rklettke

This is the 4th time my jeep hasn't started. I almost Always set the parking brake in neutral and then let the weight of the jeep rest on that before putting it in park.
(1st time was on last friday night, next was sat afternoon, then like tues night, and 4th was today around noon, and I drive it daily.)
1st time: Turn key and not even a sound, go to neutral, still nothing. Move shifter around blah blah, still nothing. All this was with parking brake on, took it off and sat there for a little bit, then it started right up.
2nd time: Same thing, not even a sound. Tried all the same stuff. I seem to remember taking off the parking brake and letting it rest on the park gear or w/e that is called lol. Anyways, this time I crawled under the jeep with a screwdriver to jump the starter while my dad continued to mess with the key. After a few sparks, BAM started right up.
3rd time: Went to go back to school/work and didn't start. Tried moving the shifter rapidly with key in start position. Eventually take the parking brake off and the weight rests on the parking gear and I try again and bam it starts! Didn't have to crawl under it this time.
And today the 4th time: Went out for lunch and when I got back to my jeep it didn't start! Tried everything I've previously done except jumping the starter. So despite the lovely rain soaked parking spot, I crawl under with the key in the on position and jumped it but the started just spun instead of engaging, figured I'd try to start it, and it did.

Now after that lovely story, she seems to be cranking slowly recently, I've started to notice it since last weekend and it does it hot and cold where in the past it would fire right up no matter what. Also it still starts on first try though.

Thanks for advice in advance

caged

sounds like your nss.
when you jumped it and it just sounded like it spun, you possibly just hit the wrong terminals on the starter.

i think it's the nss. starter either clunks once or spins from the key. otherwise it usually just cranks.

if you're getting nothing from the starter, it's something else. either a bad cable or bad nss.

it's a fine spot to find in neutral, that sometimes takes some finesse.

Jbeaujean28

Yeah I agree neutral safety switch, try that first and if a problem occurs again take your starter to orielys and have them bench test it. Advance auto tested mine and they said it was good, when it really wasn't.

Bustedback

Have you checked the battery condition? First place to start.

stev-o

Just clean and regrease it
Your nss that was

DFlintstone

Here's a link that's helpful for the NSS; > If you hold the key over, and jiggle the shifter in park or neutral and it starts, it's your NSS. http://bc4x4.com/tech/2010/jeep-neut...ty-switch-nss/

If you hold the key over, and rap the starter with something, a hammer or a bar, and it starts you might consider it's the starter, (or solenoid). Once though, I had a loose cable there on the starter that would connect when I whacked the starter.

Shiny lead on all four surfaces on the battery connections..of course!

You also have a relay somewhere you might want to check. I just found the blade connectors on my fan relay funky last week.

sthon

Another easy way to tell if your NSS is at fault is to check your reverse lights. My NSS has been having issues for a while, when it doesn't want to start I put in neutral and jiggle it. My reverse lights on the other hand work maybe 10% of the time.

tjwalker

Agree that the neutral safety switch is the primary suspect here. Along with the excellent link that DFlintstone provided to "refurbishing" it, here is another.

http://go.jeep-xj.info/HowtoNSSrebuild.htm

As refurbishing often (but not always) restores full function and the switch can be kind of spendy, trying this is highly recommended.

Spray some penetrating oil on the bolts a couple of times a day or two before you start, they can be a bear to break loose sometimes.

DFlintstone

You might want to check/add engine grounds. If the above was "real" and not a confusing coincidence, the torque on the engine/tranny holding it while in park might have caused it to shift. (a tiny bit), and ground. Where the braided cable from the rear of the engine attaches to the firewall can be a problem, then of course there's your battery ground. Just a thought.

You might check that easy by grounding it with jumper cables.

rklettke

replaced starter... starts like it should now... The NSS and starter relay were cleaned and replaced, respectively, i wanna say about a month ago. I'll still really want to redo all the grounds but for now i should be ok. Thanks for the input guys.

DFlintstone

Cool! Glad you got'r.