Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

General discussion

I think I have a haunted jeep!! NEED HELP !

Oct 13, 2007 3:04AM PDT

Why does my Jeep intermitently not allow me to start my car? I get serious relay clicking at left foot of driver side. I have tried waiting a few minutes, I have tried using the keyless remote..nothing seems to work other than wait. It appears as though I have a dead battery..but its not dead. My lights dimm, my electric locks dont work,the cluster is barely lit..its totally spooky. Some times my clock resets to 12 and yet the stations are still programed!! Someone said it may a security issue...but how do i tell, when the car has this problem I cant use the remote to unlock or anything..I did disconnect the battery for 60 seconds and reconnect it...which did work..FINALLY, just not sure how long before I see another "can't start" senario. Any help?

Discussion is locked

- Collapse -
Corroded battery cable or connector?
Oct 13, 2007 7:37AM PDT

Sometimes battery connections get corroded and just barely make contact. Check the hot and ground cables. Scrape the connections clean, and apply some protective grease to prevent more corrosion.

It would best to get someone who knows something about auto electrics to check the connections out with a voltmeter, though. Then you can be sure you've found the problem.

- Collapse -
Haunted car
Oct 13, 2007 9:53AM PDT

I did check for corrosion on the terminals and found none. The other interesting thing is I can drive anywhere initialy, but then park and come back later and experience the problem. Once again after waiting then trying again all works as if there were no problems except I recently noticed rough idling occuring after I get it started. My thought was maybe the ignition switch in the steering column? or maybe the security feature in the jeep isn't letting contact occur?(I only say that because after time has elapsed it seems to work, sort of like waiting for the security feature to reset) I am no closer to figuring this out...frustrating!! I hope cleaning the terminals helps! Thanks
PS. When the issue occurs I have tried to pull a an error code and get no codes.

- Collapse -
Simple checks
Oct 14, 2007 7:27AM PDT

As mentioned before corroded cables and their contacts can cause weak draw from battery. Even the negative grd. point can be iffy. It may look OK, but the corrosion intrudes far into the cable(s). Thus clean or place a good wire(12ga.) to route with present cable to give a solid contact. Your starter and/or solenoid can be heat stressed and needs a cooling before it will release or give good contact. I thought the starter sw. is at fault as that's a rare occurance. -----Willy Happy

- Collapse -
Toyota
Oct 21, 2007 12:52AM PDT

Should have bought a Toyota SUV had one for 10 years never had to repair it.

- Collapse -
Same issue
Dec 3, 2007 2:18AM PST

You describe the exact symptoms I've just begun experiencing. This morning, I disconnected then reconnected the battery cables and was able to get the car started. If I find anything, I'll keep you posted. Have you found a solution for this issue?

- Collapse -
same issue
Dec 3, 2007 6:49AM PST

I found only one thing that has helped me. So far I have had no reaccurence of the issues. What I did was to remove both battery cables. I then sanded both terminals on the battery and the connectors (inside and out) I made sure all was bright and shiny metal then I applied a conductive grease to the terminals and connectors and retightened everything down. I even added more grease to the tops of the connectors once they were tightened. To date I have not had the issues again. My previous attempts at disconnecting the battery and such helped get it going again but the real issue i believe was corrosion in the inside of the connectors.

Hope that helps...

- Collapse -
Thank you!
Dec 3, 2007 12:45PM PST

I appreciate the response. I did a quick cleanup tongight and tightened them up. Once I get a chance to look at in the daylight, I'll try a more thorough cleanup as you suggested. Thanks again.