Hey guys,
I have a 98 wrangler that has very little done to it because I am a broke college student. A little background before I explain the situation: I am studying Mechanical Engineering and hate electricity. This problem also occurred for one day only about 2 months ago, I let the jeep sit for a day and then it worked just fine.
I drive the jeep and then hear a noise go off, so I look down and see the volt meter through the roof. I decide it is wise to find a good spot to pull over and turn the vehicle off. I take the key out and put it back in the ignition, turn it one click and I have very little electricity(floor lights start blinking, radio won't come on, dashboard lights are very dim and dash volts read 9V). I then proceed to turn it to the starter and everything goes black. No start, no clicking, no electricity. I figured faulty ground, so I check everywhere for spliced cables or broken or back connections, nothing. I take the voltmeter across the battery, and it reads 12.78V. I read voltage across the starter, battery to grounds, lead to grounds and everything reads about 12.70V Until I put the key in the ignition. I place the key in and everything drops to 9V immediately. I turn it one click and voltage everywhere goes to 3.5V. I take the key out and slowly everything returns to 12V after about 30 minutes of waiting. I have a suspicion that it is the ignition switch, but why would floorboard lights flicker if the key is not in and the doors are open? I unhooked all aftermarket lights I have and even tested those, they work fine. The battery reads 100% charged at AUTOZONE. All fuses are good and I pulled a couple relays and they are good.
Like I said, I am broke and love fixing problems myself, but I want opinions from others before I purchase an ignition switch to find out that is not the problem. Suggestions? Suggestions how to check ignition switch?
I have a 98 wrangler that has very little done to it because I am a broke college student. A little background before I explain the situation: I am studying Mechanical Engineering and hate electricity. This problem also occurred for one day only about 2 months ago, I let the jeep sit for a day and then it worked just fine.
I drive the jeep and then hear a noise go off, so I look down and see the volt meter through the roof. I decide it is wise to find a good spot to pull over and turn the vehicle off. I take the key out and put it back in the ignition, turn it one click and I have very little electricity(floor lights start blinking, radio won't come on, dashboard lights are very dim and dash volts read 9V). I then proceed to turn it to the starter and everything goes black. No start, no clicking, no electricity. I figured faulty ground, so I check everywhere for spliced cables or broken or back connections, nothing. I take the voltmeter across the battery, and it reads 12.78V. I read voltage across the starter, battery to grounds, lead to grounds and everything reads about 12.70V Until I put the key in the ignition. I place the key in and everything drops to 9V immediately. I turn it one click and voltage everywhere goes to 3.5V. I take the key out and slowly everything returns to 12V after about 30 minutes of waiting. I have a suspicion that it is the ignition switch, but why would floorboard lights flicker if the key is not in and the doors are open? I unhooked all aftermarket lights I have and even tested those, they work fine. The battery reads 100% charged at AUTOZONE. All fuses are good and I pulled a couple relays and they are good.
Like I said, I am broke and love fixing problems myself, but I want opinions from others before I purchase an ignition switch to find out that is not the problem. Suggestions? Suggestions how to check ignition switch?