KrspyKrmMcDs

New Cherokee owner here.

I appreciate any help in advance!

I bought a 2000 Jeep Cherokee Sport a few months ago and it’s been great till today.

A couple weeks ago it started idling low when stopped. I haven’t figured out why yet, but I think it’s a vacuum issue. Having the AC running seems to help keep it around 700-750 rpm, but it will dip down to 450 sometimes, especially with the AC off.

Today I installed the Jeep Cables Big 7 and now it won’t start. It shows low voltage on the meter and it tries to start and then the starter clicks like the battery is dead. The battery shows 13 volts on the multimeter with the jeep off. I cleaned every contact point with a wire brush and used dielectric grease on all connections.

I was able to jump start it, but it sounded rough and when I backed it up, it stalled out when I stopped. Still won’t start after that.


Things I messed up.

- It was late when I finished, and I didn’t pay attention to the size and marking on the battery connectors and hammered the smaller opening negative connector down on the positive terminal. When I realized what I did, I kind of twisted the terminal in the battery when I was getting the connector back off. Battery still shows good voltage after all that abuse.

- I put the big fuse in a spot where I’m now not able to fully close the hood. I’ll relocate it once I figure out the no start issues

KrspyKrmMcDs

So, I’ve used Super Lube grease on electrical connections in the past and I’m thinking I may have over done it this time. Would super lube inhibit conductivity on contact points if there’s too much of it?

Super Lube

Very Red XJ

First: CLEAN your Throttle Body and your IDLE SPEED STEPPER MOTOR - Carburetor cleaner or Throttle Body cleaner
post images of the new cables as installed and maybe I could make out what went wrong

KrspyKrmMcDs

So I realized that the fuse that comes with the kit has these brass looking washers and I installed it with one washer between the fuse end and the cable eyelets. I swapped them so the fuse was touching the cable end and it runs great now, but it still won’t start on its own. It’s as if the battery was drained to much or the alternator has gone bad for whatever reason.

exasemech

At this point does it start when you jump it with a known good battery ?

Might need two people but measure the battery voltage when you're cranking it. Entirely possible you messed up the battery internally with the hammering and twisting The fact that it's 13 v with no load doesn't mean too much.

SimpleDad

So I was confused in the past about dielectric grease. I thought it helped contacts because when my dad taught me to work on cars we put it on our spark plugs, connectors, etc. It doesn't. It's actually non-conductive. You use it to provide waterproof protection to connectors to protect from corrosion and dirt, or in the case of spark plugs to help ensure you can remove the plug wire connector easier in the future (by stopping stuff from getting to the connector and causing corrosion, not by greasing the contact between the plug wire and plug). I found this out when I 'just made sure things work better' by applying it to my battery terminals and it caused me a ton of electrical gremlins (because I now had horrible connections to my battery).

Did you happen to get grease in the way of making proper contacts when you installed the cables? I'd get some electrical cleaner (CRC leaves ugly residue so if you can use Berryman's) and clean up all your contacts.

KrspyKrmMcDs

Hey folks,

Had the kids by myself this weekend while the wife was in the mountains so I was hardly able to check back on this forum.

The original battery that I had hammered the terminal connector on was totally dead. It was only a year old, so I'm not exactly sure what happened, but I have some hunches.

I charged the battery all night Friday and the voltage showed over 12.5 on Saturday morning, so I thought maybe it was good, but it still couldn't start it. I jumped it off and drove it to my parents to spend time with family and when I got there and shut it off, the battery was showing like 5 volts, so it was definitely done for.

I pulled the alternator off and took it to O'Reilly's to have it tested. They told me they couldn't get a consistent test result and determined that it was likely dead also. So I replaced the alternator and serpentine belt, made sure the cables weren't coated in the grease, moved the fender ground cable to a spot that wasn't as close to the fuse cables, got a new interstate battery from Costco and it started up without jumping it off on Sunday afternoon. When it started, it did not sound good and the voltage reading on the battery was fluctuating from upper 12v to upper 13v, and not in a normal way. It was very erratic, which stressed me out after a weekend of parenting by myself and trying to also fix my Jeep's issues. I went on a walk and came back and started it again and it was much smoother. It ran fine this morning on the way to work, and I was able to start it again after turning it off, so finger's crossed. I'm still worried that there is something not right because it was idling low again when I first started it up this morning, but it was hanging around 680rpms when I stopped at intersections. I don't know how the computer works on these jeeps, but I was wondering if maybe it needed to reset itself after putting in the new battery. The voltage yesterday afternoon showed a consistent 13.8 while it was idling in my driveway.

I appreciate the responses. I did get a new throttle body gasket and throttle body cleaner, but I haven't had a chance to do that yet. The IAC was the first thing I checked a few weeks ago when it started idling funny, but it looked clean and basically brand new. I'll make sure to clean it too when I do the throttle body.

KrspyKrmMcDs

Last night I went to clean my throttle body and found that the bolts were barely tightened. I probably could have loosened them with just my fingers. I cleaned the throttle body and made sure the bolts were torqued to spec. It's running much better now. It seems to have more horsepower and doesn't bog down at stops. Again, I appreciate the help.

Now to figure out how I'm going to lift it. Can't decide if I should swap the front low pinion dana 30 with a high pinion or just roll with it and try to do the cut and turn method that Cherokee Ronnie does here .

Very Red XJ

Glad you got the throttle body fixed! You can lift an XJ 3"- 31/2" with retaliative little expense : lift kit,. adj track bar, longer brake lines and new lower control arms = 31" tires and 9" of clearance below your rear diff. Any more and you'll needing: long arms, Short nose transfer case, new drive shafts, re-gearing both diffs with chrome molly axles, better brakes, trim the fenders and frame rail stiffeners = $$$ to do it right and then the trip to to see your parents @ 10mpg but you'll have 33" tires under your XJ!. 35's and your spending your child's college fund What trails do you plan to do?
This is what I do with a 3-1/4" lift:

KrspyKrmMcDs

Hey Red!

Great video! The drone footage is amazing and man what I would give to have access to terrain like that. I'd get lost all the time lol.

I really appreciate the breakdown. I live in North Carolina and Uwharrie National Forest is where most people around here go wheeling. My goal is to build something that can handle most of what it has to offer. My coworker has a 2018 Rubicon with 35" tires and he can handle basically everything there with little to no issues. I would love 35s just because I think it looks awesome, but I'll probably go with more like what you're suggesting in the beginning. I'm a software developer, so I do alright, but it is currently my daily driver and I definitely couldn't justify such bad gas mileage. One day I might go for the bigger set up and have a civic or something to get around but I think what you laid out is a great place to start.

Very Red XJ

Thanks - Having a drone pilot while I wheel is almost worth the plane ticket to fly the little guy to CA! The trail in the video is rated : moderate. People told me to get a higher lift and larger tires- so I bought a rear locker. - guess I don't understand. Taylor your jeep for your region - you probably need mud tires while in the west, we're on All Terrain. Dirt and mud are much easier on components. My friend with a 2-door JKU on 35's, replaced his front Dana 44 with a HEAVIER after market axle. NO one runs a Dana 30 on anything larger then 33's - Ronnie's on dirt and mud rather than ROCKS. What ever you do, go with premium components - cheep springs sag in less then 2 years and add-a-liefs on twenty year springs will not last more then a year. And you have to live with the tide. And your friend on 35's has a much wider track then an XJ that can get "tipsy" on 35's. XJ's with a 101" wheel base are 19" shorter then a the wheel base of a JKU or JLU. An XJ om 33's is VERY capable