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Specs:  Purchased used 63K miles in 2003 - currently at 93K miles

It all started about a month ago when I drove to Subway to pick up lunch.  Parked car for about 5 minutes, came back out, started her up and then immediately it died when I took my foot off the brake.  Took me about 5 minutes to finally get it in drive and it worked fine the rest of the day.  This has probably happened 4 times in the past month.

About a week ago after a bitterly cold night I jumped in my jeep to go to work in the morning and nothing happened when I turned the ignition.  Dead silence..  So I waited in my car to stay out of the cold and after about 5 minutes I heard some noise emmanating from the fan - the ignition was still turned on..  Then some lights began to come on and more noise - like the car was coming back to life..  After about 20 minutes it started to turn over and finally I was able to get her going..  Ran fine the rest of the day..  

TODAY (sigh)...  Started fine this morning and drove her to work..  I parked and shut her down and then tried to manually power lock the doors using the switch and nothing happened..  So I closed the door and tried to start her up and again - dead silence..  So I waited patiently with the ignition turned on and the car started to make a loud and fast "clicking" sound.  Additionally, the dials and gauges were turning off and on pretty rapidly..  Finally it seemed to power up and I was able to start it..  Who knows what will happen at lunch today?!  Does anyone know what this is?  I will try the self diagnostic at lunch if power turns on (turning ignition on/off 3 times) and see what codes it brings..  Just wanted to know if this is a serious problem and if it is fixable??

Much appreciated!

EM  

Just a follow up..  Was dead at lunch but almost immediately sprung back to life and ran fine..  Performed the internal diagnostic and all it said was "done" so i'm assuming it's not finding anything wrong..  If anyone can comment that would be great!

EM  

Have the same exact problem with my 2000 grand cherokee, its been down for some time now, and now will no longer start at all.  Ive had someone mention a relay (shutdown, or ignition) other than that, Im leaning to a short, or ground fault.  I have replaced the Powertrain control module, I know there is another computer on board, and am contemplaiting changing it.

Have you made any progress on this?  I sure would love to figure this out before towing it back to the dealership.

Thanks!!

BH  

Change the Battery.  I had the same problem where I drove somewhere, stopped for 5 minutes, and upon restarting, guages just bounced up and down and lights flickered.  Replaced the battery and started like a charm.  Hope this helps

Alex  

I'm having this same issue, where the Jeep is dead. No sounds when turning the ignition on. Just the instrument panel/gauges (rpm tach and speedometer) just flicking left to right left to right...anyone have any similiar experiences?  

Did the new battery fix your guys' problem?

I have a 2006 GC Laredo 3.7l.  Last weekend when we went to leave to come home from out of town, I turned to key to start and nothing except a racheting-sound coming from the starter.  Ended up hooking it up to a marine battery charger (all we had) and got it running.  That was Monday.  All was fine Tuesday, Wednesday, the wife used it both days and no problems.  On Thursday, she took it to the store, was in for 20 min and when she left, same problem, no start, ratcheting-noise.

Drove to Advanced Auto later (after jumping it with my car) and had the guy there hook up the machine.  Battery and Alternator tests passed.  I put a starter on order for Friday and pulled the old one out before going.  Had them bench-test the starter at O'Reilly and it passed, so I left with only the old one, put it back in and cleaned the connections on the battery and starter really good.  Same problem!  Decided to go get the new starter (a refurb).  Put it in and same problem!

Ratching-noise and lights flicker when attempting to start.  I'm goin' nuts over this.  If I jump it and let it run for a bit, shut it off and it will start up on it's own right away.  

Any more ideas?  Please?  Can't return the starter (obviously) and won't be able to return a new battery if that doesn't work.  

somewhere in the system.. it sounds like you have dirty connections...


the ratcheting noise is the starter solenoid trying to engage... but the voltage dropping as the amp load goes up then the solenoid spring over coming the reduced power... this breaks the connection .. instantly.  the voltage comes back up and the solenoid trys to kick back in..

do you have a digital volt meter??????

set it to 20 volt DC scale.....

engine off.. turn on the headlights for one minute...  then turn them off..    test the battery voltage..  

12.60 volts DC is a fully charged battery
12.45 volts DC is a half charged battery
12.25 volts DC is a quarter charged battery..

start the motor....  turn the headlights back on...

test between the negative battery post and the engine block...   0.04 volts is expected...
test between the negative battery post and the body..................0.02 volts is expected..
test between the engine block and the body...............................0.02 volts is expected...

this test takes about 2 minutes to do..   totally.. digital volt meters start at $8 bucks.. and you don't need to spend more than $25 for one..

if your tests show more voltage you have a bad or dirty ground...


i would clean your battery terminals... take them off and use a stainless steel tooth brush from the hardware store..   and use lots of hot water...

if you had more than the 0.04 or 0.02 volts.. that is the circuit you need to examine..


your being able to jump start it.. sort of aims the problem at dirty or loose cables...  loose or dirty ground connections at the engine or body...    or a bad battery..

it really could also be the battery going bad... but clean everything first..  

Here's an interesting problem I'm having with my 2000 Jeep Cherokee Laredo. Whenever I drive it anywhere it seems to drives fine, but once I park it for a few minutes, and then try to start it again, it doesn't start. It's like the Jeep is completely dead, though the gauges turn on, the radio, lights, and everything else electrical works fine. The only thing that won't start is the Jeep. I tends to act as if the battery is dead, but it's not for I just bought a new one for this Jeep. This only happens about once every 5 or 6 times I drive this car. I also figured out that if I put the Jeep in neutral, and turn the key, it starts. Any thoughts on what might cause this to happen? I'm thinking replacing the battery cables?  

I have very similar symptoms on my 2003 Lerado 2.7
and have measured my voltages as follows:
0.032 & 0.016 & 0.08 (as in order above)

Now the last one obviously looks bad. I then took the car to an auto electrician who replaced my battery terminals, replaced the battery to engine block earth cable and "renewed" the block to body cable.

My new voltages are
0.018 & 0.01 & 0.031

A whole lot better, but my last measurement is still over the expected 0.02.
Any reason for concern ?  

sayhiagain65:
Here's an interesting problem I'm having with my 2000 Jeep Cherokee Laredo. Whenever I drive it anywhere it seems to drives fine, but once I park it for a few minutes, and then try to start it again, it doesn't start. It's like the Jeep is completely dead, though the gauges turn on, the radio, lights, and everything else electrical works fine. The only thing that won't start is the Jeep. I tends to act as if the battery is dead, but it's not for I just bought a new one for this Jeep. This only happens about once every 5 or 6 times I drive this car. I also figured out that if I put the Jeep in neutral, and turn the key, it starts. Any thoughts on what might cause this to happen? I'm thinking replacing the battery cables?



Have a look at some of the suggestions on this thread (http://jeepgarage.org/showthread.php?t=24123) where I posted a problem with the same symptoms. It seems though that your Park Safety switch is faulty.  

yes,,, i agree that when there is no action in park and it starts in neutral.. the neutral position switch probably is bad... most cars and trucks not call it the manual lever position sensor..  

the voltage drop test i post is JUST the first test i *** eliminates the basic failures that are so common...

0.031 is probably acceptable. i like to see lower...  but there are a LOT of accessories on that model...  all the electrons from the alternator output go through the engine to body/firewall ground to power the various items in the car..  like the heater blower, the radiator cooling fans, the fuel pump..


if you have a mechanic friend...  have them drop their amp clamp over the engine to body wire... see how many amps is actually flowing through it...   many professional mechanics and driveability techs have a milli amp clamp.. max amp reading is 60 amps DC...  gives a much better low amp reading..  (milli amp clamps are available through the professional tools flyers that most autoparts stores keep behind the counter in the commercial desk... )

or....   add another ground wire from a different spot on the engine to the body..   i normally keep some monster cable power cable in black around..  in 10 gauge... so i can use conventional sized crimp terminals in yellow..  

I have a 2001 jeep GC with the straight six and its cranking but it never will fire. Its full of gas and the battery is up the fuel pump is working fine and all. I cant seem to figure out what is wrong with it. if anyone knows anything about it. Its very much appreciated.  

plug in an OBD2 scan tool that displays live data stream...  

you can examine the codes first....

then examine the live data stream..    look for the crank sensor RPM.. look for cam sensor RPM or sync signal...

can you hear the fuel pump run  for 2 seconds when you first turn on the key????  if you don't .. then have somebody pound hard on the bottom of the fuel tank when you are cranking the engine over....  this will in about 80% of the time.. get the fuel pump to spin and build fuel pressure one more time.. enough to get you home or to the shop...   the pounding has to be done while the engine is being cranked..  the fuel pump only receives power when the engine is being cranked  .. if its not running..

crank sensors have failed.. they are down on the bell housing or rear of the block..



cam sensors have failed..    



automatic shut down relays have failed.. ( these are named wrong.. they should be called engine  main relay... )  ((somebody must of thought it was funny to name it wrong.. and it stuck))

 

you will need something like this version that not just reads codes... but displays live data stream....

http://www.harborfreight.com/can-obd-ii-code-reader-eobd-scanner-98614.html


 

codes..
fuel pressure..
fuel injector pulse..
spark...