Thanks for the ad. Have a 07 Sahara. The battery light came and was sluggish starting, bought a new battery. On next drive it starting making a loud noise somewhere then smelling like oil, brakes would barely stop it, all warning lights came on. Parked, turned off then it wouldn’t start, no lights, nothing. Towed home. Battery showed 5 amps. Charged it, still nothing, no dash lights, nothing. Anyone have any ideas? Thanks in advance.
Battery light came on and sluggish starting
- Thread starter sarahJK
- Start date
First place i'd start with is checking the battery cables and clamps to make sure they are clean and tight. Then check the grounds to make sure they are clean and tight.
X2 to this. This is the first place to check. If that doesn't do it, it could be your alternator.
As Chris mentioned, you need to thoroughly check your cables and connections to see if you created a short when you changed the battery. I believe there is a main fuse on the battery cable, that is meant to protect the “always on“ circuitry in your Jeep. When it experiences a short, that fuse pops (noise you heard?) to prevent the downstream wiring from melting. Given the vehicle is totally dead now, that could be the culprit. You need to also check the fuse box. If there’s not a main fuse on the battery cable, a short may have blown several other fuses in the box.
Regarding your original battery light and slow start, it could be the old battery or the alternator, or both. Did it throw a code (check engine light)? If so, I’d run it by someplace that can read the code. An auto part shop should be able to do a function check your old battery (If you still have it) and your alternator.
On a side note, a few months ago, one of our vehicles started going dead if it was not driven for a few days. Replaced the battery and Had the alternator check (it was working fine), but it still happened, in fact it got worse; to the point it would not hold a charge over night. I had our auto repair guy go thru the wiring and fuses and he found a “parasitic ground.” Basically a small wire with a bare section where the insulation had worn off, likely from vibration against a sharp edge. Even though everything was turned off, it was constantly sucking the battery power down to zero. He only charged me an hour of labor to figure it out and fix it, but once he repaired that wire, everything was back to normal.
Regarding your original battery light and slow start, it could be the old battery or the alternator, or both. Did it throw a code (check engine light)? If so, I’d run it by someplace that can read the code. An auto part shop should be able to do a function check your old battery (If you still have it) and your alternator.
On a side note, a few months ago, one of our vehicles started going dead if it was not driven for a few days. Replaced the battery and Had the alternator check (it was working fine), but it still happened, in fact it got worse; to the point it would not hold a charge over night. I had our auto repair guy go thru the wiring and fuses and he found a “parasitic ground.” Basically a small wire with a bare section where the insulation had worn off, likely from vibration against a sharp edge. Even though everything was turned off, it was constantly sucking the battery power down to zero. He only charged me an hour of labor to figure it out and fix it, but once he repaired that wire, everything was back to normal.