Liberty Jet 2012 Starting Issue, please help

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DarrenM

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I have a Jeep Liberty 2012 Jet and i have a starting issue where it will run fine for weeks that when i try to start i can hear it click but nothing. It usually takes about 5 times turning the key but then it starts. i fear one day it'll stop altogether so I'm reluctant to go on long runs.
I had the battery replaced, and most recently the starter motor but today it did it again. i also swapped out the starter relay.
any advice where to go next would be a massive help. thank you in advance
 

petemn

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I have a Jeep Liberty 2012 Jet and i have a starting issue where it will run fine for weeks that when i try to start i can hear it click but nothing. It usually takes about 5 times turning the key but then it starts. i fear one day it'll stop altogether so I'm reluctant to go on long runs.
I had the battery replaced, and most recently the starter motor but today it did it again. i also swapped out the starter relay.
any advice where to go next would be a massive help. thank you in advance
I have a Jeep Liberty 2012 Jet and i have a starting issue where it will run fine for weeks that when i try to start i can hear it click but nothing. It usually takes about 5 times turning the key but then it starts. i fear one day it'll stop altogether so I'm reluctant to go on long runs.
I had the battery replaced, and most recently the starter motor but today it did it again. i also swapped out the starter relay.
any advice where to go next would be a massive help. thank you in advance
Ignition switch where you put key in. Amazon Dorman $30; I just had to replace mine at 140k; sometimes it would work sometimes wouldn't til i pushed key in hard
 

ShowMe Cherokee

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I had this issue with my daughters 2010. It was the positive battery cable that was bad. You can do a voltage drop test between the positive battery terminal and the starter terminal. Connect your DVM and try to start. If it the voltage is greater than 0.2V then there is too much resistance in the cable. If the drop is less than 0.2V then do the same test on the negative battery cable to the engine ground. It should be less than 0.2V if I remember correctly. I did the big 7 cable upgrade and it now runs better than original.
 

DarrenM

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Ignition switch where you put key in. Amazon Dorman $30; I just had to replace mine at 140k; sometimes it would work sometimes wouldn't til i pushed key in hard
thank you for the advice, ill look into getting it replaced.
 

DarrenM

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I had this issue with my daughters 2010. It was the positive battery cable that was bad. You can do a voltage drop test between the positive battery terminal and the starter terminal. Connect your DVM and try to start. If it the voltage is greater than 0.2V then there is too much resistance in the cable. If the drop is less than 0.2V then do the same test on the negative battery cable to the engine ground. It should be less than 0.2V if I remember correctly. I did the big 7 cable upgrade and it now runs better than original.
thank you so much for your help, ill get the upgrade done.
 

lfhoward

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On my 07 Commander it was the actuator wire going to the starter. It was basically a slide-on to the metal tab type of connector (spade connector?). The metal tab was on the starter, and the wire connector was yellow. The connection point became rusty, so there was nothing when I tried to start it, just the click of a relay under the dash. I removed the wire from the starter, cleaned up the connection, and reinstalled. That was all it needed. The problem was intermittent at first and then became permanent until I cleaned the electrical connection.

It could very well be the ignition switch behind your key cylinder, or the actuator pin could be broken inside the key cylinder itself, or I guess the starter could be bad too.
 

DarrenM

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On my 07 Commander it was the actuator wire going to the starter. It was basically a slide-on to the metal tab type of connector (spade connector?). The metal tab was on the starter, and the wire connector was yellow. The connection point became rusty, so there was nothing when I tried to start it, just the click of a relay under the dash. I removed the wire from the starter, cleaned up the connection, and reinstalled. That was all it needed. The problem was intermittent at first and then became permanent until I cleaned the electrical connection.

It could very well be the ignition switch behind your key cylinder, or the actuator pin could be broken inside the key cylinder itself, or I guess the starter could be bad too.
thank you for your help, the garage i use took a look at all the grounds and found one that was corroded. they cleaned it up so fingers crossed its solved it. thanks again.
 

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