Jeep Garage  - Jeep Forum banner

2002 Grand Cherokee starting issue

8K views 21 replies 5 participants last post by  Antonio186 
#1 ·
Hi Guys!

I hate that this has to be my first post,But im lost. My sister in law was going to sell me her 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee once I sold my FJ cruiser, Until yesterday she calls me and tell me that the car has a blown motor and i can just have it. Towed to my house today and me being eager as ever got right to work on seeing whats up. Here is what I know so far. The jeep died all of the sudden while she was driving down the road Lost all power(Electronics and Engine).

She didnt hear any weird noises when it happened. It was low on oil when It arrived but I see No signs of a blown motor that I can tell. Battery is Dead and doesnt seem to hold a charge. The alternator was tested and failed so I bought a replacement. The the starter seemed like it was doing something (ratcheting sound) the very first time I tried to start it as if it was only a dead battery, So I tried to jump start it with no luck and no more clicking sound.

I made this video in hopes of helping you guys better understand the issue.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqmRoNwke9w

HELP ME!!!

Thanks
 
See less See more
#3 ·
Could be a bad ground, and I have also had trouble jump starting vehicles where the battery is totally dead. 2005JGC says I would try and turn the motor over by hand just to make sure it turns, and then I would check the grounds and get a new battery.
 
#4 ·
With a bad battery or ground concern (not that its absolutely not a ground concern) everything would have gone dim when he tried to start it. The starter is really tight in there but I would have a shop buddy (wife works great) turn the key, hold it... FIRST NOTE: IF YOU SEE SMOKE... STOP TURNING THE KEY! if the motor is seized and the starter is trying to turn a seized motor the starter will act as a dead short and start melting the harness... now that thats out of the way, if it is doing NOTHING with the key turned, have the old lady turn the key, hold it in the start position and try to get someing in on the starter solenoid to give it a couple love taps.

Looking back at your story I think you have it all worked out, the dieout was LIKELY just the failed alternator, if it was a daytime thing she probably wouldnt have noticed it was dying till it died, if it was at night on the other hand she likely would have noticed all of her lights dimming as she drove. Im thinking you have a starter issue, whatever that may be, starter, circuit, fuse, relay... I would make sure that your getting power to the solenoid when you turn the key to start and go from there.
 
#7 ·
The starter is getting power, but it just makes a whirring noise. Im not really sure how to hand turn the crankshaft, should it turn fairly easily or will I have to put some muster into it. Im guessing the starter is not pushing out to make contact with the torque converter. Put I dont want to replace the starter just to burn another one up. Here is a video i made.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oguy...DvjVQa1PpcFP7lfluQO_IB8AG6Lg4YPzEW1xtvbC9yws=
 
#8 ·
before you can manually turn the motor over by hand you will have to pull all the plugs out, so there is no compression in the motor. but make sure you label all the plug wires 1st so that way you dont screw up the firing order when you put them back in. with all the plugs out the engine should be very easy to turn by hand just grab the crank shaft pulley by hand and turn it you may need a rachet to turn it if you cannot reach the crankshaft pulley and get enough grip on it to turn by hand. but it will by no means be difficult to turn. if it is difficult turn there could be internal mechanical failure or the motor could be seized. but that is usually not the case.
 
#12 · (Edited)
Not accurate... on some cars where there is no room infront of the crankshaft to get a ratchet on it to roll it over to access all the flex plate bolts, ill reach up with 2 hands and roll it over by grabbing the crankshaft dampener. Not to mention we are not trying to roll it over for days, we are simply trying to see that the crank is able to rotate. if it moves an inch its not a seized motor.

I just want to add in this, looking back, if it move an inch in the direction of rotation then your good, sometimes you can have an engine failure, such as a dropped valve seat that is holding a valve open that is now contacting the piston that if you spin it backwards it will rotate freely, BUT if you try to spin it the correct way it wont move anywhere... always keep this in mind when rolling a motor over by hand to quickly test for engine integrity
 
#10 ·
you are welcome, i know what you mean about living in an apartment anything car related i do at my parents house. but i always keep a tool kit in all of my cars just incase i need to fix something and i am not near their house.
 
#11 ·
Don´t know which engine you have, but i just had to turn over my engine manually for changing the valve seals (4.7L), and with a bar and socket on the crankshaft pulley nut, it turns over without the need to remove any plugs (and with not too much force). Ofcourse without the plugs it will turn over more easily, but its a quick way to know if the engine is seized or not.
To me the starter is the problem, because if the engine was seized, the starter would take a large current and you would see the instrument lights at least go dim.
Did you already try to charge your battery first and see what the voltage is when fully charged?
 
#13 ·
also, the video is really hard to deturmine but I would agree as much as is possible from a video that it sounds like the starter is spinning but not engaging the flex plate. a new starter should fix your problem less some uncommon issue.
 
#14 ·
Haven't gotten to mess with it yet. I did get under the jeep and try to turn it by hand. No luck there, between work and my 11 month old I haven't had much time to get the tools. I was feeling discouraged but but you guys have kept me pretty up beat about the whole thing. I really need to get out from underneath my fj payment. Will update tomorrow, I've got the whole day to mess with it.
 
#15 ·
Im interested to hear an update. I would think any catastrophic engine failure would have been noticed much more than the jeep just stopping running, My initial guess right now would be starter... that said I am quite curious to hear what you find!
 
#17 ·
Well I removed five of the eight spark plugs,and I still couldn't turn the crank. Ive never done this before so im still a little skeptical that im doing it correctly,but how hard can it be stick a 13/16 socket on there an turn, right!?

Would it still be worth it to try a new starter?
 
#18 ·
personally i would continue to take the rest of them out. the motor should pretty much turn freely without the plugs in there creating compression. if it doesnt turn at all even after removing all the plugs there maybe internal damage to the engine.
 
#19 ·
Its hard to say, so do you actually have a socket on it and it wont turn? if so that is a BAD indication. Even with sparkplugs in it doesnt take that much muscle to get the motor to move some.

I wouldnt throw any money at anything until you have deturmined the motor can turn over.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top