Hi there… Well I have a 1978 Jeep rennegade Cj5 Levy 1978 Renegade and wont start, wont crank at all. I need help!!! the car was siting in my father in law garage for more than 5 years. After charging the battery the car didn’t want to start. Wont crank at all.
Did you try charging the at least five year old battery that sat in the vehicle? If so the battery won’t take a charge. The battery has probably sulfated a long time ago. Get a known good replacement battery and then try starting the engine.
Tester
Thank you for your answer tester. Yes the I change it. when i open the switch the radio and lights work, when i turn it on wont crank.
A bad battery can power up the lights but not have enough juice to crank the starter. I can’t tell if you charged the old battery, or replaced it with a new battery.
If you are sure the battery is good. The starter solenoid could be bad, the starting motor could be bad, and/or the motor in the Jeep could be seized up so it won’t turn. Sometimes the AC compressor is seized and keeps the motor from cranking. You will need to track each item down one by one to see what is going on.
I’d start by pulling all the spark plugs. Put a spoonful of motor oil down each plug hole and then try to crank the motor using the starter while the plugs are out. If there is no cranking. The put a wrench somewhere on the crankshaft and see if you can turn the motor manually. This way you can tell if the motor is free, or seized. If the motor turns and the battery is known to be good, then you know your problems are in the starting motor or electrical circuit to the starting motor.
If all this sounds beyond your mechanical skill, get it towed to a shop for an evaluation. A good mechanic will sort out the problem(s) pretty quickly. What it will take to get it running after 5 years is anyone’s guess at this point. You have old gas in the tank, so there could be issues in the carb and fuel system. The brakes could be all rusted, and rusted brake lines too. While sitting mice could have eaten through wires just about anywhere in the car. So, getting it running and road worthy will be a process of finding and fixing it up problem by problem.
You can take the battery to any auto-parts store and they will test it for you…But if it has not been charged for 5 years, it’s junk…
After 5 years you might want to make sure the engine’s not frozen - try turning the engine over with a socket wrench on the crank pulley bolt.