Starter Failing Causes Engine Shutoff?

Asked by Clinton Feb 29, 2016 at 07:07 PM about the 2014 Jeep Cherokee Limited FWD

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

Hi all! I'm new to these forums, but would certainly appreciate the help.

My wife was driving our 2014 Jeep Cherokee Limited with keyless ignition,
and out of the blue it cut the engine off. No chugging, dimming lights,
nothing. The battery (charging system) light came on. The starter sounded
rough when she tried to crank it back up immediately, but after waiting half
a minute, it started up fine. It's now been doing this at random times.
Sometimes we can drive all around town, sometimes just down the street,
but eventually it'll simply shut off the engine, leave all electronics on, and
display the warning light.

I took it to my local Autozone to have the starter and battery checked. Their
diagnostic system said both were fine, but the starter failed the test. I was
honestly a little shocked. I had never heard of a starter being the cause of
an engine shutting off randomly. He said that newer cars with keyless
systems route everything through the electrical system, so if a component
begins to fail, it can shut off an engine.

My question to everyone is, does this sound right? Can a failing starter
cause these kind of engine issues? I don't doubt the associate's test, but I'd
like to be sure I know what's going on before I take it in to a Jeep
dealership to have it serviced.

Thank you all!

3 Answers

250

1) having autozone do any kind of a test on anything is a waste of time. Don't have the time to go into it, but three strikes your out applies in my case. 2) hate to say this, but there's no armchair diagnosis going to help you. Take it to the dealer. Waaay too much electronics on that for a non professional to even begin to tinker with, not to mention the possibility of frying a voltage sensitive component. 3) it's only 2 years old. Isn't it still under warranty?? All the possible culprits are covered under warranty except the battery.

If you have the auto start-stop feature anytime you come to a stop the engine will shut off and when you touch the accelerator or the brake it will start up again there will be a button by the radio down by the air conditioning controls it'll have a with a circle around it this is the button you need to push to turn the feature on or off

If you have the auto start-stop feature anytime you come to a stop the engine will shut off and when you touch the accelerator or the brake it will start up again there will be a button by the radio down by the air conditioning controls it'll have a with a circle around it this is the b

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