so...turn the key. NOTHING happens. no dashlights. no power to anything. its like you have the positive terminal removed from the battery. but its random. it does this about 3/4 of the time, and the other 1/4 it will crank 2-3 times very slowely before just clicking. brand new battery, brand new alternator. im hoping starter, because ive got an extra, and i dont feel like finding a short

some of you may have already seen this. but ive found that removing the negative terminal and reconnecting it usually yields me that 1/4 of the time that the lights will come on but nothing else works.

is it possible to run jumper cables from another car directly to the starter or is that trouble

Check your ground straps. Every time I've had charging problems, its been the ground that was the culprit.

i dont think its a charging problem though because battery has full charge. and i know the old alternator had bitten the dust.

The first part sounds like it could be the starter or starter solenoid, but the second definitely sounds like the battery. What happens when you jump start it? Does it run at all?
Billy

when i tried jumpstarting it, to negate my battery i took the cables off and ran his battery straight to my cables. this is the only way i could get the jeep to turn over a few times before clicking

My money is on the starter/starter solenoid then. Make sure your cables are connected tight and they are corrosion free before buying a new starter though.
Good luck,
Billy

check the ignition switch on top of the steering column.

check the ignition switch on top of the steering column.

The electrical part, not the key cylinder is what he is reffering to.

I would do this. I work at a salvage yard, and we get people all the time looking for the switch and wiring harness out of cherokees.

Good Luck,
Stephen

how do i check this. ive already got the plastic off around the steering colum. or is this part behind the dash?

how much should it be if i get one new. the junkyards around here are junk, and 99% of the time if it isn't a motor, or axle assembly they dont see it as worth their time to go pull it for you

nobody?

convert to a pull start :flipoff2:

You could jump straight to the starter, but before trying that, here are some good trouble shoots:

(1)Run a jumper cable from the negative to a solid ground, like a manifold bolt.
Anything?
(2) If no luck, Run from the same manifold bolt to some bare wire before the terminal clamp (expose some if necessary) instead of the post, thus bypassing your clamp.
(3) try the same thing with the positive, only jump from the positive battery post to some bare wire behind the clamp on the positive side. I had the exact same problem with a car, and there was a washer being used on the clamp that was so corroded it was sucking all the amps out of the battery's capability before it could get to accessories or the starter. And it was intermittent as well as un-jumpable, like yours.

Chances are since you are getting no power, it is either this or the ignition switch in the column and NOT a starter issue. To check for a dirty switch in the column, turn it on and off about 30 times and see if you have power.

If option 1 works, it is a ground strap. If option 2 works, it is resistance in the ground clamp. If option 3 works, it is resistance in the positive clamp. Clean them up really well or just replace them.
If you decide to jump the starter from another vehicle, even though it shouldn't be the issue, you need to get battery juice to both the big bolt and the small clip. I wouldN'T worry about doing that, though. Starters don't kill the whole car.

how do i check this. ive already got the plastic off around the steering colum. or is this part behind the dash?

how much should it be if i get one new. the junkyards around here are junk, and 99% of the time if it isn't a motor, or axle assembly they dont see it as worth their time to go pull it for you

Not sure exactly what year you are working on, but a 95 cherokee switch is only $11.00 at the local advance auto parts. That's a pretty cheap test.

Stephen

ok..can anybody tell me where this switch is? ive got a parts cherokee i can get one off, i just need to know where its at.

thanks for all the help everybody. im going home this weekend for a few hours so ill try some of these out, and take a look at this switch.

It is located in the steering column. Pull any covers off that surround the column, and follow the small rods that run from the key cylinder to an electrical switch with a bunch of wires coming out of the plug. That will be it. Probably held in place by 2 or 3 small screws. When you turn the key, the rod pushes toward the firewall, and pushes a small piece in the side of this switch. That sends the power to the proper places at the right time. It will be about 3 to 3.5 inches long.
Made this too easy for you. Both styles.


http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.jeep4x4center.com/cherokee/images/ignition_switch2.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.jeep4x4center.com/cherokee/Ignition%2520Switches%2520Cherokee.htm&h=128&w=137&sz=8&hl=en&start=58&um=1&tbnid=Ge4PbOh0BMb7MM:&tbnh=87&tbnw=93&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dignition%2Bswitch%2Bjeep%26start%3D40 %26ndsp%3D20%26svnum%3D10%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa% 3DN

Stephen

Ok, first, don't bother replacing the starter yet. The starter has NOTHING to do with power to the dash or any other lights except sometimes a fuse link or two comes off where the positive battery cable connects to the starter. Even if you have a totally bad starter, if the battery connections, positive and negative at the battery, positive at the starter, and negative at the block, and negative going from the body to the block (rear of the head on a 4.0) are good, and the cables are good....again, even if you have a toast starter, you will still have dash, dome, headlights, radio etc.

To me, it sounds like a poor connection or bad cable somewhere.

I would be willing to be you would see a huge voltage drop on the negative or positive side when cranking if you tested with a volt meter.

A bad ignition switch could cause most of your problems, however, it is intermittent and you said when it DOES CRANK, it cranks slow. This tells me voltage is getting to the starter solenoid control circuit from the switch when it works. After that, the switch has NOTHING to do with how fast it cranks.

i think im just gonna have it towed to the shop. im in school right now, and when i come home for christmas i dont feel like spending time trying to figure it out. i was home for a few hours yesterday and messed with it, and didn't see any real progress. the only thing i figured out was:

if i take the positive cable off, and place it back on, then by doing this i can get the dash lights to come on again, but as soon as the key is turned to the start position something in the steering column (it sounds like) pops, and then all lights go off, and stay off untill i take the positive off and do it again. i turned the engine over with a ratchet so i know its nothing internal also

wow, I can't believe you're waisting so much time and money tinkering with the steering column.

Dash lights don't mean much. Look at the headlights. Do they dim or not come on when the heep won't start?

Muddypaws is right. Change the battery cables! and clean the terminals. Inspect the ( + ) cable going to the starter and all the grounds. you have a bad connection somewhere.

Once you do that send Muddypaws and myself a check for the amount we just saved by not towing.:flipoff2:

BTW it would help to know what year your heep is.

the cherokees are really bad with not starting with just a little bit of corossion or a slitly loose conection my jeep will randomly die and wont start the same way and all i have to do is go twist and tighten the cables and its fine i would really try to make sure you got a good conection i had less problems when i put and optama battery in cause i didnt have any more corossion!

the connections are all tight, and there was no corrosion on anything. about the dash/headlights. neither will come one. power doesn't go to anything. and ive got free towing, and my dad knows some of the guys at the shop so it wont be a big deal. ill get back to yall whenever we find out what it was