No odometer, no lights, no crank, Jeep is dead

[C.J. Roberts]

Ahhhhhh I have to head out for work but will return later to work on my Jeep. I ordered those parts just in case, I don't know why I keep thinking it's the ignition switch. I really don't know what to look for the cables look good I don't see major corrosion anywhere. I'm going to grab some new terminals and throw them on I think the ones on there now are crap. What exactly am I looking for when you say a bad ground. Sorry brother but I got no idea. I have attached some pics.

Follow the cables from the negative terminal of the battery to where they mount to the body or chassis. Remove the fasteners and CLEAN everything up. Corrosion may not appear bad, but it doesn't have to be bad to interfere with electrical flow.
If it was just the ignition switch, the lights and such would work. If you insist on throwing parts at it, you might want to look into a new set of cables.

 

[C.J. Roberts]

I haven’t looked at the wiring diagram but the wires to the headlights don’t go anywhere near the ignition switch in the steering column.

The problem is under the hood, not in the cab.

The ends of the negative clamp are touching, so the bolt is tightened, but that doesn’t mean it is necessarily clamping the post securely.

View attachment 413433

View attachment 413433

Wiggle and try to rotate the negative cable around the negative terminal post. If there is any movement at all, then remove the negative wire, use a big pair of pliers to compress the clamp enough so that when it’s reinstalled ion the battery the bolt tightens while leaving a tiny gap at the end of the clamp.

I've had this happen. I took a big bastard file and took off some of the material from the inside ends of the clamp.

 

[sab]

Those terminal clamps at the battery that you have are notorious for not being able to transmit high current (the starter draws a LOT of current) as time goes on. The female threads of that connection clamping the cable are in lead, and lead is subject to creep. The connection loosens up, and under high current, there will be micro-arcing from strand to strand within the crushed section. That arcing forms carbon soot on the surface of the strands, and that, along with oxidation, creates resistance, impeding current flow even more.

For a short-term solution, I'd suggest removing the top plates from the clamped connection and wire brushing the insides of the two surfaces that contact the conductor (cable strands) to get a solid connection again. Then cut the end of the cable and strip a clean section to re-clamp because it's very difficult to clean the soot and corrosion off each individual strand. I say this is a short-term solution because it will eventually loosen up and start the high-impedance process over again. That can take months or years, though, so if you don't mind the process, you can just keep up with this maintenance, which doesn't cost you anything but time (until the terminal threads strip or you run out of cable to cut off).

For a long-term solution, switch to a crimped, tinned eyelet with adhesive-lined heat shrink tubing over the barrel end and use a terminal clamp that has a stud on it to connect that eyelet.

 

[KennethS]

As I said above, those bolt-on end terminals are prone to corrosion and Ohmic contact. Take them apart and clean the terminals and cable ends by brushing/scraping and soaking in baking soda-water solution.

 

[Mike2324]

As I said above, those bolt-on end terminals are prone to corrosion and Ohmic contact. Take them apart and clean the terminals and cable ends by brushing/scraping and soaking in baking soda-water solution.

 

[Mike2324]

Thank you Gentlemen very much. I truly appreciate everyone's help. My Jeep really works again!! I I replaced the terminals and cut off a bit of the cable ends and I'm good to go. It's awesome to have this Jeep fam.

 

[mattstj]

I smell a bad ground.

I'm a few months late, but I came sniffing around the forum because I was having the same issue. everything runs fine in the on position, but as soon as I engage the starter the whole thing goes black. Everything looked good on my testor and all the connections seemed solid. went ahead and replaced my negative battery terminal and that solved the problem.