I'm having some trouble diagnosing why my Jeep won't start and figured someone here could help. It's a 2005 Cherokee with a Hemi.
A little back story, last Tuesday I came home from work and stopped at the store on the way. I came out and it would not start, dash would light up but didn't even try to turn over. I called a friend to come pull me home and he said he can do it in 2 hours. GF picks me up and I went back to meet him at the car when he called me back. I tried to start it again and it fired up fine, not even an issue. So I brought it home and put it in the garage.
I tried it again before I went to sleep and it started fine. The next morning before work I tried it and it worked fine, but decided to play it safe and took the GFs car to work. I tried it when I got home and before I went to sleep, both times it started fine so I figured it was just a fluke.
I took it to work the following morning (Thursday), when I got to work I shut it off and tried starting it and it worked fine. Different story when I went to leave, it didn't want to fire. Once again, all the lights worked just when I turned the key all the way to start it did nothing, instrument panel stayed lit but would not try to fire. I had the GF pick me up and figured I would try Friday morning. Friday morning and evening after work, it would not fire and I ended up having to have it towed home.
I figured it was the starter or solenoid because the battery was giving me 12.6V. I bought a new starter and put it in Saturday morning, still did the same thing. I brought my old starter in and had it tested and it was fine. I was busy the rest of the weekend with other priorities so I really didn't have time to check it out. I've checked the starter fuse, ignition switch fuse, and the starter relay, all tested fine. I'm starting to think it may be the ignition swich itself, but is there any other things I should check before I start taking the dash apart? Is there a way to test the switch without taking it out? I haven't put a meter on the starter because I can only get to the wiring thru the wheelwell and can't see it, I can only do it by touch, and I don't feel comfortable doing that blindly, so to speak.
Tonight I was going to remove the new starter and put my old one in. I was going to try investigating some more too. Please help if you can, I'd really rather not have to put it in the shop.
A little back story, last Tuesday I came home from work and stopped at the store on the way. I came out and it would not start, dash would light up but didn't even try to turn over. I called a friend to come pull me home and he said he can do it in 2 hours. GF picks me up and I went back to meet him at the car when he called me back. I tried to start it again and it fired up fine, not even an issue. So I brought it home and put it in the garage.
I tried it again before I went to sleep and it started fine. The next morning before work I tried it and it worked fine, but decided to play it safe and took the GFs car to work. I tried it when I got home and before I went to sleep, both times it started fine so I figured it was just a fluke.
I took it to work the following morning (Thursday), when I got to work I shut it off and tried starting it and it worked fine. Different story when I went to leave, it didn't want to fire. Once again, all the lights worked just when I turned the key all the way to start it did nothing, instrument panel stayed lit but would not try to fire. I had the GF pick me up and figured I would try Friday morning. Friday morning and evening after work, it would not fire and I ended up having to have it towed home.
I figured it was the starter or solenoid because the battery was giving me 12.6V. I bought a new starter and put it in Saturday morning, still did the same thing. I brought my old starter in and had it tested and it was fine. I was busy the rest of the weekend with other priorities so I really didn't have time to check it out. I've checked the starter fuse, ignition switch fuse, and the starter relay, all tested fine. I'm starting to think it may be the ignition swich itself, but is there any other things I should check before I start taking the dash apart? Is there a way to test the switch without taking it out? I haven't put a meter on the starter because I can only get to the wiring thru the wheelwell and can't see it, I can only do it by touch, and I don't feel comfortable doing that blindly, so to speak.
Tonight I was going to remove the new starter and put my old one in. I was going to try investigating some more too. Please help if you can, I'd really rather not have to put it in the shop.
