Odd problem

quikgt · **Posted:** Sat Jan 05, 2008 1:58 am

Tried searching but my combo of questons didn't reveal anything, so here goes.
My '03 Libby has worked perfectly, even 2 days ago in minus 20 degree weather. Pulled a trailer with 3 sleds, 2hrs and back. Pulled in driveway , parked and ate. Went to car wash, sprayed off Jeep and trailer. Went to shop, shut it off, and fixed frends quarter panel dent. Pulled in Libby to install front mudflaps; wrong kind from dealer(again), so went to pull it out and NO POWER to anything, not even an idiot lite. Boosted it and it wouldn't idle, so drove home with bungee cord holding hood open on booster pack. :shock:

When I got home it idled. Shut it off and restarted(with boost) it wouldn't idle again.

Did my battery just take a crap? Without any symptoms?

tommudd · **Posted:** Sat Jan 05, 2008 2:13 am

I have had them go that way get a dead short....so maybe??

Rush345 · **Posted:** Sat Jan 05, 2008 3:56 am

A few months back in October I got out one evening after having had it parked for 2 days then it turned over real hard after several trys it did start but refuesd to continue to idle so I sat for several minutes keeping the RPM's up then softly shifted into drive with as little gas as I could supply it died a couple more times with the same results then let me finally drive 4 miles came to a stop sign and died again lucky it was a least traveled route so one more time got it to run then kept the RPM's up and took it to the highway after a half hour crusing. It finally acted fime started up fine the next day . But replaced it anyway, didn't want to nurse it along again. By all appearance it was the original battery over 5 years old.

C co Crusader 2/127 · **Posted:** Sat Jan 05, 2008 4:28 am

quikgt wrote:

Tried searching but my combo of questons didn't reveal anything, so here goes.
My '03 Libby has worked perfectly, even 2 days ago in minus 20 degree weather. Pulled a trailer with 3 sleds, 2hrs and back. Pulled in driveway , parked and ate. Went to car wash, sprayed off Jeep and trailer. Went to shop, shut it off, and fixed frends quarter panel dent. Pulled in Libby to install front mudflaps; wrong kind from dealer(again), so went to pull it out and NO POWER to anything, not even an idiot lite. Boosted it and it wouldn't idle, so drove home with bungee cord holding hood open on booster pack. :shock:

When I got home it idled. Shut it off and restarted(with boost) it wouldn't idle again.

Did my battery just take a crap? Without any symptoms?

The whole idle like crap is just the computerrunning without any of the maps. When you have a dead/bad battery and you loose power the computer looses all of its built up memory. My segestion go buy a now battery. While your at it buy an optima. Might as well spend the extra 50 bucks and get a good one for later mods.

Uffe · **Posted:** Sat Jan 05, 2008 6:11 am

How did you start up with a dead battery, again???

struggle07 · **Posted:** Sat Jan 05, 2008 10:33 am

Sounds to me like your alternator is toast. You can run on your battery without the alternator until the battery is drained. Sounds like the alternator went out at some point then you were running on battery power until it totally drained. It won't idle because you don't have enough electrical energy to power the ECU or coils. The fact that it idled for a while after you drove it with the booster pack might be because energy from the booster pack actually charged the battery up a little.

That being said, putting that much strain on the battery can reduce the battery life and it might be a good idea to replace that battery at the same time as the alternator (which is what I am assuming the root cause is.)

PaU-MWolverine · **Posted:** Sat Jan 05, 2008 11:06 am

quikgt wrote:

Did my battery just take a crap? Without any symptoms?

Yes, automotive batteries can go, just like that! I work for an automotive battery manufacturer, so I've got plenty of knowledge. Many things can happen to cause it.

One day, I got home from work, parked the KJ, went to start it the next day, and then... nothing. I look under the hood and I find a large crack in the battery cover, extending from the positive post to the corner about 1/8" wide & 1-1/2" long.

This all being said, it may be your alternator as well. Always replace the battery when you replace the alternator. Don't buy an Optima, they are overrated & gimmicky.

Jeepjeepster · **Posted:** Sat Jan 05, 2008 11:35 am

Battery. Take it to an auto parts store(autozone, advance auto parts, etc) and tell them to check your battery and charging system. It should be free.

jelohead · **Posted:** Sat Jan 05, 2008 12:00 pm

(Don't buy an Optima, they are overrated & gimmicky.)

not to hijack the thread, but what did you mean by this?

Edvalencia · **Posted:** Sat Jan 05, 2008 4:14 pm

I've had the battery die just like that, in a very inconvenient place. I stopped and turned the ignition off. A few minutes later, I went to turn it on and nothing...

I'm currently dealing with my battery draining after not driving the KJ for two days or more. When the battery is completely dead, I usually have to rev the engine for about 10 minutes before it will idle.

Jeepjeepster · **Posted:** Sat Jan 05, 2008 4:34 pm

Edvalencia wrote:

I've had the battery die just like that, in a very inconvenient place. I stopped and turned the ignition off. A few minutes later, I went to turn it on and nothing...

I'm currently dealing with my battery draining after not driving the KJ for two days or more. When the battery is completely dead, I usually have to rev the engine for about 10 minutes before it will idle.

I had the same problem last winter. It died twice, once after sitting for a week and another after sitting over night. It did fine all summer and Ive had the same battery, an optima red top, the entire time.

Now that winter is back Im waiting for it to start dying again.

quikgt · **Posted:** Sat Jan 05, 2008 4:50 pm

Fellow Jeepers(?), thanks for the replys. AT first I really didn't know as I've never boosted something that then wouldn't idle; especialy when engine is warm and runs perfect. Plus when it was running after boost there was a nice christmas show of lites on the dash. So I was really thinking PCM.
However after remembering some basic voltmeter skills, it tested 14.5 volts across terminals while running. Just to be sure I drove to alternator rebuilder who put a load tester on the battery and the guage went immediately far left-BAD!
So if your battery is as old as mine was, also a few miles(mine was just over 60 thou), DON'T wait for symptoms to happen, just replace! These don't live forever and mine did not even turn over slow the previous start.

swmpthg · **Posted:** Mon Jan 07, 2008 2:07 am

quikgt wrote:

Tried searching but my combo of questons didn't reveal anything, so here goes.
My '03 Libby has worked perfectly, even 2 days ago in minus 20 degree weather. Pulled a trailer with 3 sleds, 2hrs and back. Pulled in driveway , parked and ate. Went to car wash, sprayed off Jeep and trailer. Went to shop, shut it off, and fixed frends quarter panel dent. Pulled in Libby to install front mudflaps; wrong kind from dealer(again), so went to pull it out and NO POWER to anything, not even an idiot lite. Boosted it and it wouldn't idle, so drove home with bungee cord holding hood open on booster pack. :shock:

When I got home it idled. Shut it off and restarted(with boost) it wouldn't idle again.

Did my battery just take a crap? Without any symptoms?

Mine did that with no signs so it very well could be the battery. I have an 03 kj and I drove it all day long and went to start it and it wouldn't do anything just like your saying.. I would have the auto store check the battery.. the battery probably has 6 bad cells or even only one. thats what they told me.. so I would have them check it out.

RkyMtnKJ · **Posted:** Mon Jan 07, 2008 2:58 am

interesting...im running into the same problem on my laptop! The battery will not keep its power nearly as long as it did when it was new.

Maximum Carnage · **Posted:** Mon Jan 07, 2008 1:31 pm

Jeepjeepster wrote:

Battery. Take it to an auto parts store(autozone, advance auto parts, etc) and tell them to check your battery and charging system. It should be free.

This would be the first thing I'd try.

Maximum Carnage · **Posted:** Mon Jan 07, 2008 1:33 pm

jelohead wrote:

(Don't buy an Optima, they are overrated & gimmicky.)

not to hijack the thread, but what did you mean by this?

Not to bash on Optima but I truly agree with you Jelohead.

USPLibby · **Joined:** Thu Jul 28, 2005 12:29 am **Posts:** 377

I agree, the Liberty just won't keep idle with a dead battery. It happened to me twice and my co-worker once. Once the battery was changed, the Liberty idles like normal.

photontraveler · **Joined:** Sat Jun 02, 2007 4:10 am **Posts:** 29

That happened to me with my wife's Neon. I drove it to the mall and parked it, no problems. I returned to car after a few hours and car was completely dead, no lights etc. I walked over to WallMart, bought a carry out battery, installed it. Neon has run ever since..................I hope something similar works for you................

Odd problem

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