Eventually you will get into your 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee and it will fail to start. If you hear clicking or the engine turns over very slowly, you can rest assured that the issue is with your ignition system. Fortunately, there are a few quick troubleshooting steps you can do to determine if the battery, ignition switch, starter motor or starter solenoid is the culprit.
Place a multimeter onto your Cherokee's battery. Place the black lead wire onto the negative battery terminal, place the red lead onto the positive battery terminal and set your multimeter to 20V DC. Measure the output. If the output is less than 12-volts, charge the battery. If the vehicle does not start after you charge the battery to 12-volts, move to the next step.
Turn on the Cherokee's headlights and attempt to start the vehicle. If the headlights do not dim, the ignition is defective. If the headlights dim, the ignition is sending power to the starter motor and solenoid and works fine. If this is the case, move to the next step.
Locate the starter motor and solenoid under the vehicle, bolted to the transmission housing on the driver's side. The solenoid bolts to the top of the starter motor and on the back of the solenoid, there are two metal connectors.
Place a screwdriver across the two metal connectors to short out the solenoid. This makes a direct connection between the battery and the starter motor.
Tell the second person to start the Cherokee. The engine will not start but the starter motor will. If the motor starts up and makes a consistent humming sound, the starter is fine and the solenoid is defective. If the motor fails to turn on or it runs intermittently, the starter motor is defective and the solenoid is fine.
