ODAMO

Every now and then My 08 wont start. When I turn the key it just clicks once and nothing. If I return the key to the off position and then retry sometimes it will start like there is no problem, Other times it may take 2,3 or 8 tries before it starts.
Anyone else have this problem? and know what is causing it?
Its been doing it more often

docWrangler

Hey mine was doing the same thing. 2008 2door auto. I found that the factory battery terminal had a crack in it so the starting problem was that the terminal was not making good contact with the battery studs. Hopefully this is your problem as well because the fix is like 8 bucks.

Sent from my wife tether.

chris h.

I would also check for corrosion at your battery terminals.

ODAMO

Thanks for the info. I will take a look at my batt. terminals and hopefully be good to go.

Mountain Man Tim

if your terminals are fine it wouldnt be a bad idea to have your battery tested, an 08 original battery is due to be dead by now (not giving off enough power to start reliably)

Mark Doiron

As Tim writes, pull the battery and have it tested. It could be a variety of things, but the overwhelming percentage of times it will be a dying battery. Even if the battery has been replaced from OEM, there's enough time for that and a cheap aftermarket battery to fail--six/seven years.

If that doesn't take care of it, poor battery connections anywhere along the circuit could be a problem. I've also seen starters go bad and cause similar symptoms. Finally, it could also be the alternator killing the battery or not giving enough charge (the latter which could also be the connections to the battery from the alternator). But, sight unseen, I'd bet a doughnut that it turns out to be the battery. ;-)

Jp3792

Mine does that. Is it an auto?

ODAMO

Yea mines an auto and when it happens it does it in park and neutral. But the passenger window is sounding like it is gonna die soon. It will go up about 2 inches then stop, wait 5 seconds and go 2 more, yadda yadda till it's finally up.

haydhess

Had this same problem going on with my automatic, 2009 jku with 38k miles. It started out as an occasional thing but I could usually get it to turnover with a couple attempts, then I got stranded at the grocery store one day because trying to tun the key over and over again wouldnt work. Read all the rah rah online about nuetral safety switches, sensors, and gear ranges and stuff... hoping these werent the actual issues. The only decent option was the trick moving the shifter into nuetral and also pushing it forward when in park. That worked most of the time but over the next couple of months the problem became more and more consistent and the shifter trick became less and less reliable.

Took the jeep to the dealer today and they tried to convince me it was a starter, luckily I had read on here that starters generally were not the issue. Again, luckily I had read on here that the issue may come from poor grounding. Went to the auto parts shop and picked up a battery cable and made a ground from the battery to the alternator and Wah Lah! Jeep started on first try for the first time in a week! Ill keep you guys posted if this fix continues to work.

If youre having this issues, definitely take the time and add a ground from the battery to the alternator! It takes like 5-10 minutes and solves months of frustration!


This thread has others who did the same fix and some pics of the new ground to make. Hope this helps! https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/stoc...-253187/page6/