Help! Starter or Key Switch???
 

Daughter stopped to get air in tire, jeep wouldn't start. Makes a click but won't turn over. Battery and fuses good. 2012 JK auto. 50k miles. Also noticed the steering wheel doesn't lock with key out. You can turn wheel freely. Any help would be appreciated!!!!

How can you be sure the battery is good? They are known to have a sudden death in our jeeps and do wacky things when they die. My guess is a bad battery. Have it load tested.

Because I had cables on it attached to my running vehicle. Not a continuous ticking like a low battery. One click

Sounds like the shifter. https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/stoc...nstant-253187/

ok. Keep us posted. When my battery died, I had to have it connected to a battery in a running vehicle for around a half hour before it would start. Then when it started the dash lights and tach were going crazy. And the speedometer didn't work. All was fine once I replaced the battery with a new one from Walmart.

Mine did the same thing when the battery died. Mine is also a 2012 and it took a while for the old battery to get it going, i think 30min with jumpers. Same symptoms the OP is describing. Got a battery at costco and all good to go. This was a about 2 months ago.

Mine acted the same way. I replaced the battery and it still did the same thing. Mine was an automatic and after a little research I pushed forward on the shifter handle and it would start fine. It would also start in neutral.

Tried pushing the shifter forward and putting it in neutral. No luck. The battery was showing 9.78 Volts on the multi meter. I will try charging it up tomorrow.

wow, that battery is low. I think you got a bad cell in it. I bet a new battery will fix you up good as new. A good battery at rest should have at least 12.6 volts. Your battery is almost certainly bad. I will be amazed if charging it makes it work. You need a new battery. The stock ones in our 2012s are known to die suddenly. The battery in my 2012 was only about 2.5 yrs old when it died. I posted on here about it. More people chimed in that the same thing happened to them. Buy a new battery. The best one that Walmart has has been great for me over the last 2+ years

Mine started doing the same a couple months ago. It was the battery. Mopar battery was only 18 months old!