Yesterday, I got up, started the Jeep in 7* weather, drove to work, drove back to my town, and then ... dead in the water at the post office.
I got nothing. No lights on the dash, just a click could be heard at the starter solenoid. I checked the battery voltage (it was only at 12.6 V which seemed pretty low since I just ran down the high way home for 15 minutes). I took the battery connections off, cleaned them, still nothing. My friend tried to give me a jump, which didn't work, and after that the battery voltage was at 12.3 V.
Since I live at 7000' in Colorado and it's January, I threw up my hands at this point and my friend towed me the three blocks back to my house. I put the battery on a trickle charger overnight (still in the Jeep) and the voltage didn't budge. I had a different friend (I live in a small town and I can't buy shit here but at least the community is helpful) pick me up a new battery when he was in our nearest big city for errands and stuff. Nothing. Still just a click. (Now I have the old battery on the trickle charger out of the car and it seems to be charging.) I checked the hot wire to the alternator and there's no drop from the battery voltage. I didn't have a friend available to crank the engine and see if the voltage dropped.
This leads me to believe I need a new starter (being delivered tomorrow). BUT, the battery was low after driving down the highway. Do I have a bad alternator AND a bad starter? (I also ordered an alternator.) I'm just trying to figure out my order of operations tomorrow when I get home since I only have an hour or so of daylight.
Am I missing something? Neutral safety switch? Something in the ignition itself?
I got nothing. No lights on the dash, just a click could be heard at the starter solenoid. I checked the battery voltage (it was only at 12.6 V which seemed pretty low since I just ran down the high way home for 15 minutes). I took the battery connections off, cleaned them, still nothing. My friend tried to give me a jump, which didn't work, and after that the battery voltage was at 12.3 V.
Since I live at 7000' in Colorado and it's January, I threw up my hands at this point and my friend towed me the three blocks back to my house. I put the battery on a trickle charger overnight (still in the Jeep) and the voltage didn't budge. I had a different friend (I live in a small town and I can't buy shit here but at least the community is helpful) pick me up a new battery when he was in our nearest big city for errands and stuff. Nothing. Still just a click. (Now I have the old battery on the trickle charger out of the car and it seems to be charging.) I checked the hot wire to the alternator and there's no drop from the battery voltage. I didn't have a friend available to crank the engine and see if the voltage dropped.
This leads me to believe I need a new starter (being delivered tomorrow). BUT, the battery was low after driving down the highway. Do I have a bad alternator AND a bad starter? (I also ordered an alternator.) I'm just trying to figure out my order of operations tomorrow when I get home since I only have an hour or so of daylight.
Am I missing something? Neutral safety switch? Something in the ignition itself?