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1998 Grand Cherokee Battery Drain
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jphelps25
New User
Apr 16, 2009, 5:45 AM
Post #1 of 4
(5360 views)
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1998 Grand Cherokee Battery Drain
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I have a 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo 4.0 I6 242ci with over 156000 miles on it. A year ago I noticed that while I was driving, the dome lights started flickering on and off. I made sure all doors were closed and that there was nothing in the way off the door closing, but nothing helped so like a good do it yourself mechanic I just pulled the fuse. I had no issue for the next 10 months until I decided to put the fuse back. After I put it back everything worked fine but after a 9 day trip my battery was dead. I jumped it with my wifes car and it worked fine for another 3 weeks. Then in one night it drained again only this time when I jumped it, it would not hold a charge.
I took my alternator and my battery in to Autozone be checked and the alternator passed but the battery did not. They put it on a charger over night but it would not charge so I got a new battery. I reinstalled the battery and alternator and cleaned the battery connectors and my car started fine, but after reading about parasitic battery draws I thought it best to just pull the dome light fuse for now until I can do more thorough wire checking. Within 5 minutes of driving my dash beeped and the "Check Gauges" light came on and the battery charge gauge dropped to the left. I checked the connections by sight and tightened the wires and connectors but I have not yet replaced the battery connection wires but is it that simple? What else could be causing this?
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Tom Greenleaf
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Apr 16, 2009, 8:42 AM
Post #2 of 4
(5358 views)
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Re: 1998 Grand Cherokee Battery Drain
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The parasitc drain could just be a door jam switch for interior lighting - not sure bue a good maybo on that.
The fact that it went dead so many times could have been VERY hard on the alternator and it needs rechecking. Jumps from dead are find but the dang thing overworks, overheats and kills itself trying. Check alt again,
T
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jphelps25
New User
Apr 17, 2009, 10:36 PM
Post #3 of 4
(5346 views)
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Re: 1998 Grand Cherokee Battery Drain
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Thank you for the response, I will check into the switches and the fuse panel to see if I have any noticable issues that have to do with the dome lights. I also wanted to know if besides that issue, what do you think would have caused my battery charge to drop suddenly while I was driving? It seems to me that it may just be a connection problem, any other issues you have run into? I did take the alternator back in and they said it was good, and the battery is brand new.
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Tom Greenleaf
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Apr 18, 2009, 7:32 AM
Post #4 of 4
(5337 views)
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Re: 1998 Grand Cherokee Battery Drain
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Could be couple issues with this. If that's the same alternator that put up with a bad battery it's probably stressed out and could do some intermitent tricks that you observed yet test ok when you do any tests.
This situation with it momentarily dropping on your gauge to I'm guessing a warning area indicating either no charging is taking place OR there's an overwhelming load on it. If that was a shorted fused item it should blow the fuse.
If a wire could ground out unfused you would be looking for a burned wire that can intermittently touch.
The alternator need battery power to work at all so if any break in that can happen it won't charge for that while.
It's possible that this vehicle uses the things BCM or "puter" to control alternator outputs instead of a voltage regulator inside it.
Intermittent stuff is a nightmare to nail down. Kinda makes you want it to break for good so you can chase down the issue. It's the toughest part of repair when something test right but can be wrong when you aren't testing
T
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