No start, no cranks - 96 XJ

Hi guys,

Hoping someone can help me here, because I'm stumped. I have a 96 cherokee, 4 cyl, 5 spd manual AX15 transmission. I shut the jeep down for 5 minutes the other night, and when I went to go start her up again.....nothing. I have power, battery is fine, and starter looks good. But it won't even crank.

I replaced the ignition switch hoping for a quick and easy fix, but no luck. Still the same problem. Then I read about the NSS possibility, but because I have a manual Jeep, I don't have one. Then I heard the manual equivalent is the clutch interlock switch. But, I remember my Jeep being able to start without the clutch being depressed, either in neutral or 1st. I accidentaly started it in 1st a coule times recently without the clutch depressed and of course lurched to a stall. Could this have caused my problem??

I'm lost and this is starting to sound like an electrical nightmare (not my specialty to say the least). Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

Could it be the CPS?

I had a similar issue on my 96. I cleaned out my nss and haven't had an issue since.

SacXJguy said:

I had a similar issue on my 96. I cleaned out my nss and haven't had an issue since.

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Your XJ must not have a manual transmission

mgeebxj said:

Your XJ must not have a manual transmission

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Doh! That's what I get from skimming

If you checked your batt connections on the starter, try lightly tapping the starter with a hammer. could be stuck or well it just died.