Here is a related question.
Will driving for 50-75 miles without the negative ground wire that connects the battery to the front passenger fender cause the battery to go dead?
Went to start the XJ for the pa Naxja meet this morning & it cranked really slowly and just started. Let it idle for a minute,tried to start again,no start. Ran great for the 75 miles.
New starter,alternator,belt & all heavy gauge wire except for the alt wire. Not done yet.
Tried jumping,no go. Get either a little click at starter or nothing. Tried moving shift lever. No difference. No issue previous,other than new head rebuild.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Edit:new battery also.battery reading 13.0 volts after charging.

 

I was finally able to dig into this today, I attached the meter to the battery with the defroster on and off with the XJ idling in the driveway and there was no change from the 14.3v that I read with the meter. I checked all of the grounds that I could see in the engine bay and they are all reading a dead short on ohms except that steel braided cable that is on the firewall going to the back of the engine block and that is reading about 2 ohms and is looking a little green. They could probably use a cleaning and that steel strap replaced but the meter kind of makes me think that the grounds are not the issue. I have not pinpointed the ground for the blower motor yet, I am thinking that Mr. Hall may have pointed me to the issue with the gauge being susceptible to fluctuations because I am not having any problems with starting or dim lights or anything else of that nature. Thanks to all who responded, I will keep an eye on it and see what happens.

 

Ever see this?

http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f11/r...ge-fix-684375/

 

My gauge has been acting right since I cleaned the battery terminals and the blower motor connector (took the connector apart)

 

I had not until now, this is the only forum that I have used to date. Thanks for the link I am going to check this out a little more in depth.

 

The battery terminals are clean, I still have to find the blower motor connection but will likely clean that up too. Thanks again.

 

Makes sense.

Do you know where the instrumental panel electricals are grounded on the 91 and up?

 

No, I looked at the FSM wiring diagrams briefly and found the splice page, but couldn't find where it grounds before I had to go back to the office

 

This helps on Renix era Jeeps:

Improving the Instrument Panel Ground

The ground point for the complete instrument cluster on your XJ or MJ is located up under the driver’s side dash. If you lay on your back and look up under there with a flashlight, without wearing a hat, you will see a black wire attached to a shiny piece of metal almost directly above the hood release ****. The screw will have either a ¼” or 5/16” head on it.

This ground point is responsible for handling the ground circuit for the following items: Dome lamps, Seatbelt and key warning, trans comfort switch, wiper switch, headlamp switch and delay module, fog lamp switch, cargo lamp switch, all instrument panel grounds and illumination, power windows and door locks, cruise control dump valve, and a few more things.

The problem is that where the ground point is located does not have a good contact with the chassis where the ground should be. The solution is simple.

Make up a jumper wire with #10 gauge wire about 10” long. On one end, crimp on a ¼” round wire terminal. On the other end, crimp on a 3/8” round wire terminal.

Remove the screw from the existing ground wire and attach the small terminal of your jumper so that the original wire and your new jumper share the same attaching point, one over the other.

Look above the driver’s side plastic kick panel just forward of the top of the hood release ****. You will see an 8mm stud there. Attach the large terminal end there with a washer and nut over it tightened securely.

**Special note for Comanche owners: Make your jumper wire 12” long and attach it on the driver’s side kick panel close to the fusebox on the 8mm stud.**


Revised 11-29-2011

 

Update, I still have not pinpointed my issue with the gauge however I have had no issues with dead batteries or anything else so I am thinking it isn't an alternator issue. I was trying to get my living room floors sanded down while I could have windows open before it got too cold but weather permitting I am intending to jump back into it this week.

 

Thanks for the update. Weather is looking good for open windows this weekend.

 

Yes it is, going to try to take care of the rest of this and start with the drywall finishing in the same room I sanded the floors. Need to retool some things before I start making the repairs in the house floors just wanted to sand them down to see if they were worth salvaging. It looks like several hundred to fix them as opposed to thousands to replace. I try to get back and let folks know what happened since they took the time to respond in the first place.

 

I was finally able to pinpoint the issue for me anyway. The ground on the outside of the condenser was the culprit. I know I checked some grounds and they all appeared fine but I overlooked that small connector on the side of the condenser. The thought for me was that it would only happen with the defrost on high and you could hear the condenser kick in, that was when the voltage dropped. I cleaned the connection up, checked continuity to the negative battery terminal and had a dead short. Started it up, turned the defroster on high and the voltage did not change at all. I appreciate the suggestions, hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year so far. Thanks again.

 

Interesting. Thanks for the update