Hello,

I just bought my first Jeep Cherokee Sport in September and I am still pretty clueless about troubleshooting XJ's. Right now my 2000 Jeep Cherokee is sitting in my driveway completely dead with no electrical components responding whatsoever.

After I bought the Jeep I drove about 600 miles in it with only slight issues. The first hiccup was when I was waiting in my car while listening to the radio and completely drained the battery. All I needed was a jump but then I took a look at the battery, realized that it was too old and bought a new one. I then drove another 600 miles with the new battery with no starting/electrical issues. The jeep then sat in my driveway for a week before I went to start it again. I tried the electric lock key fob and got no response. I opened the door manually and tried the starter. Nothing turned over, there was no sound, no lights, nothing. I thought that maybe I had somehow left a light on and drained the battery again so I borrowed a trickle charger and left it hooked up to the battery all night. When I tried starting the car the next morning it was still completely dead.

Any ideas on where to start with troubleshooting?

 

I'd first look at your connections and cables. clean the terminals with a wire brush and check for corrosion. If those are good check the connection at your starter and alternator. Id then have your alternator tested. Most auto stores will do it for free.

 

I've had the exact same problem before, it happened when I swapped motors in my 2000.

The negative post on your battery should have a little black wire that doesn't go into a harness and is grounded to the car. Start there. Kept my whole electrical system from turning on took me 30 minutes to find after swapping motors I thought I screwed something up :P

 

If your connections are clean then either you got a faulty battery *unlikely* or you have something draining your battery *DING DING DING Most likely*

Verifying there is a something draining your battery isn't too hard if you know how to use a VOM but isolating exactly what is can be very tedious and time consuming.