Electrical issue

DevilDog74

New Member
Joined
Jul 24, 2022
Messages
10
Location
Blossburg Pa
Hello. I have a '16 Wrangler unlimited. I went to town the other night and stopped for gas on my way home. When I got in and turned the key everything flashed and was real dim and flickered. Then nothing. Nothing at all. Turned they key off, back on, everything cycled like it is supposed to and as soon as I turned the key, a click and then nothing. Lights come on and started flickering. Checked the terminals, both are tight. Tested the battery-12.74 volts. Checked the clip on the starter, doesn't feel melted or burnt. I cycled the key with my wife standing at the battery and she heard clicks and noises coming from the fuse block. I guess everything was just cycling. It's never had anything done to it except routine maintenance.

Any help or ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks
 
Just because the battery has the right voltage doesn't me it has the cranking amps needed to start the engine. I would start with a new battery.
 
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You could have a shorted cell in the battery. Definitely would put a different battery in
 
With all the electronic gizmos in vehicles these days it doesn't take much to screw things up. A quote from Mr. Scott on Star Treck, "The more complicated the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the drain"

My wife's car would start no problem from inside the car but the remote start was hit and miss. I replaced the battery in the car and all was well.
 
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Check the battery cables at both ends before spending money. Flickering is usually a bad connection.

Don

Edit" A volt/ohm reader might help. First check battery for ~12.7 volts. second check from the negative post to the engine, should be very near 0 ohms.
 
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Check the battery cables, post and make sure they are clean, cables are tight. You can take it somewhere and they will check the battery / charging system for you. Low battery or corroded connections can cause a lot of issues.
 
Hello. I have a '16 Wrangler unlimited. I went to town the other night and stopped for gas on my way home. When I got in and turned the key everything flashed and was real dim and flickered. Then nothing. Nothing at all. Turned they key off, back on, everything cycled like it is supposed to and as soon as I turned the key, a click and then nothing. Lights come on and started flickering. Checked the terminals, both are tight. Tested the battery-12.74 volts. Checked the clip on the starter, doesn't feel melted or burnt. I cycled the key with my wife standing at the battery and she heard clicks and noises coming from the fuse block. I guess everything was just cycling. It's never had anything done to it except routine maintenance.

Any help or ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks
Update: I only have limited time in the evening so sorry for the delay. After checking and rechecking and sometimes triple checking various things......starter, cables, battery, fuses, control module connections etc etc etc it hit me when I talked to a buddy of mine at work last night. He said ignition switch. 🤔

So I went home and got in the jeep and I put the key in the ol ignition and nothing. Then it came on. Flickered but wouldn't roll over. I wiggled the key around while turning it thinking maybe the contacts were wearing out. Same thing. Then I thought.....pinched wire? So I proceeded to LOWER the steering wheel from where I like to have it to where my shorter than me wife likes to have it and tried it. Nothing. Flickers. On. Off. Nothing. So for the heck of it I left the lock released and as I tried starting the jeep I raised the steering wheel up a little bit at a time and turned they key and it fired right up. So now I know the wire issue is in the steering column. Now I get to figure out the Chinese puzzle of taking out the plastic in a 2016 JK to fix it after work today.

Thank you all for your thoughts and help. I guess after it's fixed she will just have to sit on a pillow or something.

Oh and after crawling around the JK so much and complaining, I went and bought a 85 CJ7. Much simpler.

Have a great Sunday and keep Jeepin
 
Hellonall. Update on the JK.....I looked all over the inside of the dash and found no wires broken or anything. Did some more research and I bought an ignition switch. Not the "key" switch. Just the electrical box that has to turn. $18 on Amazon. Today I pulled the old one out and replaced it with the new one and it started immediately. I tried it a few times before with the old one and didn't do anything different so there was my problem. Not difficult to change unless you have 0 patience for tight spaces or are pleasantly plump fella like me.

Have a great day and keep on jeepin

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Hellonall. Update on the JK.....I looked all over the inside of the dash and found no wires broken or anything. Did some more research and I bought an ignition switch. Not the "key" switch. Just the electrical box that has to turn. $18 on Amazon. Today I pulled the old one out and replaced it with the new one and it started immediately. I tried it a few times before with the old one and didn't do anything different so there was my problem. Not difficult to change unless you have 0 patience for tight spaces or are pleasantly plump fella like me.

Have a great day and keep on jeepin

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View attachment 121838
So y'all ain't gonna believe this.....that wasn't the problem at all. Pulled it out in the yard to wash it and when I went to pull it back in the garage, same thing. So we pushed it back inside and the wife tried it and it started. I don't know. Back to searching.....
 
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I just found a really good thread on the ground locations. I'm gonna go back through again tomorrow night. I've also found some that said neutral safety switch. I don't think it's that. It just acts like a short at times. Everything will come on when ya turn the key on and as soon as you hit start everything goes out. Then sometimes it flicker like it's not getting juice again but doesn't completely go out. I'm thinking I may have missed a ground. The ignition I put in was about shot anyway so I'm not to upset about that. I could see where it had been wearing so no big deal.

I'll update again when I find anything. On a side note all the flares and inner liners are off so it should make looking easier. Lol
 
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