"Check Gauges" High Voltage then Died

Hi everyone,

I have a 2000 TJ 4.0 Sahara.

Today I drove about 3 miles to the grocery. Just as I was pulling in
to the parking lot, the check gauges light came on and I noticed that
the voltage was pegged at 19 volts. The jeep was running fine,
however. But once I turned it off, it would not start. I mean it was
dead. No lights, no clicking starter, no acc - nothing. And the
Voltage meter stayed at 12 or so, even though everything else was
dead. Then about 5 minutes later, it went down to 0.

Any ideas?

One more thing, I had one slightly hard start this morning. I had
just chalked it up to the fact that I had left the A/C on high and it
was on when I tried to start it.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. It is still in the lot and I
am wondering if there is anything I should try before having it towed.

Thanks a lot,

Andrew

Cleaning the terminals worked. Thanks so much!!!


On Jun 26, 7:45 pm, "Superman Hughes TrollKiller of scum 24bit &
squarewheel" > wrote:
> Hi Andrew,
> Clean the battery posts.
> God Bless America, Bill O|||||||O
>
> http://www.billhughes.com/jeep_bookmark.htm
>
> > wrote in message
>
> ...
>
> > Hi everyone,
>
> > I have a 2000 TJ 4.0 Sahara.
>
> > Today I drove about 3 miles to the grocery. Just as I was pulling in
> > to the parking lot, the check gauges light came on and I noticed that
> > the voltage was pegged at 19 volts. The jeep was running fine,
> > however. But once I turned it off, it would not start. I mean it was
> > dead. No lights, no clicking starter, no acc - nothing. And the
> > Voltage meter stayed at 12 or so, even though everything else was
> > dead. Then about 5 minutes later, it went down to 0.
>
> > Any ideas?
>
> > One more thing, I had one slightly hard start this morning. I had
> > just chalked it up to the fact that I had left the A/C on high and it
> > was on when I tried to start it.
>
> > Any help would be greatly appreciated. It is still in the lot and I
> > am wondering if there is anything I should try before having it towed.
>
> > Thanks a lot,
>
> > Andrew

Glad to hear it.
If that worked, you may want to consider giving your grounds a bit of TLC.

There will be a ground from your engine to the chassis.
There may be a separate ground from the alternator to the chassis.
Then there will be the ground from the battery to the chassis.

If you can find the ground from the engine to the chassis, [someone with
a similar model can point out the location] pull both ends and clean
them carefully. If the cable looks corroded at all, replace it.

Then pull the ground off your alternator and polish up both ends.

Then pull the cable from your battery to chassis and polish up the
chassis end as well, making sure there is no paint or anything between
it and the body.

I usually use an electric paint after cleaning the stuff away from the
battery. Suspect clear Krylon would work.

Put a set of the felt washers under the battery terminals, and clean
them at least once a year unless you also like walking.

The overvoltage is usually a clue your grounds need help before you fry
something.

If your battery is 4-5 years old, particularly if you offroad much, you
might want to replace it. The internal connections on most non-Optima
types have a bad habit of vibrating loose and causing a similar issue to
what you've just seen.

Your alternator relies on that battery as a load regulator....



wrote:
> Cleaning the terminals worked. Thanks so much!!!
>
>
> On Jun 26, 7:45 pm, "Superman Hughes TrollKiller of scum 24bit &
> squarewheel" > wrote:
>> Hi Andrew,
>> Clean the battery posts.
>> God Bless America, Bill O|||||||O
>>
>> http://www.billhughes.com/jeep_bookmark.htm
>>
>> > wrote in message
>>
>> ...
>>
>>> Hi everyone,
>>> I have a 2000 TJ 4.0 Sahara.
>>> Today I drove about 3 miles to the grocery. Just as I was pulling in
>>> to the parking lot, the check gauges light came on and I noticed that
>>> the voltage was pegged at 19 volts. The jeep was running fine,
>>> however. But once I turned it off, it would not start. I mean it was
>>> dead. No lights, no clicking starter, no acc - nothing. And the
>>> Voltage meter stayed at 12 or so, even though everything else was
>>> dead. Then about 5 minutes later, it went down to 0.
>>> Any ideas?
>>> One more thing, I had one slightly hard start this morning. I had
>>> just chalked it up to the fact that I had left the A/C on high and it
>>> was on when I tried to start it.
>>> Any help would be greatly appreciated. It is still in the lot and I
>>> am wondering if there is anything I should try before having it towed.
>>> Thanks a lot,
>>> Andrew
>