Car won't start please help

[wcarson8911 10+ year member]

okay here's the situation, I've been installing my system piece by piece for the last couple of days now. First i ran 1/0 guage wire from negative battery to ground, i tested the car and it worked fine. Then i ran my power wires, 1 4 guage and 1 8 guage to the rear of the car. tested it and the car worked fine. Then i began the installation of the HU. I took the stock out, wired the new wires and connected to the HU last night and the car wouldnt start. So i let it sit over night, finishe my installation which includes a HU grounded to the chasis, 1 foot of 1/0 guage neg. batt to chasis, a run of 4 guage, a run of 8 guage, and the pioneer ipod adapter, grounded and everything. I never powered the amp or the sub and the negative battery terminal was off the whole time i was installing until i tried to test the car to see if it runs. I've tried jumping the car and each time i do it it will start, and run for like 4 seconds and cut itself off. What did i do??? help!

My car is a 2000 jeep grand cherokee.

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[Raven 10+ year member]

It sounds like you miswired the HU. If you pull out the HU, will the vehicle start and run?

 

[wcarson8911 10+ year member]

why would the HU have anything to do with the car starting?

 

[azbass 5,000+ posts]

loose wire in teh engin bay? etc. i dotn think the HU caused the car to not start.

 

[wcarson8911 10+ year member]

what wire should i look for??? i didn't mess with any of that stuff, and it shouldn't be the power wires because it ran fine with them installed.

 

[azimuth 5,000+ posts]

sounds like the alternator to battery wire. the car runs on just the battery for a minute, the battery dies, the car stops running.

 

[wcarson8911 10+ year member]

is the alternator fried or just the wire??? i'm gonna go try and find it and post some pics of the engine bay.

 

[wcarson8911 10+ year member]

i just went and look, the wire from the alternator goes the the positive batt. post and it is connected fine.

 

[Raven 10+ year member]

why would the HU have anything to do with the car starting?

Then i ran my power wires, 1 4 guage and 1 8 guage to the rear of the car. tested it and the car worked fine. Then i began the installation of the HU. I took the stock out, wired the new wires and connected to the HU last night and the car wouldnt start.

That's why. You ran through your install in a step by step method (BTW good job doing that) and after installing your HU the car wouldn't start. It means either installing your HU, or a step before installing your HU caused the problem. My logic tells me it's either a shorting positive power line, in an improperly wired HU.

 

[azimuth 5,000+ posts]

when you did the battery to chassis, did you leave the factory wiring in place? made sure you sanded to bare metal where it grounds? have a good contact on battery terminals? is there a fuse on the wire from alternator to battery positive?

 

[acold7dusta 10+ year member]

check at all the terminals to see if they arent crimped on good. did you keep the stock wire in when you did the big 3?

 

[azimuth 5,000+ posts]

That's why. You ran through your install in a step by step method (BTW good job doing that) and after installing your HU the car wouldn't start. It means either installing your HU, or a step before installing your HU caused the problem. My logic tells me it's either a shorting positive power line, in an improperly wired HU.

i don't see that unless the 12 volt turn on is ran from the ignition and is shorted. but in that case the car shouldn't even turn over. try unplugging the wiring harness anyway and find out. can't hurt.

 

[wcarson8911 10+ year member]

when you did the battery to chassis, did you leave the factory wiring in place? made sure you sanded to bare metal where it grounds? have a good contact on battery terminals? is there a fuse on the wire from alternator to battery positive?

yes, left the factory wiring alone everywhere in the car. yes, it was sanded bare. yes it is screwed in tight. not sure on the fuse from alt. to batt. + because it's all tapped.

 

[azimuth 5,000+ posts]

yes, left the factory wiring alone everywhere in the car. yes, it was sanded bare. yes it is screwed in tight. not sure on the fuse from alt. to batt. + because it's all tapped.

i still say it sounds like the alternator isn't charging the battery. unhook everything you hooked to the battery and hook it back up like it was before. could be one of the amps power lines is shorted on metal.

 

[wcarson8911 10+ year member]

i still say it sounds like the alternator isn't charging the battery. unhook everything you hooked to the battery and hook it back up like it was before. could be one of the amps power lines is shorted on metal.

i did, i unhooked everything and tried to jump it and it would shut down after 3 or 4 seconds. Could i have reset the chip in the key??