DGill709

I just bought a 2001 grand cherokee and for the first couple days I had no issues, now all of a sudden the dash lights are all on, no gauges work at all, no power locks or power windows work but the sunroof does. The windshield wipers work but then they don't always shut off unless you turn the jeep off. Something seems to be draining the battery as i have to boost it to get it to stay running, but when you hit the cruise button or turn the blinkers on it starts to idle rough. If it's not boosted it either doesn't start or it starts and shuts off within a few seconds. I checked the battery terminals and the two ground wires and they are in good shape and clean, I checked the fuses under the hood and under the steering column and they are all good. Can't seem to figure out the problem, any help would be appreciated as I'd rather not spend a fortune at a mechanic shop. Thanks

dave1123

Try taking the mounting bolts out of the PDC (Fuse/relay box under the hood) and look at the bottom side of it for the "Green Crusties", copper corrosion on the terminals and wires. It seems to me you have major electrical problems due to lost voltages in the different circuits. The computer system in that jeep doesn't like unstable or reduced voltage and things can get real whonky in a hurry. Keep in mind that none of the gauges get signals directly from their sensors and the signals are sent by the computer to the dash after it processes them. All the lighting and power accessories are controlled by the Body Control Module under the dash and all the modules in the vehicle talk to one another thru a data bus. It gets real complicated quickly.

The best place to start is to check every connector you can find for corrosion, bad pins, or frayed wires. Pay close attention to where the battery wires go into their molded terminals. It's common to find corrosion right there. Also check all your grounds making sure they are clean and tight, not rusted. Most of the sensors work on 5 volts so clean connections are important. It looks like you've got some work to do. Report back what you find so we can help others.

ONE OTHER THING. Lately there have been many "flood" cars being sold that were supposed to be destroyed or sold as salvage. If you think you've got one of those and can get someone to prove it, you might start litigation to get compensated from the seller.

DGill709

We just got 30inches of snow so I can't get at it right now but i forgot to mention that all of these issues started after I replaced the battery in the key fob for power unlock and lock, I figured it was a coincidence as I can't see the anti theft causing all of those issues?

dave1123

I'm going to tell you right now, if the computer doesn't see a fully charged battery, it won't allow the engine to stay running. You need to address where your parasitic draw is and fix it. Fully charged means a minimum of 12.5 volts before you start cranking. There are tons of videos on Youtube about finding parasitic draw and you need to investigate.

DGill709

So I checked under the fuse box and that was good, I did the parasitic test and all the fuses were fine however I was getting -03.00 draw from the battery and found out that 01.50 was coming from the Ignition switch fuse #14, fuse #7 under the steering wheel was drawing roughly 01.00, and a small amount of draw from fuse #17 under the steering wheel and the last bit from JB Power fuse #12 under the hood.

Also forgot to mention the battery was showing 18amperage, on dcv

DGill709

Update

I got it running today, even after shutting it off it would turn back over and stay running, haven't changed or done anything else since the problems started, also the gas gauge now works but none of the others do

dave1123

Okay, now get yourself a circuit diagram and find out what those fuses supply. I don't understand the "18amperes on dcv" thing.

DGill709

From what I seen online a good battery will have around 25-28 reading on dcv, mine has 18-20

dave1123

I still don't get it. You're talking 2 different things, volts and amps. Using the old "garden hose" analogy, amps is the volume of current flowing thru the circuit and volts is the pressure behind it. You can't read amps on the dcv scale of a meter. If you're showing more that 14 volts from the battery, you'd be cooking it's internals and risk destroying the entire system. Jeeps don't run 24 volt systems, which is the only way what you're saying makes sense.

Get some experienced help. I think I'm done here.

DGill709

You put it on dcv 20 and those are the readings, I don't use a multimeter so obviously I'm not going to know everything about it or reading it.

Anyways, I fixed the problem, everything works now except for heat and ac.