Brake pedal interlock override

I've been having trouble with a short in my '90 Cherokee's electrical system.

I think it may be in the fuse panel.

It started by popping fuses when I turned on the headlights. The headlights still worked, but the parking & dash lights were gonzo.

I had to pass a Massachusetts vehicle inspection (of which I was already past due for) as well as drive to Paragon wth my girlfriend (who was skeptical of the Cherokee's reliability, to say the least) within days of each other, so I rewired the parking lights on a seperate rocker switch.

Since then, the electric fan stopped coming on by itself (probably related), so yesterday I wired in a manual toggle switch.

I decided to use the "IGN" port on the fuse panel for my power source. When I plugged the wire in to the panel, something else popped.

It turned out that I burned up the recall switch for the brake/trans lockout. I want to correct the problem properly, but as of now, just moving the Jeep is my main concern.

Is there a way to bypass the switch (possibly by using a power source independant of the fuse panel)? Maybe a fused toggle setup?

Thanks in advance.

Probably of dubious safety and/or legality, and most likely not the end of your electrical problems, but you can just take the whole brake-shift-interlock relay out. Had to do it with mine - half the time it wouldn't unlock even when I hit the brake pedal, got very annoying. Will take it back to the dealer one of these days... and if any of this is damaging something else without me knowing yet, please tell me

Instructions from an '88: Follow the wiring (pink and black/blue) from your brake light switch connector back into another connector that should look very similar and have wires running back into the main under-dash wire loom - this is the real brake light connector. Take out the extra spade terminals and plug it straight into the brake switch, so you'll have your brake lights back. Follow the wires from the extra connector back to a black relay-looking box probably cable-tied to your steering column; this will have five wires going to it: one gray/black from the fuse box, the two from the brake switch and two more white wires going into a cylinder in-line with the shift-lock cable - probably right behind your gas pedal linkage. Disconnect all these at their respective connectors and you should be back to the factory shift system without the brake-pedal interlock.