Engine will not crank over?

When you open the door all the gauges go back and forth and it will not start

Open door gauges jump, put key in and it starts beeping, try to turn over and lights on inst. Panel go on and off

2001 wrangler sport having same problem! First time two weeks ago, then nothing till today. Runs fine. Shut it off, get back in and try to start and nothing. No gauge lights, no odometer reading nothing but beeps when key is in and gauges jump back and forth even when you take key out. Does not stop till door is shut or door is open and you push the dome light switch in the door. I do not have factory alarm but aftermarket viper alarm. It will not arm when this happens but after turning key on and off several times jeep will just up and start like nothing was wrong. Very irritating and makes me late! Dealer suggested new battery but heres the thing, if battery is dead, then why all of a sudden it starts right up with no hesitation? Does not "grind" like when a battery is dead or has no juice. Possible brain problem? Any help on this matter would be super and I hope my non-factory alarm situation helps to clear this problem. I have 89k and no problems except for regular p1486 code (loose gas cap). If any questions dreverlast@hotmail. Com or if I can help more! Thank you!

Just got off phone with alarm installer. He says does not sound like alarm problem but rather a loose battery cable or loose cable coming into fuse block. Definitely not battery as mine fires right up once gauges and stuff stop jumping around (sometimes 3 minutes, sometimes 15 minutes). Not cranking hard or repeating every time I try to start it so I believe battery is not the answer. Will try tightening cables to see and get back with you!

I have the vehicle listed above that will not start. When it first failed I confirmed the battery was good (jump start and accessories light all turn on), a few hits to the starter with a hammer got it started again and I was able to get it home. The hammer trick did not work again after that. I replaced the starter, but still no luck, no clicks from the starter, nothing. I swapped the horn fuse and relay with ones for the starter to test if it was a bad fuse/relay thinking it was getting power, no change and the fuses look good too. I also tried a jump start in case the battery could not provide enough power, but no luck there either. The guys at AutoZone said that Jeeps of that year have trouble with the crankshaft position sensors and to replace that since it seems that went bad too. I have one of those coming tomorrow. No codes are shown when connecting an ODBII scanner, although I expected it to show a faulty sensor. The car has not been started for a week now though. The connections to the starter look good so unless it is a bad starter or I messed up the wiring to the starter somehow, it must be the crankshaft position sensor or something else. You cannot wire a starter backwards can you? I will try to start the starter straight off the battery tomorrow to confirm, but I cannot image I messed up installing a starter that I have many times before. What do you guys think it could be? Any advice and what else to try?

After cleaning battery posts and checking them for looseness I had no luck. No lights, nothing. I reached under the dash, wiggled the fuseblock and bam! Lights, odometer, etc came on and jeep fired right up. Has only been a day, but have been in and out of jeep several times on the way to work and on the way home with no other incidents. Could be a fluke but when I get the extra time, I will get under the dash to see if I see anything out of the ordinary. Till then let me know what you find on the brain ok? As far as brain goes, dealership service dept said when battery gets below 9 amps brain starts shutting things down. But if my battery was bad, it would be weak cranking over, especially in the intense cold this morning so I dont believe its the battery at all. Will keep you posted and please do the same for me thanks!

Thank you for responding!
So there's no power to the smaller wire on the starter with the key in the crank position. I took out the starter and tested it to make sure it works - the gear pops out and spins fine. I also tried supplying 12V to the smaller pin on the starter from the battery (just momentary, hand touch) with the key in the crank position. No dice. Feels like it tries to start but either isn't getting gas or the spark plugs aren't firing. From what I can find online it might be a bad ignition switch actuator pin. What do you think?

@Ken. No red security light, no check engine light, etc. Ended up taking it to a mechanic. He said that there were pieces of aluminum in the ignition switch with caused it to fail. I guess that makes sense, the car is old and the aluminum shavings were from the key. In any case, thanks everyone for your advise!

Erich

Electrical problem
2003 Jeep Wrangler 6 cyl Four Wheel Drive Manual 130K miles

Upon starting my 03 wrangler (4.0, 6cyl, 5speed) the starter hung up (or remained engaged) for several seconds
after ignition. This was not the first time for this to happen but it is very rare. Ran fine after that, but upon my next attempt to start the jeep (20 min. Later +or-) absolutely no response from the starter or solenoid with key in the start position. Battery fully charged, all
electronic functions operating with key in run mode.
Assumed starter hung up or solenoid bad and with 130K I replaced starter to be safe anyway. All connections sound and correct (only 2 wires, hot from battery, and
relay with blade connection) but same problem. Checked starter relay in power dist. Box under hood,
checked 30 amp square fuse in position6 in power dist
box. Relay good, fuse blown. Checked fuse in location 20 behind glove box, this fuse was good. Replaced
30amp square and had assistant watch as I again
turned key to start. Starter relay made noise but the
large 30amp fuse blew immediately after. Rechecked
relay and other fuses, only 30 amp square from position6 power dist. Box blown. Haynes electric
schematic vague and not very helpful, but I believe
the clutch neutral switch is functioning fine. I'm at
a loss.

A few months ago our Jeep would periodically not start. The dash lights would come on but the engine was dead! Checked battery. Fully charged. Finally one morning it just would not start and we had to have it towed. We put in a new starter and this seemed to fix the problem until yesterday and the problem happened again. We try to start it several times, then we leave it for about 3 minutes then try againand it starts? Any ideas?

Sometimes when you do not buy a oem starter you can have this problem, some off brands of remaned starters have this problem, and it is in the quality, also check the ground, there is a starter relay on the passenger side fender behind the battery, possible going bad, one other thing you might try is the starter sylinoid. Located on the fire wall. One of my jeeps had a problem with the key cylinder, was not turning all the way, and not making contact. Just some suggestions. Things I have ran into.I have had multiple Jeeps. Hope this helps