2000 Cherokee I6 4.0. About a week ago I noticed that my jeep was starting sluggish (slow cranking). Once it fires it's fine. I thought it was my battery, so I took it out to go get a new one. The guys tested it and it was at 730 out of 800? cranking amps. They just polished the terminals and told me to do the same to my cables. I know this can cause things like this. So I tried.


It didn't help. So to myself, I thought I would clean up the connections on the starter - battery connection. I did this today. Me and the fam just loaded up the jeep to get out of town. Went to fire the jeep and it was horribly sluggish and pretty much ran the battery down. She's stuck.


So, from the test, the battery looked okay. So that leaves the starter and the alternator. I have some decent exp with alternator (my old 92 ate them up). I tried the old hammer on the solenoid, to no avail.


So this leads me to the alternator? input? If I yank it out, can they test it in store? Or would I need to jump the jeep, and drive it there to test it?

 

How old is the battery? Those tests at the stores aren't always that accurate.


To test the alternator try jumping it and test the voltage at the terminals with the engine running, it should be around 14v if it is below 12v your alternator is shot.


If you have an oil leak at the oil-filter adaptor (common) it is possible your starter is clogged with oil, dirt, etc. which is bogging it down.


If the cables are corroded internally it could also cause such issues, the same applies to the grounds and connections (but it sounds like you already cleaned these).

 

I think the battery is from 2011. I did notice that the starter had ~ 1/8-1/4" of oildirt on it, But the connections look good, pretty fresh metal. I don't have a voltage reader. are they cheap? Or should I jump the jeep and drive it to have it tested?


Im either running down my battery with a toasted alternator, or Im destroying my alternator by having it run the jeep.

 

I guess I could always start with the starter, yank it off and have it tested? that probably the easiest, but not my main suspect.

 

Harbor Freight has multi-meters for around $5, better ones for around $20. If you don't live near a harbor freight you should be able to find a basic multi-meter in any hardware store, Wal-Mart, etc. for less than $20. A multi-meter is a very use-full tool for anything electrical/electronic and a good tool to have.



That's a bit on the old side for a lead-acid battery, it very well could be going bad. Average life of a lead-acid battery is around 3-5 years, cheap ones can fail even sooner. If it is not sealed, have you ever checked the electrolyte level? it may be low.
Did you have it tested right after the vehicle had been driven to the store? A battery could test good when pulled right out of a vehicle that had been running/charging it but not be able to hold a charge for more than a few hours.


Your alternator should be able to run the Jeep, if it can't you're draining the battery and need a new alternator, running a vehicle with battery disconnected can do damage to an alternator or electrical system but as long as the battery is connected even if it can't hold a charge you shouldn't do any damage, it just needs to have a battery there (even a dead/dieing one) as a load/sink.





With a thick coating of crud on the starter there is a good chance that it could have a bit of dirt/oil inside as well, testing it wouldn't hurt, especially if the voltages from the alternator are good.

 

Thanks for the replies. Ill probably just start with the starter, and when in store get a multi meter. When testing the alternator, are you hooking up the multi meter to the main battery terminals? or alternator terminals? My battery is about run down from trying to start. I feel that I can not get a good test level on it now.

 

You should get about the same voltage at either location if your cables are good, the battery is charged by the alternator so when the engine is running the voltage at the battery terminals should be the output voltage from the alternator. With the engine off the voltage at the battery terminals (or anywhere else in the electrical system) will be battery voltage.

 

After the slow crank do the battery cables get really freakin hot? Quick test for high resistance without having a DMM.

 

Good stuff guys. I didn't feel my main battery cables, but I didn't notice any steam/smoke. The battery/Alternator readings totally make sense. When the battery finally started to run too low, The starter did the "click click click"


Anytime I've had starter issues, its been the terrible click. Don't know if that was just from very low battery level, or oil damage? It'll take me 15 minutes to get the starter off in the am. I'll take it to be tested. If bad I'll get a new one, If not, I'll Clean it up a bit. Then get the volt meter to test the battery/ alternator. (Wish I had a battery charger to replenish my battery at least).


That's the order of operations at this point.


Thanks again for the input

 

ok guys, here's the update. It turns out to be a combination of an older battery, and an older starter. The starter looked OEM and if so, might be 14 years old. It passed the test, but didn't sound strong or well at all.
I got a new battery and a new starter. Everything seems to be well. Just went for a drive and then had my alternator tested. It was good.


Thanks for the input