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Electrical issue

94XJ4x4

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Bitburg, Germany
Some times when im driving a relay will switch off and ill lose my turn singanls and raido. Atleast i think its a relay switching off. I was wondering if anyone else has experenced this, what the problem was, and if not how do i find the problem? Im not so experenced with electrical problems so if anyone could give me some feedback that would be appreciated greatly. By the way, it doesnt happen a lot... in fact i cant remember the last time this happened. Also when i pull over turn off the engine and all the accesories then start it back up everything will work again. I just assume the relay is reseting. could this be bad for the wiring to do this? Thank you in advance for any helpful info you can give me.

-Tim
 
Okay, let me ask when you have this problem, are you driving with high beams or some high output/high amp draw head lights? Are you driving with driving/fog lights along with your head lights?

The way North American vehicles are wired using a circuit breaker instead of a fuse for the head lights. The circuit breaker is integrated into the head light switch. The circuit breaker self resets if it blows.

With age the breaker gets "weak". Next time this happens try to look at the dashboard, if the instrument panel lights also goes out then it does confirm it is the circuit breaker.

The fix is to install a new head light switch. I had problems with an aftermarket head light swich for this same problem. I recommend you go to the dealer and buy a new head light switch and the probelm will be solved.
 
Every time it has happened it has been daylight hours. so no lights at all. The only things i have noticed not working are the blinkers stereo and the climate control. the fan for the vents will stop blowing. I'm not sure about the headlights whether or no the headlights work when this occurs. any ideas on how i should troubleshoot this?
 
I wish you had said how many miles on your XJ. My 88 XJ is wired different and I know you have a power distribution center, there may be a relay in the PDC.

When I lost my radio it was from when I started the engine. Like you I turned off things and they worked. I ended up replacing the ignition switch, not the lock cylinder, on the steering column. I had over 140K on the vehicle.

It is time like this owning the factory manuals will answer lots of your questions, best $100 you will ever spend. I am not sure if you have a relay, wish you could observe the problem so you could tell us what really is happening.
 
it has about 142000 miles on it. Ill try to explain how it happens. Its pretty much random. But i will be driving along listening to the radio and all the sudden the radio dies they fan doesnt work and my blinkers stop working. usaully i have to stop and shut the jeep off then start it back up and everything will work again but there has been a time or 2 where i have just said to myself screw it, and kept driving. eventually everything came back.
 
Hum, ever figure this one out? One thing I can eliminate for you is the 25amp circuit fed from the ignition switch via a purple/yellow wire.

I completely eliminated this circuit on mine (wired to an aftermarket, aux fuse panel) and I still have the same issue. Blower motor and radio cut off one in a while.
 
I had this problem with both my '85 and '94. Replaced the ignition switch mounted under the dash on top of the steering column.
 
I had this problem with both my '85 and '94. Replaced the ignition switch mounted under the dash on top of the steering column.

same here on my 89 however i believe the loose bolts on the tilt knuckle would cause the linkage to move the switch slightly killing the ACC power but not shutting off the rig. tightened the bolts and replaced the ignition switch and hasn't happened since.
 
same here on my 89 however i believe the loose bolts on the tilt knuckle would cause the linkage to move the switch slightly killing the ACC power but not shutting off the rig. tightened the bolts and replaced the ignition switch and hasn't happened since.

On both of mine, '85 straight column and '94 tilt column, they both had discoloration on the plastic around the ACC terminal. Knock on wood, the '92 Comanche with tilt column hasn't shown any symptoms.
 
I had this problem several times on my 85 and 87, both were problems at the fuse-fuse holder, and the Ignition switch and the Fan-blower HVAC switch and the resistor pack for the HVAC blower speed selector, all were bad, and all were overloading each other. I replaced the entire wiring string and added a dash toggle switch, bypassing the ignition switch. I used 10 Ga wire and a 30 amp breaker service and 30 amp switch. On my 87, the windshield wipers and I think e-windows are on the same service. Jeep used a 14 or 12 gauge service with a 25 amp fuse on the oem set up. I went through 6 fuses, 2 ignition switches wire, new connectors and 2 new blower speed switches on the 87 before I rewired it all.
 
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