Ok so today i go to work. Clock in, work, clock out. Sure enough when i walk out, what do i see. I see my lights are on and very dim. I know immediately what happened. So just to try. I try to start it. It doesnt make a noise. So i go inside and find my friend who just got off work as well. We try and jump it. It turns over as usual but it wont fire. Then my dad gets there and we get it to fire. Turns out i had to give the gas pedal a little pump. So it runs, but the engine light stays on. I figure its because my battery is super close to dead, completely dead. However, my jeep wont idle. If i let off the gas completely the rpms just go down until it dies. So that makes me think, maybe the engine light is on for something other than the battery. Before work it was fine, absolutely nothing wrong. I got it home, after it dying once on the way home. So whats wrong. Is it the battery. Or is it something thats gonna cost me an arm and leg to fix? I certainly hope not. Thanks.
You said the engine light stays on. If this light is the Battery Light or Charging light, then your Alternator is faulty and needs repair. Probably your Alternator was on its last leg and then given the job of working hard to charge a flat battery, it pushed it over the edge and is now faulty.
Start off with the simplest thing, charge the battery and see what happens. If the battery won't take a charge then you know the problem. If a battery is on the old side leaving the lights on could deep discharge it enough to kill a cell or two. If it won't take a charge then you need a new battery. If it does take a charge put it back in the Jeep and after you start it check the voltage of the charging system with a voltmeter. If you don't have access to a voltmeter go to an Advance Auto Parts or CarQuest and see if they can check your charging system. Some parts places will do it for free. If you don't have a battery charger try to borrow a battery from another vehicle (one you know that is charged) and see what happens when you run the Jeep with the other battery.
