Just don't build em like they used to...

[BIGSLVRXJ]

. 99 XJ w/114,000k. Just to let everyone know, it is possible to have the starter on your '99 XJ go out since the creature is now almost 10 years old. It happened to me this morning and gave me weird symptoms. I went out, it turned over really slow like 3 times and then nothing all of a sudden. I thought it was the battery so I charged that for a few minutes, and kept getting no noise except for a humming over in the fusebox area. I tried the tap on the starter with a hammer trick to no avail. Turned out I had an extra starter laying around, slammed 'er in and the Heep fired right up. So again just forewarning to all newer XJ owners that think your parts are new enough they won't go bad...THEY CAN. My '90s original starter made it to '03 before a change, but hey I'm still not going to complain, the 99 has been the best vehicle I've ever owned. Just thought I'd share my events of the day.

 

[Ba-Riedo]

So parts wear out,:dunno: can we get this as a sticky? :laugh:

-Alex

 

[FoMoCo]

exact same thing happened to my '97 w/106,000 about a month ago, I thought it was the battery cables that had gone bad at first cause it was cranking slow, so I replaced them. few days later I gave my cousin a ride to kragen to get a new rad and some other stuff for his truck and it wouldn't crank at all when we came out... tried the hammer trick, tried hot wiring the solenoid, and nothin worked so I went back in, purchased a starter, and for the next 25 minutes or so we were "those guys" wrenchin in the autoparts store parking lot, lol :looser:

 

[BIGSLVRXJ]

exact same thing happened to my '97 w/106,000 about a month ago, I thought it was the battery cables that had gone bad at first cause it was cranking slow, so I replaced them. few days later I gave my cousin a ride to kragen to get a new rad and some other stuff for his truck and it wouldn't crank at all when we came out... tried the hammer trick, tried hot wiring the solenoid, and nothin worked so I went back in, purchased a starter, and for the next 25 minutes or so we were "those guys" wrenchin in the autoparts store parking lot, lol :looser:

Yep, I had to go through all the typical diagnostic issues too. I just replaced all my cables with 5-90's about 2 months ago though, so I was almost positive it wasn't connections. I have a 2 month old Red Top in there too, so I was almost positive it wasn't that. I guess at some point it just came to me that "hmm...there is one weak link left in there". It'll be interesting to see how long the one that sat in my garage for a year and a half lasts in there though. What'd the new/reman starter run you for your 97 FoMoCo?

 

[FoMoCo]

reman from kragen was $100 + $32 core, looked online later and autozone wants $70 + $30 core

thanks to my misdiagnosis at least now I have brand new 2ga main cables and 4ga secondaries instead of the ghey stock 6ga and 8ga

 

[VTEK1]

Sry neebie question but what is a 2ga cable and 4 ga, i changed my negative cable a couple months ago because I was getting a weird noise through my alpine radio turned out that the coil wire just wasn't on tight enough going to the distributor? Are the 2 ga and 4 ga (gauge?) better or something?

 

[BIGSLVRXJ]

Sry neebie question but what is a 2ga cable and 4 ga, i changed my negative cable a couple months ago because I was getting a weird noise through my alpine radio turned out that the coil wire just wasn't on tight enough going to the distributor? Are the 2 ga and 4 ga (gauge?) better or something?

As a rule the lower the gauge of cable, the thicker it is. I'm not by any means an electrical guru, but what FoMoCo is referring to is the stock gauge cable which is closer to a 6ga or even an 8ga which is substantially thinner than the 2 or 4 ga. Most aftermarket preconstructed battery cables are 4ga, theoretically though, you can build them yourself out of as thick as 0/2 cable, which is what mine are from 5-90. The benefits of having thicker cables is just more of an unrestricted flow of current. Especially as the stock cables get older, they start to corrode and build up resistance through the strands. This can cause all sorts of problems ranging from not getting juice or ground to certain accessories to an actual electrical fire, neither of which are great.

 

[poorboy_616]

Huhm imagine that. 10 years old and shit starts failing....

Mines twice that age and had tons of shit fail......

 

[swbooking]

. 99 XJ w/114,000k. Just to let everyone know, it is possible to have the starter on your '99 XJ go out since the creature is now almost 10 years old. It happened to me this morning and gave me weird symptoms. I went out, it turned over really slow like 3 times and then nothing all of a sudden. I thought it was the battery so I charged that for a few minutes, and kept getting no noise except for a humming over in the fusebox area. I tried the tap on the starter with a hammer trick to no avail. Turned out I had an extra starter laying around, slammed 'er in and the Heep fired right up. So again just forewarning to all newer XJ owners that think your parts are new enough they won't go bad...THEY CAN. My '90s original starter made it to '03 before a change, but hey I'm still not going to complain, the 99 has been the best vehicle I've ever owned. Just thought I'd share my events of the day.

NO WAY?! A starter can go bad? Thats just crazy!

 

[Bent]

Thats just crazy!

My name's Tim, thank you for letting me share.