WahooSteeler

About a week ago I went to drive the truck and upon turning the key had what appeared to be a dead battery. Enough juice to turn on the interior lights and gauges initially, but then when I actually tried to start it, it suddenly was completely dead as in no lights, no gauges, nothing coming on at all. 30-40 minutes of being hooked up to jumper cables and she started. Drove it several times over the next 5 days with many start and stops, always turning over strongly. Yesterday while out doing stuff and probably 3-4 starts I pull in to a store to grab something to drink and something to eat. Come out 10 mins later, dead as can be. Turn the switch, nothing. No lights, gauges, nothing. Call my son to bring the car and cables. After @20mins of charging it's reading about 10 volts and I give it a try. A couple of clicks and it's dead again, as in nothing coming on at all. Thinking maybe the NSS switch may bad/dirty, I jiggle the shifter with no luck, put it in neutral with no luck. Pull the battery go to Advance Auto, battery tests good with 12.3V. Put the battery back in, hook up cables, let it charge for @40mins. She fires. Go straight to Advance Auto to get the alternator tested. Alternator checks out as good and as a side note had to turn truck off twice during testing and she fires right back up no problem. Get home, start and stop a couple of times to see if it happens again, no problems. Go out this morning, starts no problem. Side notes: Battery is less than 1yr old Starter is less than 1yr old Volt gauge has been reading right in middle of 9 to 14 for a little while, but many times it IS down near the first "mark" on the volt gauge and NEVER gets very close to the 14. HVAC speed control resistor is bad as is blower motor, i.e. only runs on high and then blower motor often locks up. Rarely used of course, but don't know if that is drawing it down. Backup lights don't always come on unless I jiggle in reverse a little, supporting theory of bad/dirty NSS PO had a wiring mess with lots of splices, external stereo amp, fog lights and have not purged excess wiring since none of those items are being used anymore. Did a fair amount of searching on here last night and best guess would be NSS, but seems like it could also be ignition switch or starter relay. But my final question is this: would a bad/dirty NSS cause a complete "disconnect" of power or would I still be getting lights and voltage showing but just no ignition? As I stated above, on both occasions of no-start it had no lights, gauges or voltage showing...nothing.

Did not know the Hemis were returning 20+ mpg hwy, that's impressive IMO I would have already bought a used Audi Q7 TDI but my wife would have nothing to do with it because it effectively only has 1! cupholder for the front seats. The center armrest/storage has a split lid and the passenger side lifts up to reveal a 2nd cupholder, but you literally have to reach back with your RIGHT arm if you are the passenger to grab your drink. I can't blame her, that's crazy. A 7 passenger SUV and you only have 1 true cupholder up front? Stupid reason to not buy a car but with kids and lots of running around it's a real world problem. THAT said, the guy I buy my cars from drives one and recently went 800+ miles on a tank of fuel! 35mpg+ and that thing is a beast!

Yeah a little research showed lots of problems with check engine lights and emissions issues with the 2014 models. Apparently it was so bad at one point FCA was offering buybacks. But later posts on chat boards said the main problem was an improperly designed CAT and once that was replaced most people's problems went away. Several other repair bulletins to make sure got done also. Many reported city mileage in the low 20s and hwy mileage around 30mpg. Something to consider..........

https://albuquerque.craigslist.org/cto/d/jeep-1987-comanche-pick-up/6602611099.html

Anybody on here either own or have familiarity with the current Grand Cherokee EcoDiesel? Curious about reliability and real-world MPG..........

No worries at all Jeff, you're doing me a big favor so it's whenever it works for you! I hate to say it, but the plan is to have the body shop cut out what I need to patch the rear fender well arches and scrap the rest or if somebody wants to make a step-side out of it LOL. So it doesn't really matter if it's a short bed or long bed and in some ways one already off the truck is preferable. That said, if you get to see that one and say it's little to no rust, I'm likely to buy the bed anyway to keep around "if needed".

Thanks Tim......

I'm in need of clean bedsides.........this is only 2hrs from me. Is this on Craigslist or somebody you know?

Thanks for the detail Krypto

Krypto, I've been keeping an eye on this listing also. Says the HO motor only has 75k, but you're saying it's been worked hard huh? What about the extra bed, I'm interested in that too if it's as rust free as the ad says. Thanks for any info.

Keep all the great pictures coming! Awesome!

Got my eye on a 92 MJ rust bucket but with very low miles. My interest would be the motor and all that would be needed to go with it to swap my 88 to an HO motor, plenty of other good parts to sell off and recover some of the purchase cost. My question is, are there any reasons a later model HO from an XJ etc would be more desirable if/when I do the swap? I don't see myself ever doing any serious mods to the motor, my main interest in this particular one is it's got <100k on it and the HO's hopefully will continue to have parts available for years to come.

Good to know. And I had to laugh, because my son and wife are somewhat OCD and he always says that it should be CDO.

Thanks for the follow up. Nice to know there is an easier solution out there than drilling out the old rusted studs on the original retainers. Did you have to cut all 3 of the flair retainers or just the top center one? Did you happen to take any pics of them after you cut them? Painted flares look good too. Getting ready to do the same to mine. Any tips? What did you do to prep them and what paint did you use? Thanks!

Jenk, what did you end up doing with the rear retainers? Did you make them work somehow? You would think the top center retainer would be the same for both vehicles, or that even the front flare retainers would be interchangeable but obviously logic was not Jeep/AMC's strong point in the 80s.

I'd be down for a renix one when you get around to them. I plan on getting a set of battery cables too.

What search did you find the mounting hardware under? If it was for a Cherokee the rear flares are different so they may not work. I'd like to know once you get them if they will work on the rears, I could use them for sure.

Is "epicer" a word?

Welcome Matt, thanks for coming on here!

Mine that came with the truck when I first got it @10yrs ago...........Brahma topper, sold it for $250

https://reading.craigslist.org/pts/d/jeep-comanche-lwb-bed-mat/6574543542.html

Thanks, good to know!

That looks good, thanks for posting a picture as I'm looking to get the same low-profile box for mine.

Another nice one 88whitemanche! Although with no flares a little deceiving.

Nice! .......... Thanks