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Battery drained, then recharged, now Jeep turns over but won't start.
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gwright
New User
Dec 9, 2010, 11:25 PM
Post #1 of 7
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Battery drained, then recharged, now Jeep turns over but won't start.
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Hi there,
I have a '99 Jeep Cherokee. It's a 4.0L with around 110,000 miles. I'm posting because I believe this is different from the typical "car won't start" questions.
Here's the rundown. Unfortunately I left my dome lights on all day today and the battery was drained. It would not turn over at all when I got to it in the evening. The parking garage had a portable car jumper unit but the battery on it appeared to be drained, and my car still wouldn't turn over when we hooked it up. I had someone give me a jump with their car, and we ran their car for a good fifteen minutes with the cables connected. We tried multiple times to start my car - it would now turn over fully, but wouldn't start. At one point I tried giving it some gas while turning over and you could hear it revving, but it wouldn't start. I was worried I might have flooded the engine, so I left for an hour and a half and came back with a different buddy. We tried charging it with his car too, and different jumper cables, but had the same result. It turns over, but won't start. I have left the car in the parking garage overnight and will check it again tomorrow. I'm posting because it seems very coincidental for it to have a problem other than the battery since it has been running fine. There's plenty of gas in it also. Could the battery being trained trigger some other problem? Any suggestions of what to try would be very appreciated.
Thanks!
George
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Sidom
Veteran
/ Moderator
Dec 9, 2010, 11:59 PM
Post #2 of 7
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Re: Battery drained, then recharged, now Jeep turns over but won't start.
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I would take care of the battery 1st. It would probably be best to take it out, have it tested, charged if good and the cables cleaned.
Most engines need a certain cranking rpm to start, it could be just a simple case of a bad battery and the engine turning over too slowly....
Get a known good battery in it & go from there....
(This post was edited by Sidom on Dec 10, 2010, 12:00 AM)
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gwright
New User
Dec 10, 2010, 12:27 AM
Post #3 of 7
(5792 views)
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Re: Battery drained, then recharged, now Jeep turns over but won't start.
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Thanks for the reply Sidom. I should add that the battery is less than a year old, although it does have some corrosion on the posts. I will clean those first thing tomorrow. Could a battery this new still wear out after one full discharge?
Thanks,
George
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Tom Greenleaf
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Dec 10, 2010, 8:40 AM
Post #5 of 7
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Re: Battery drained, then recharged, now Jeep turns over but won't start.
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Note: Regular/common "car" lead/acid batteries don't like being run down - not once. That CCA rating (cold cranking amps) is what it can do once when all is perfect. Best to operate them on the top 20% or so. They are not cell phones or other devices and self destruct when discharged fully or close AND will freeze if left discharged but won't if charged.
No matter what brand the handling before you got it counts. They are plates that can't touch in electrolyte (a liquid acid) and if by defect or abuse if those plates can touch the battery is junk new or not.
I don't own one yet as price is about 3x but "gel cell" batteries are tops for tolerating extremes. Best if needed to jump to not allow recipient vehicle's alternator charge it up from very low but to use a real charger or you really can burn out an alternator.
BTW - Over the decades, I've taken back tons of new NG batteries. Even new - charge them first as you don't know the state of charge even new!
T
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gwright
New User
Dec 11, 2010, 2:59 AM
Post #6 of 7
(5772 views)
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Re: Battery drained, then recharged, now Jeep turns over but won't start.
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All, I was able to get the car running today. Went in this morning and was able to hear the fuel pump engaging. It wouldn't start, so next I checked all the fuses, which checked out fine. I cleaned the battery terminals which were in bad shape (guilty). I noticed that my Jeep actually has a voltage gauge on the instrument panel and it was reading around 10 volts. I borrowed the garage's portable jumping unit which was charged up today, and managed to get it going. It turned over for a good 15 seconds before it finally started, and it started very rough, but start it did. Drove it for a good 15 minutes and then let it sit all day, and it started up fine tonight. I think that for whatever reason, my battery did not get adequate voltage from the two previous attempts to jump it. The gauge read 12 v when I got in the car tonight, and it reads 14 v under load. Thanks everyone for your help in troubleshooting.
George
(This post was edited by gwright on Dec 11, 2010, 3:00 AM)
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Tom Greenleaf
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Dec 11, 2010, 4:06 AM
Post #7 of 7
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Re: Battery drained, then recharged, now Jeep 99 Cherokee turns over but won't start.
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George,
From what I see the alt. is fine so forget it for now. Can't re-read everythng on the web nor even this site but if engine can run fine then chances are with a hard cold start it isn't getting proper fuel delivered.
? That is dictated by a few things. Fuel pressure needs to be within specs. Most all engines have sensors to determine engine's actual temp and will add more fuel for cold starts - part called CTS (coolant temp sensor.)
Other but important: Amps delivered to starter is critical. Engine must crank at a decent RPM. If not find out why not. Jumpers are iffy unless you care to part with a few hundred bucks (I did) for monster jumper cables.
Other II: Easy on starter when it doesn't start. You can kill a starter by trying too hard and so far it's not the problem as I see it so don't add insult to injury.
Off exact issue: Try hard not to get angry at what doesn't work as that is counter productive. I'm sure that all help from regulars here are all on the same page but there's nothing yet on a web site that compares to being there TMK,
T
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