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New Member/Possible Electrical Problem 90 2.5L

1K views 12 replies 6 participants last post by  BIGJoe29 
#1 ·
Howdy everyone, I had an account on here 5-6 years ago and failure to access resulted in a new account. I am the second owner of this 1990 YJ 2.5L, got it with 89XXX miles and it now has 144XXX miles. It is no longer my DD, so I have the ability to now work on it more extensively. This thing has a Rugged Ridge SYE kit/XJ front driveshaft, 2.5in rough country springs and has gotten a new alternator, battery, starter, fuel pump, brakes and tires within the last 2 years.

It hadn't been driven from Nov2017 to Aug2018, in August I drove it just once around my block. It barely turned over that time and now won't fully turn over even when hooked up to jumper cables. Half the time I turn the key none of the electrical componentry will fire up. Most of the new parts listed above were replaced in pursuit of the problem, the new starter seemed to help for a month but I am now worse off than before. Sorry for the long read, feels good to back on here, massive thanks for any help.
 
#4 ·
This

Replacing the cables: if you have a local place that sells welding cable and copper lugs it will cost like $20 to be better than oem.

The ground (-)neg is hypercritical too. Running a couple extra neg(-) cables from the dipstick location to a clean, shiny firewall stud, and another to alternator frame is a benefit, too.

My money is on bad cabling.
 
#5 ·
Howdy everyone, I had an account on here 5-6 years ago and failure to access resulted in a new account. I am the second owner of this 1990 YJ 2.5L, got it with 89XXX miles and it now has 144XXX miles. It is no longer my DD, so I have the ability to now work on it more extensively. This thing has a Rugged Ridge SYE kit/XJ front driveshaft, 2.5in rough country springs and has gotten a new alternator, battery, starter, fuel pump, brakes and tires within the last 2 years.

It hadn't been driven from Nov2017 to Aug2018, in August I drove it just once around my block. It barely turned over that time and now won't fully turn over even when hooked up to jumper cables. Half the time I turn the key none of the electrical componentry will fire up. Most of the new parts listed above were replaced in pursuit of the problem, the new starter seemed to help for a month but I am now worse off than before. Sorry for the long read, feels good to back on here, massive thanks for any help.
A while back, the site got hacked. So they made everyone change their password. I know that a lot of members couldn't get back on because the email they had on file wasn't any good anymore. If you really want your old name back, you can ask for help from a mod or admin. If you remember what your old email was that will help.

I have a '90 FSM with an electrical manual attached. Send me a PM, and I'll reply with a link.
 
#7 ·
You did not drive the vehicle for almost a year as I understand. How did you store the battery or did you keep it maintained?

A battery that is very dead can take many hours to really begin to accept a charge. A low battery that has been frozen is almost certainly junk..... like 99.9% of the time. Car batteries do not like to be cycled below about 50% and cannot do it many times. You may just have a bad battery.

Do you have a voltmeter?
 
#9 ·
...(Car) {starting} batteries do not like to be cycled below about 50% and cannot do it many times?
This is correct.

To elaborate on boojo: 50% discharged doesn't mean 6V- from a practical engineering perspective, 10V is /past/ 100% discharged, setting at 10V for a period of time creates chemical conditions inside the case that usually spell final death to a starting battery. Once a battery won't hold a charge they don't seem to make anywhere near the amps they're supposed to and they're essentially useless.

Nevertheless I have attempted to 'restore' some bad batteries for a time with a smart charger and then running them. Works rarely but I'm cheap and I try anyway lol
 
#8 ·
Howdy everyone, I had an account on here 5-6 years ago and failure to access resulted in a new account.
I see you got your old name back. Congrats
 
#10 ·
Hey everyone, finally got access to my account for good. I cleaned both sides of the power cables and every ground I could find. Along with a new battery, she started right up and I drove her around my neighborhood and filled up the tank! Thanks a ton you guys
 
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#12 ·
Well, I got her running a few days ago(my most recent post). I drove her around my neighborhood again today for about 15-20 for the heck of it, then did some minor work on it before it got dark. Changed some hoses and the air filter, nothing that would affect the electrical system.

Went to start her up tonight and the electrical cut out .25 seconds after turning the key(same problem as before). I know there is corrosion on the main power cable, tomorrow I will be going to a local weld shop to acquire materials for some new power cables and extra grounds.
 
#13 ·
I ended up throwing in some new power cables and no more power cutting out! It's been smooth sailing, besides the other things I have to do to it lol. Thinking I need to start a build thread....
 
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