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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?