Car is having trouble starting

My car starts fine off the bat but if i turn it off the battery seems dead. But an hour later the car starts fine. Any suggestions?

Wild guess…the idle air control valve has clogged passages or is sticking closed. If this Jeep has one…I didn’t see the year model. Cleaning the throttle body and idle air control passages is worth a shot. Is the check engine light on?

sorry its a 2002 and the light is off right now

Take your Sienna to a shop and ask for a diagnosis before you agree to fix it. You likely will pay for the diagnosis and then for the fix. If you agree to let them fix it, there will be only one bill. I’d go to an independent garage that I have used for years, and maybe you have one too. If not, you could use a garage that your friends and neighbors recommend, or the dealer. The dealer will likely fix the problem properly, but may also find a list of other things you simply must attend to immediately. Well, they’ll tell you that, but you probably don’t need to pay attention.

Describe in detail what happens when it doesn’t start. Any sounds? Does the engine turn over? Any noises?

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Sorry, I read this entirely wrong. I skipped the “battery seems dead” part, iac wouldn’t cause that.

I was also under the impression that this was a Jeep Cherokee. So I’m all out of whack, apparently.

OP does list it as a Jeep Cherokee, 2002.
As I read it.
Cold start is fine.
Warm restart, all systems are dead.
Wait to cool for an hour, all systems are fine.

Me? I think I would start with cleaning battery connections and having the battery$charging system checked.

But, a nearly twenty year old car, anything is possible.

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what was the code when it was on? seems like a electrical problem. check the battery cables like Purebred said. both sides, not just the battery end. and all grounds. if you had check engine light on and then the battery loses connection it will clear the codes and light will go off.

As I understand it (after I read it again), when the engine gets hot, the engine will not even turn over. If that’s the case, I’d tend to think the problem would lie in the staring circuit (wiring and positive and negative cables) or the starter itself.

I’ve seen a clogged catalytic converter do this. But it also made the car have almost no power after a little while of running. There was a little smoke coming off of the battery terminals too when trying to crank it!