Hey fellas, need some help. Have a 99 XJ with the 6 cylinder. I've got a couple of issues, and I think they might all be related:

1. Had a completely, totally dead battery (long story, wife took the key out when it was still in ACC and the windshield wipers ended up being on for about 18 hours). So dead that I actually had to keep my foot on the gas for 3-4 minutes after jumping to keep the engine from stalling. Battery is now brand new.
2. I was having trouble starting, despite the new battery. Diagnosed it as the NSS. I removed, rebuilt, and reinstalled the NSS.
3. Lately I've been having a rough idle. Doesn't seem to matter whether it's hot or cold. Almost wants to stall, but hasn't done it.
4. Also get weird, spikey RPMs when doing 60-65 mph. Not sure if that's related.

Meter shows about 12.5 VDC on the battery terminals at rest. I get about 14.5-15.0 VDC on the terminals with the engine running. So it doesn't SEEM like it's the alternator.

One other thing... when the NSS went bad, I was away from home and had to do an emergency bypass in order to get home. I used a piece of wire to short the NSS at the harness end. I know when I did it I blew at least one fuse (the instrument cluster), but I'm afraid of what else I might've done. The other fuses seem fine, but I just did a visual check, didn't actually test them.

The first 8-10 starts after rebuilding the NSS, I noticed it was taking longer and longer to start. Not extended cranking... just seemed like the battery was slightly flat. Anyone but me probably wouldn't have even noticed it.

Yesterday I was out (this was two days after fixing the NSS) and had the battery die. Got a jump, and it seems to be fine now. Started fine several times since then.

Anyone know what I might have happening?

 

Correction: I apparently only checked one set of fuses. Just discovered the second fuse panel in the passenger kick plate. Sorry, only had this thing about six months, didn't know there were two panels.

And I'll be damned if I can find a good way to check the inside fuses with a fuse checker. I either can't see what I'm doing or I can't see the light on the checker. Maybe it would be easier to use my DMM on continuity mode?

 

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Bumping this back to the top because I still need some help.

Didn't have any starting problems for awhile. Now it won't start at all. Only had this happen two times. Both times, I tried to start it immediately after shutting it off, and both times it immediately acted like a dead battery... Slow crank, then nothing. Now it won't even crank, even though the battery voltage is fine.

Any ideas? Bad starter?