HELP!

99JeepXJ

NAXJA Forum User
Please someone help me before I torch this thing (1999 Jeep Cherokee Classic 4.0l 4x4 w Auto)! Come home today and the Jeep will not start, no hums, clicks, or dim lights. DVM at the battery shows 0V. I go grab some jumper cables, and hook them up.

With the vehicle attached to the running booster vehicle I got:
· A DVM reading of 0 volts at that battery, I verified that the meter was reading properly on a known voltage source.
· No interior lights
· No cranking, clicking, or humming

The battery is less than 3months old. Prior to this current issue, the vehicle was having starting issues (dead battery that would start with a jump and subsequently die within a few days) that I assumed were related to an old battery. Since the new battery was installed in Dec I have had no starting issues until now.

Some additional information. Periodically the car would not crank but the interior accessories seemed to operate fine. I would row the shifter back and forth and it would seem to "clear" the problem and the vehicle would start without incident.

Please any information, guesses on potential problem would be great. Thanks in advance.
 
check where you have voltage and where you don't. Check the back of the starter for voltage. If you have voltage at the starter then i'd check all the wires for burns...oh and the fuses.
 
Sounds like you're dead battery may have been caused by an alternator that wasn't working so well. I had a similar issue. Bad battery, replaced, then had issues a month or so later, at which point I replaced the alternator.

The no-cranking thing sounds like the NSS switch is giving you some greif. There are a bunch of write ups on how to clean it and fix the problem.

Oh, and if you have a dead battery, and the alternator is bad, you need to use a new battery, or charge your existing one, because a dead battery is bad on an alternator.
 
bizkit642 said:
Grounds?

-Andrew

X2. Check grounds and check your connections at the battery. I've got an issue with my negative terminal that gives me some random no start/no ignition/no nothing's every now and then. Playing with the negative terminal usually gets it to start up. Someday when I can catch a break from my jobs and school i'll get around to properly fixing it.
 
I think something is grounded (diodes in the VR???). I mean where else would 14.XX volts from a running vehicle go? I dont think it would be grounded out across lead battery plates since the battery is so new. Ugh, any one want to give me estimates on what I will pay for a shop to do this for me?
 
"...With the vehicle attached to the running booster vehicle I got:
· A DVM reading of 0 volts at that battery, I....

Wait a minute, that is impossible.
ZERO volts would stall out the running vehicle if everything was connected properly.
When jumping, you have some VERY important connections to make tight.
1. The connection between the alligator clip and the cable end (top post)or bolt(side post).
2. The connection between the cable end (top post) and the battery post or bolt to lead insert (side post).
First,
disconnect the battery cables, CLEAN battery posts and cable ends, then re-connect.
Use GOOD jumper cables, not rusted dirty ones found in the back of a pickup truck.

 
Try it in Neutral?
"..in Dec I have had no starting issues until now...."
Did you just start using the Air Conditioner?
Take battery OUT.
Check AGAIN if ZERO volts.
If ZERO STOP.
Batteries that go that dead have a 50-50 chance of exploding on a re-charge.

If the battery reads 6 volts or more out of the vehicle; Use charger/other vehicle to bring back to 12-13 VDC and re-install, try starting.

NOTE (Batteries have a phenomena called "cell reversal". If the cell (one of six inside the 12 volt battery) goes too dead, it reverses polarity and will explode on recharge because it basically connected backwards.

 
This reminds me of a problem with a Buick that belonged to my in-laws. The battery would intermittently die, but was so irregular that sometimes it would happen every couple of days to being fine for a month.

I turns out the glove box latch wasn't latching properly, and sometimes would leave the illumination light on dependig on how well you closed it. I tried disconnecting the bulb and it fixed the intermittent dead battery problem.
 
I'd check the NSS. A good way to see if that is your problem is to take a long screwdriver and ground out the 2 terminals on the starter. If it starts right up than its probably the NSS
 
Back
Top