Good morning all. I am having a problem with my 08 Rubicon 4 door. From time to time the engine will not start. I turn the key and it sounds like the starter starts to turn the flywheel for a fraction of a second and then stops. If I keep trying to start the engine, it will eventually start. Sometimes this takes 3or 4 tries and other times it takes 18 to 20 times. I have been to the dealer two times for this problem. The first time the service guy said they had to reprogram the computer. The jeep started for a day then started doing the same thing. Then one morning I tried it start it and the same thing happened, so I had it towed to another dealer (we are on the road traveling along the gulf coast). Of course when the service guy tried to start the jeep, it started right up. They replaced the starter anyway. They drove it up for me to drive away but when I tried to start it it did the same thing. The service guy came over and poked the negative battery connection and it started right up. Later that day I cleaned all the battery connections and hoped for the best. The next day it happened again. The battery is three months old, new starter and clean posts. Does anyone have any ideas as to what the problem might be?

 

There was another forum member that had the same problem.
The dealer ended up installing an extra Ground kit and that fix the problem.

 

What did the kit consist of?

 

There are several more points to consider when cleaning connections for a no-start condition.

Both battery terminals, as you already mentioned.

Both ends of the wire that goes from the battery to the inner fender.

Both ends of the engine ground strap.

Also, adding an additional heavy ground wire from the battery negative terminal to a point on the engine will help, too. A mount bolt on the alternator is readily available, (not the red connection).

 

There are several companies that make ground kits.

The one I found is http://dynamicgrounding.com/

Dynamic Grounding

Hope that helps.

 

Also, I had an issue with NO power to my JKU and it was the power wire that bolts inside the fuse box...

 

i hada similar problem on my 99 taurus
new battery was BAD
replaced under warranty went to scrap yard 40,000 mile later when it got t-boned
when this happens i could start w/jumper cables
good luck
brianj

 

If you can grasp the cable on the battery terminal and turn it, it's too lose.

New batteries can be bad, usually its a drop while in shipping can cause two of the plates to intermittently touch, car accidents or hard off roading can do it two. It can be hard to diagnose. I once had a customer come in the store three times before the battery tested bad.

And we also had a brand new Saturn that had a lose power cable in the underhood fuse block, it can be tough to find the lose wire sometimes.

 

I know on my 08 I had a similar problem. It turned out to be the neutral safety switch. I ended up swapping the battery out before I figured it out. All I had to do was push the gear shifter all the way forward and it would start every time. Hope that might help a little.

 

Replaced under warranty, or yourself? How much?