hey everyone so a few days ago my jeep wouldn't start and it seemed like i had a dead battery, so i had a friend help jump it but when i turned the key my starter sounded really slow and all the lights got really dim but it started up, now once i got home i shut it off and tried starting it again and it didn't start, so i went ahead and cleaned my battery connections and ground and still no go... but when i turned the key half way between start and run all my lights came back on and it started fine and has been starting ever since... could this be an issue with the ignition switch?

 

Anyone have any ideas? Sorry for bumping this back to the top so soon... but I head back to college this Sunday and need it fixed before then...

 

One thing you can do is turn the headlights on and have some one try and start it. Watch the headlight if they dim way down and it turns over slowly id get battery load tested. Now if head lights do not dim way down and it turns over slowly that sounds like starters going bad.

 

the starter was just replaced... and when it wants to start it starts fine... today it didn't want to start... then 5 minutes later it started without any issue... I'm wondering if it could be an ignition switch issue

 

Sounds like your battery is dying. How old is it?

 

If it acted almost the same way when your friend jump-started (or tried ) ,it doesn't sound like just a battery problem, but maybe like you mentioned about the weird position of the ignition switch to get it to run....
Unless.....the neutral switch is a problem in the mix also (?)

Could be something else completely also...

 

battery is 2 years old, and steelybill thats why i was thinking it has something to do with the ignition switch

 

A local auto parts place may be able ( some are, some aren't) to test the battery capacity.
And like freedgdr said, the starter may be intermittently acting up & ready to shell out. Dim lights, with a jump start also, might be a clue...

 

Is there no power at all when this happens or just no cranking ?

 

^^^^

 

Dont mean it was rebuilt correctly.

 

No power at all I don't even hear the starter try and engage... last time I had a starter issue it would engage but not crank

 

Could be the following in order of likely hood:

1. Your ground / positive cable / ends are bad causing intermittent high resistance issues.

2. Your start is going bad causing a massive amount of current draw just to turn over.

3. Battery is defective and randomly shorting internally.

A little personal experience story.
Years ago had a car, everything was just fine. Been starting and holding a charge with zero indication of trouble.

Drove up to a friends. Turned the car off. When I went to leave it was FLAT dead. I mean FLAT. My first thought was the ground or positive post at the battery.

Checked it all, they were fine.

Tested the battery. It had ZERO charge. Just instantly went from fine to flat dead.

Jumped the car, drove it home.

Turned the car off, tried to re-start. Flat dead again.

Batteries can just suddenly die totally vs. a gradual death.

 

X2 on that. Had it happen to me a couple times too, almost like a cell connector in the battery came apart...