EHarris

Incorrect. It still could be the WCM and for some reason shifting into N or wiggling it enough somehow resets it. I know it sounds crazy but I've got a 2008 auto Sahara and I replaced and tested everything but WCM. This $8 fix is my hope I won't have to spend the $$ at the dealer. I'll update this thread. As of right now I'm on day 2 and it usually almost always happens on really hot days.

Rednroll

As I mentioned faster battery charging times can be achieved with the big 3 upgrade. It is possible you drive short distances which isn't enough to fully charge your battery, which over time could lead to no start issues. In my opinion, I feel you may have only addressed half of the loop I described.

The loop you're looking at is the alternator battery charging loop when simplified would looks like this.
1. Alternator output terminal > Load/Batt B+ terminal (The load is your battery being charged)
2. BATT POS terminal > Internal Battery connections, BATT Neg terminal (you can't upgrade this)
3. BATT Neg terminal> Chassis
4. Chassis > Alternator input terminal (bracket/chassis)
5. goto step 1, repeat

With your fix attempt, you made a direct connection from the Batt neg terminal to the Alternator input terminal. The items I have in orange TEXT within the loop.

If you still have the same results, you may want to add a similar size wire from the Alternator output terminal, to the BATT B+ terminal, so you have essentially completed upgrading the entire loop path.

It's just this basic circuit loop.



You just made the wire thicker between the (-) connection on the voltage source "V", while leaving the wire between the (+) connection of V to R the same size. Thus, upgrading half of the loop.

ronjenx

The most common fix for the click-no-start issue was the larger wire from the alternator bracket (engine) to the battery negative terminal. I can see a wire from the alternator bracket to the frame being a waste of time, as mentioned above, but the benefit from running one to the battery negative terminal has been demonstrated to be real. It has worked well for those whose problem was inadequate grounding.

Rednroll

I could see some potential benefits in doing that. However, without looking into it and understanding the problem in more detail, I would suspect there are other potential fixes that would likely work as well, including beefing up the wiring path from the battery + terminal through to the starter POS terminal connection. Essentially when you look at the basic circuit I posted, the starter is "R". In reality, there is also a resistance in the wire that connects from the Batt POS to the starter and from the Batt Neg wire to the starter. When they run that wire, they reduced the value of the resistance in the Batt Neg wire that connects to the starter. That in turn reduced the overall resistance in the circuit loop, which then increased the current that could be delivered through R the starter.

Personally, if I had that problem I would have started with doing the Big 3 upgrade, and based on what was found to be a fix, beefing up the wire from the NEG of the batt, to the chassis may have fixed that problem as well. Do you know if anyone tried fixing it with the Big 3 upgrade or by running a thick wire from the batt NEG to the chassis?

Mark Doiron

Whoa, though a fusible link and a circuit breaker are current protection devices, they are not the same thing. Have you done some serious research on this? I mean with an engineer who actually works with fusible links and circuit breakers? There's a lot more going on than just current protection.

EDIT: Here's some good background info on circuit breakers performance parameters that any competent engineer will consider before inserting one to replace a fusible link ...

https://www.mikeholt.com/mojonewsarc...s~20030621.htm

EHarris

So far just simply running a new 4 gauge ground to the alternator bracket has worked. The day of this repair it happened twice. Now the no start issue has no longer happened. It's only been a few days but as someone else mentioned it really does sound like a stronger engine start and the horn for the alarm seems to respond faster when I press the button.

Sure it could be all in my head but I got the JK with 8 miles on it and now it has 119k. It's done if from year 2 and on and I've just accepted it, tapped the shifter or even just moved it into N and it always started right up. Never left me stranded.

But people with minimal mechanical experience can easily complete just the negative to the alternator bracket in under an hour time.

It will save them $400 because the dealer fix is a new Wireless Control Module (WCM) and many have reported this has fixed it. But the dealer I personally feels like they already know this especially since there is a TSB out there on the WCM. I feel they put people through the works first with a new battery, new starter, new wires from the starter and then after you have spent a few hundred they do a WCM and the issue is resolved.

So far this works. Subscribe to this post and I promise to update it if I ever get a no start again. I also promise to do the WCM after that and see if that fixes it once and for all. I want the answer out there for everyone to know. I take my JK deep into Baja and it really sucks to get the no start issue in the middle of nowhere with no one around.

kejtar

Yikes.... Didn't catch that.... So fusible link it will be instead. Thanks

kejtar

I read through the material at the link and I am not necessarily getting why not a circuit breaker.... I got the circuit breaker from my local electronics shop and while those guys don't build cars they do know their stuff. I explained the application thoroughly.

Rednroll

Glad it worked.

What I would be curious to find out is if you just ran the same 4 Gauge wire from the NEG post of the battery to the same point on the chassis where the neg terminal is already connected to the chassis. Your fix is technically, the same thing, in that when you ran that wire, you increased the diameter of the wire from the NEG battery post, to chassis ground, thus increasing the electrical system's max current delivery capability. The alternator chassis, is connected to the vehicle chassis, so electrically speaking, connecting one end of the wire to the chassis or the chassis of the alternator is the same thing. I have a 2009, and have had the big 3 wiring on since 2010. I have never experienced this problem. Maybe that's a big reason why?

EHarris

Ok for sure. If I get this issue resolved I'll try that for a little bit too. Just increasing gauge or not finding the cheapest bidder like Chrysler probably did will maybe solve this issue.