Good afternoon all,
so to start at the beginning I have a 2000 tj with the 2.5 and when I go to start it I get a flicker of light and hear one click after the first time there is nothing until I disconnect my battery for about 10min. So far I have charged and checked my battery, I've had my starter tested thinking it was grounding out. It checked good per auto parts store. I've swapped my starter relay with an o2 relay(same part number) and everything is still the same. I keep running into dead ends and was wondering if anyone else has seen this before. Just to clarify once more the first time I turn my key I hear one click and see my gauge lights flash. After this nothing electrical works (i.e. horn lights etc.) If I turn my key again I get nothing. Only after disconnecting my battery for a while and reconnecting it can I get it to click and flash again. Any suggestions would be extremely helpful. I'm almost to a point where I'm going to head out there with a multimeter and schematics.

Sounds like your battery has failed, nothing more. Only a "load test" will show a battery's true health & I'm betting it would show your battery is toast.

I specifically requested that they load test it but I'm thinking I might take it somewhere else for a second opinion.

I recently had a battery failure on my Toyota & I took it to the retail battery shop I had originally purchased it from.

I knew the battery was bad from its symptoms but the first guy pronounced it good with his abbreviated load test which I knew was insufficient. I went inside & had another guy I knew to be more experienced do another load test but for a longer period of time... which is how a load test should be done, a short load test won't always indicate the true health of the battery. His more thorough load test proved the battery was bad as I originally told them it was & they replaced it under warranty.

thank you,

same results, not the battery. I'm going to start looking into different things that would cause the computer to prevent to jeep from starting

Try jumping the relay with wiring straight to the battery to ensure the starter or battery are not causing the problem.

Take a wire and place it into the pin of the relay-box that goes to the starter. Then tap the other end of the wire to the battery. It will spark a little so make sure you aren't touching bare wire, but the starter should turn. If it doesn't, the starter, wire feeding the starter, or battery is bad. If the starter turns then you need to look at fuses/relays/computers.

If your battery is definitely good, I'd be suspicious of the battery cables or their connectors/connections. The dash lights flashing, horn & lights not working, etc. means you're losing battery power somewhere.

If it's not the battery, then start checking your cables to make sure nothing is corroded or loose. Especially the ground wire.
good luck

I have a 2000 2.5. Same thing happened to me. Ended up being the battery acid leaked out onto the positive cable and corroded it. The acid actually got under the insulation so it was hard to find the problem. Check those cables.

update: new battery, reran battery to starter wiring and checked grounds. Starter tested good on a bench at auto parts store (does this also verify that starter solenoid is good?) replaced crankshaft censor (wanted to also replace camshaft sensor at the same time but there where none in stock.) everything is still acting the same starter clicks once when key is turned to start but never again until after battery is disconnected for about 10min. There is power in the jeep until after the starter clicks but no more until after it's reset. Also played musical relays. This has got me stumped.

Have you tried turning the engine over manually (either by hand or with a socket and breaker bar on the crankshaft pulley) to make sure the engine is not seized? Pull your dipstick and see if your oil is over full and maybe smells like gas

engine is not seized, I was able to turn it by hand.

Go on you tube and type in "jeep TJ won't crank" a small part in the ignition breaks. Pretty common. Hope this helps.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LSRft6d...%3DLSRft6dAW8Y