2006 Grand Cherokee 3.7 will not start after battery died

J

jspec

Forum Member
I have not been driving my Jeep much the last few months as it needs tires so the battery died. I charged the battery for a few hours and got it to turn over and start. It would run for about 10 seconds and die. That happened about 3 times and now it does nothing. I have tried to disconnect the battery for 5 minutes and it didn't restart. It does not even seem to be engaging the starter. Everything else seems to work but the engine will not start. Any advice would be very helpful.
Thanks,
Jason

Tested Battery with load it is good.
Tried starting in neutral nothing.
Tried jump starting Nothing.
All accessories come on everything works but it does not hit the starter.


Starting to think the key is not programmed as it started 3 times after I got the charger on it. It would start and run for about 3 seconds then die. Please help :)
 
Oh tried spare key also. Both keys will unlock and lock door with remote but neither starts truck.
 
What shape and color is your key? Round gray or black triangle? Is there a solid red dot illuminated on your cluster? If so your sentry key may not longer be programmed to the vehicle
 
Just checked all fuses in underhood fuse box all good. Retested battery with loadtester and its fine. The security light comes on for 3 seconds and then goes out.
 
Did you check all the obvious stuff like loose cables, wires chewed through by varmints, mouse nests in air box, etc?
 
I just tried swapping the ac clutch relay and the starter relay with no luck. It has a windowed fuse for the starter circuit and it is fine.
 
I drove it during the storm we had before Christmas. No starting issues at all. It just has bad tires.
 
Any luck yet?

Had a Cherokee do something similar.
Have you tried the key jiggle or light up or down pressure, or slide key in slow while pressure to turn. Pressure on steering wheel also. Try foot on brake, one hand on heart and praying for a miracle. Lol

You load tested with a load tester, what was the voltage before - during - after load ?
Can u swap a known good one in just for test purpose, I had a car show good with a meter and not engage starter with a jump, but different battery did the trick.
 
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no luck yet.. I ordered a new ignition module for $18 which are notorious for going bad. There is also an issue with the trigger wire on the starter but I think it is this ignition switch.
 
Park/Neutral safety switch at the transmission. If the key is cycled to run & power then goes live on the body side probing at the appropriate wiring, then that should rule out the ignition. Moving on to check the circuit relating to what you just then checked brings you to the starter & solenoid.
If the signal wire is active when you enable the ignition & the starter does not engage, that indicates the solenoid is not responding. With some physical strikes to the solenoid, the jarring might provide a temp fix.
 
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