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I have a 99 Cherokee Sport 4WD L6

Tiny
SCOTTSHUEY
  • MEMBER
  • 1999 JEEP CHEROKEE
  • 230,000 MILES
I have a 99 Cherokee Sport 4wd L6. I recently encountered a low voltage problem and replaced the battery and alternator, everything seemed fine after that. About a week later I had issues starting it. I noticed after slamming the drivers door it started o.K. So I assumed that the starter might be failing. Next day same problem but slamming the door didn't do any good so I crawled under the vehicle and tapped the starter with a hammer while my son tried starting the vehicle, this worked. Later in the day I tried to start the vehicle in neutral instead of park and noticed that it always starts in neutral without any problem. It still starts once in a while in park but not always. Any ideas?
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Sunday, January 27th, 2013 AT 4:37 AM

5 Replies

Tiny
JACOBANDNICKOLAS
  • MECHANIC
  • 109,747 POSTS
Replace the neutral safety switch. That is what is stopping it from starting in park. However, tapping on the starter and it working makes me think you have a bad starter. Try starting it in neutral only for a couple days. If you have no problems, then the switch is what I think would be the problem. If it refuses to start in neutral, then the starter is my guess.
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Sunday, January 27th, 2013 AT 4:47 AM
Tiny
SCOTTSHUEY
  • MEMBER
  • 3 POSTS
I was starting to lean towards the NSS as well but was under the assumption that it was one of those things that allowed the vehicle to start in either park or neutral, or not at all if it was failing. Could the NSS actually allow the vehicle to start in just neutral and not park?
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Sunday, January 27th, 2013 AT 5:03 AM
Tiny
JACOBANDNICKOLAS
  • MECHANIC
  • 109,747 POSTS
That is the most common thing that happens. It will start in neutral but not park. Try the little test I mentioned to see how it reacts.
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Sunday, January 27th, 2013 AT 5:07 AM
Tiny
SCOTTSHUEY
  • MEMBER
  • 3 POSTS
Thanks very much for your quick reply! I'll try it out, see what happens, and get back to you with my results in a few days.
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Sunday, January 27th, 2013 AT 5:09 AM
Tiny
JACOBANDNICKOLAS
  • MECHANIC
  • 109,747 POSTS
Let me know what you find. At least doing it will help eliminate one of the problems.
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Sunday, January 27th, 2013 AT 5:29 AM

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