Hello all,

I was wondering if someone might have some insight on the issue I am having with my Durango. It is a 2000 4x4 with a 4.7 engine. I do not drive the D as often now that I have a car with better mileage. I do tend to drive it when weather is bad though.

Anyways, I drove it two days ago to work and I did not have any issue. Yesterday, I went out to start it and I turned the ignition and nothing. I waited a minute and it started up. Went to the gym and then when I got out of there, the same thing happened. For reference, yesterday's weather was about 30-35 in Kansas City.

Last night, after the pitiful performance by the Kansas City Chiefs, I tried to start the D and it wouldn't start at all. Today, the temperature is about 5 degrees and the D again would not start at all.

A little more reference. The battery is new as of September. I jumped the D's battery this morning and it started right up. My jumper cables are pretty pathetic (and may be referred to as cute by women) as far as AWG goes (maybe a 10 gauge), and I did not wait to start the D once the jumpers were connected. I have had dead batteries before I had to leave larger gauge jumper cables on for much longer to jump start a vehicle.

Finally, the question I have is if this is an issue with the starter motor? Starter relay? I am guessing it is not the alternator or battery being the battery is newer and the battery did not appear drained since my D started right up once I have it jumped and did not need to sit with the jumpers on it for an extended period of time. Also, I am a rookie when it comes to working on my D, but I am trying to learn, so if anything I am assuming is wrong, please let me know. Any help to a severely depressed Chiefs fan is much appreciated.

Also, the battery tested good according to AutoZone. The guy insisted I left something on in the vehicle, but I know I did not.

 

Clean the connections between the battery and the cables real good with a wire brush.

 

You can check and see if the alternator is charging properly with a multitester and for parasitic drain if you have one. Other than that I had a similar issue that turned out to be a maladjusted glove box switch that that was keeping the glove box light on when it was closed.

 

The terminals don't have any corrosion on them. I did check that initially.

 

I do have a multimeter (ex-electrician), but what would I have to do to check the alternator? And I'm not sure how much parasitic load I have on the battery, but how would I go about testing this as well? Also, the multimeter I have is like below (more of a basic one for electricians), not a high dollar multimeter.



Edit...I found a few youtube videos showing how to perform the tests. It appears as if the parasitic load test will need a more advance multimeter.

 

Even if they don't look corroded there can be that clear glassy junk on the inside of the connector. It wouldn't hurt to take a wire brush to it.

 

IMHO battery connection would have to be noticably loose or corroded to cause this. Check the other ends of the cables as well. There are 2 ground straps that connect to each side of the motor towards the front just above the oil pan seam. Make sure they aren't rotted off as these are where the starter gets it's ground from (through the block). Also check your starter cable and solenoid cables for good connections. Could be a faulty ignition switch as well.

If you end up removing the starter it's easier if you remove the drivers side plastic wheel house insert by popping the clips off of them. Fastenall sells replacements cheaper than Dodge for the ones you break.

Bob

 

It doesn't take much corrosion at all to increase the resistance and thus lower the current that can go through. Clean the terminals really well, then put a couple drops of motor oil on the connection, it'll wick in and keep them from corroding.

 

Parasitic draw test is the easy part. A multimeter that measures AMPS is all you need. Your battery should be fully charged. Doors closed, everything off and the light pulled from the hood. Pull the negative cable. one lead to the negative post and the other to the cable. You should have no more than 50 milliamps draw. If you have more, then you are going to need to pull fuzes one at a time to determine which circuit is causing the draw. Good luck!

 

It probably wouldn't hurt to get the starter bench tested, it's just two bolts and not that hard, but it does almost sound like something is draining battery. When I had this problem I let it set overnight and checked the voltage in the morning. Or a loose connection like stated before. Mine turned out to be the battery wasn't putting out the correct CCAs although the voltage was good. That's probably not the case because the battery is new, my battery was only a year and a half old. But I do know people that have got bum batteries