Vehicle won’t start after replacing alternator, serpentine belt, and battery

[u/Wenital_Garts]

2017 Jeep Renegade.

I replaced a bad alternator and bad battery in a 2017 Jeep Renegade. I replaced the belt too because I figured why not. Ran perfectly afterwards for a month. Now I'm having issues again. I can't get any sign of electricity when trying to start it. Nothing lights up when pressing the start button. All connections look good. Went to jump the car and it still won't start.

I'm not a car savvy guy and this has been quite the learning curve for me. I'm not sure what else could fail in between the battery and pressing the button that would prevent the vehicle to be energized, even when jumped.

Any ideas? I'm not sure what my next troubleshooting steps would be from here...

[u/Ray_Beat_178]

Did you check your fuses?

[u/Wenital_Garts → u/Ray_Beat_178]

Interesting, not sure how to do that. Looks like something I’ll have to dig into.

[u/Much_Phase844]

Did you remove the plastic red and black protective caps from the battery terminals before connecting the cables?

[u/Wenital_Garts → u/Much_Phase844]

It ran for a month before having issues.

[u/zorrokettu → u/Much_Phase844]

Sadly this is a common mistake.

[u/trotsky1947]

Check battery cable clamps. Check fuses. Load test battery.

[u/jeremy1973f]

Have you tried to jumpstart it yet? Maybe you have a light on somewhere?

[u/Much_Phase844]

Check the negative cable sheets or attached to the engine block. Remove any corrosion, loosen and retighten the nut.

[u/Typical-Housing3502]

Starter relay.

[u/Wenital_Garts → u/Typical-Housing3502]

Hmmm I’ll investigate further, thank you.

[u/retardrabbit]

Does your remote key fob lock and unlock the doors like it should?

Try to turn on your hazard lights, any action there?

[u/Wenital_Garts → u/retardrabbit]

Ooo good point. No the key fob doesn’t even lock or unlock the doors anymore. Hadn’t tried hazards.

[u/retardrabbit → u/Wenital_Garts]

Check and replace that fob battery.

Pull the physical key out of the key fob, look for where the case splits open.

Put the new battery in the same orientation.

If your hazards come on then your car's battery has at least some voltage. Enough to start the car? 🤷

Cross that bridge when you get there.