If I'm out of line for putting this on here, my apologies. Let me know any I'll never do it again. But since I marvel at the brain power on here, I thought I'd give it a shot.

2000 Jeep Cherokee 80k. Got in the car for a 60 mile trip this morning. Got about 1 mile and the "check guages" light came on and the ammeter was pegged on 19....usually at 14. I stopped, turned off the car and restarted it. Guage stayed at 14 for the rest of the trip. Car sat for about 2 hours at the destination and when I went to start it.....dead!...no juice whatsoever. A jump start got me going and I drove home with the "check guages" light on and the ammeter pegged at 19. When I turned it off at home, the battery was dead again. I had the battery load tested last Sept. and it was fine. I haven't had a chance to put the battery on a charger to see if it holds a charge. what really has me mystified is the guage going to 19. I've never had that happen on any car before. Any thoughts?

 

Check your charging system. Is it an ammeter or a volt meter you have? If it's volts your voltage regulater may be failing. Overvoltage can damage a battery. Your battery is normally 12.6 volts, your charging system should give you 14-15 volts but 19 sounds high. An easy way to check; start it (jump if needed) then pull one battery lead. If it dies your charging sys has a problem.

 

Pulling a battery lead WILL cause the voltage regulator to drive the voltage sky high possibly damaging electronics.

Get it started and stop by an auto parts store for a free system test.

Sounds like a loose connection to me.

 

I'm an idiot! After thinking about it for a couple of hours, I went out and checked the battery terminals. They were caroded and not making a connection. Once I cleaned them up, everything was back to normal. Thanks for your responses. Both of you were headed in the right direction once again proving the brain power on this site.