[Orcadog]

OK guys, Help me out on this one otherwise it's a tow bill for sure. My Trooper ('97 auto) will not start. The morning of the failure it sounded like it was having trouble starting (like the battery was low on charge) then it barely started that afternoon when I left work (again like a low/dead battery) So as soon as I got home safely, I turned the car off and tried to start it again and - NOTHING. She turned over 2-3 times like she was taking her last breath and then that was it. So I checked the battery - full of charge! What the? Then the fuses - all good! At first I thought the starter, but it doesn't "click" like when the solenoid goes out AND (this is the kicker!) while all of the accessories work- radio, windows, alarm etc... The heater blower will not blow (yes, the key is "on"). These are the only symptoms I can put my finger on. What do you think?

Thanks a million,
RYAN

 

[Oyaji_Jon]

Maybe a bad connection betweent the starter and the battery. That's the first thing I would check.

 

[Amigo-2k]

maybe a bad ground. check your battery connections and where it is grounded to the body

 

[Orcadog]

Thanks for the posts, I checked the ground, but couldn't get to the starter conections in time. I HAD to have it running, so I ended up towing it to the dealer. I've got a decent relationship with them and that makes all the difference when you don't have time to do it yourself. (i did check on the competitions prices though!)
It ended up being the starter. It was COOKED. It certainly didn't act like a starter problem as it was sudden and terminal. But I guess I can't shade tree diagnose them all!
Anyway, we can all add this one to our list of ailments and fixes.
(interestingly, the blower problem was cured with the starter fix. Any thoughts on how THAT works?!)

Thanks for the ideas,

-R