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Strange Electrical Problem, What a surprise!

AZRockRunner

Nobody
Location
Tucson, Az
I just bought a 90 cherokee auto and it has some weird electrical things going on. 1st of all, when I go from accessory to starting, I lose all the radio presets and time. Also none of the dash lights work or the driving lights. My brake lights and headlights do work and so do the blinkers. Now, tonight I was letting it run for a few and I had the headlights on, when I turned the jeep off, the headlights would not go off. I had to start it again and turn the switch on and off again for them to go off. Any Ideas???

P.S. I have only had this jeep for a few days and the previous owner is LONG GONE, so cant get any history either.

Thanks
 
For your first problem, check the radio ground, instrument cluster grounds, and make sure that the radio is actually installed correctly if it's an aftermarket one. The clock and presets should be on the same circuit as the interior lights, I think, so one way to check that is just to pull the fuse on the interior lights and see what happens.

For the second problem, it's not a problem at all. You have the "headlight sentry" feature. If you turn off the headlights first, then the engine, the lights go out. If you turn off the engine first, the headlights will stay lit for 20-30 seconds. It's a neat feature that lets you use your headlights to find your way to the house.
 
I will check the grounds tomorrow. It is a factory radio though, and it doesnt appear that anyone has messed around with anything.
Thanks for the fast reply.
 
RockingAz said:
I will check the grounds tomorrow. It is a factory radio though, and it doesnt appear that anyone has messed around with anything.
Thanks for the fast reply.


yeah when i bought my 90 i was like oh great how do i fix my headlights their gonna kill my battery, and as soon as i got done bitching about it they shut off. and i said wow they had this stuff in 1990
 
Ya, I just tested it and it sure did shut off. Man, now that is cool for such an old peice of pile. On the other hand, the dash lights fuse was blown, so I replaced it and still no dash lights. As far as the dome lights, well lets just say there missing, but there are no bare wires. Will I have to take the dash apart to test the circuits?
 
RockingAz said:
Ya, I just tested it and it sure did shut off. Man, now that is cool for such an old peice of pile. On the other hand, the dash lights fuse was blown, so I replaced it and still no dash lights. As far as the dome lights, well lets just say there missing, but there are no bare wires. Will I have to take the dash apart to test the circuits?

Next step for the dash lights is probably to check the dimmer in the headlight switch, and since the dome lights are also controlled by the headlight switch...Well, it might be a good idea to have a good hard look at that headlight switch. I have a feeling things here are going to turn out to be related, since the dome light and the radio memory share a circuit too.

I don't think you should have to take the dash apart, but it isn't that hard on an old one. Take the big black bezel off (a few screws), and you'll then find that individual components are screwed in and can be removed one at a time. Watch out for the little light holders on the switches and the heater controls if you ever need to service them. They're plastic, with a bayonet mount that is not always easy to figure out. They're easy to break, and then they won't stay in their holes.
 
Matthew Currie said:
For the second problem, it's not a problem at all. You have the "headlight sentry" feature. If you turn off the headlights first, then the engine, the lights go out. If you turn off the engine first, the headlights will stay lit for 20-30 seconds. It's a neat feature that lets you use your headlights to find your way to the house.

WOW I have been trying to figure that one out for a long time. Figured it was a problem with the switch that was really common since all 3 of my Cherokees do it..... I feel kinda dumb now, but you have my thanks.
 
How do u know if you have the sentry feature..If i shut off my engine with the lights on all that happens is that the buzzard makes that annoying noise to singal that i should shut it off.

pete
 
turn off the engine with the lights on, then turn the lights off. The parking/marker lamps should all go out, just the headlamps on. Get out of the Jeep, the lamps will turn off by themselves in less than a minute. The timer starts when you open and close the door.
 
Actually mine starts timing when you close the last door.
I drove my 87 for a year before I found out I had a delay.
I thought my switch went bad too.
I had the door open and the hood up poking around for twenty minites, I gave up and grabbed my tool box to pull the battery cable and closed the door.
I'm standing there using the headlighs looking for a couple of 1/2" wrenches when "Click" off the dam things went.
 
On the radio memory, it occurs to me that there might be an inline fuse to the memory circuit in addition to the fuse in the box. I don't know whether there is one in the factory setup, but there usually is in aftermarket installations. If nothing else pans out you might just try pulling the radio and see if there's a fuse back there, either in the wire, or plugged into the back of the unit itself.
 
Ok, here is what I got so far. It is blowing the 10amp fuse for the dash lights everytime I turn them on. I put a volt meter on there and it is trying to pull 17 volts. I am guessing that means there is a short on a positive wire somewhere in that circuit? Is this correct?
I am tearing down the headliner sometime this week since it needs to be redone anyway, so I will look in the wiring there. Can anyone else chime some ideas in as to where to look?

Thanks
 
jeepsrock said:
How do u know if you have the sentry feature..If i shut off my engine with the lights on all that happens is that the buzzard makes that annoying noise to singal that i should shut it off.

pete
you can rip the buzzing thing out. i had my jeep for a week or less and i was looking in the fuse box to shut it up.

First, grab the black box ( if your not sure just let it buzz and feel for vibrations) and pull as hard as you can (it will resist)

Second, turn on the headlights. turn off your jeep and remove the key. turn off the headlights and close the door. wait. after 1 minute if they do not go off than you do not have the feature.
 
To clarify some things for everyone. The sentry feature lasts 45 seconds and starts when the ignition switch is switced to off.

Don't believe me? Go sit in you jeep with the lights on and shut the ignition switch. Leavy the key in the swich, don't open any doors ( or leavy any open if you wish ) and count to 45.
 
jeepsrock said:
How do u know if you have the sentry feature..If i shut off my engine with the lights on all that happens is that the buzzard makes that annoying noise to singal that i should shut it off.

pete
NORMAL !!!. The Sentry feature will leave only your headlights on for 45 seconds when the ignition is shut off before the lights switch gets pushed in (off). The 45 second timer starts when the ignition key is turned to off. If you turn off the ignition, wait 1 minute, then shut the lights switch, they will go full off right away.
 
I don't understand what you all mean buy "Pulling 17 volts" you don't "pull volts" only amps.
If your voltage is running 17 volts your voltage regulator is bad or a ground to the ALT is flakie causing it to run away.
Also test you meter on a flashlight battery, a standard c or d cell should read 1 1/2.
 
RockingAz said:
Ok, here is what I got so far. It is blowing the 10amp fuse for the dash lights everytime I turn them on. I put a volt meter on there and it is trying to pull 17 volts. I am guessing that means there is a short on a positive wire somewhere in that circuit? Is this correct?
I am tearing down the headliner sometime this week since it needs to be redone anyway, so I will look in the wiring there. Can anyone else chime some ideas in as to where to look?

Thanks
If your truley reading 17 volts your problem is in the Alt somewhere, you should never get more than 14.75 volts if you do you will burn out anything thats using power at the time.
 
jeepsrock said:
Does every xj have this sentinel feature ? Because i know of it and have read about it but regardless i cant get it to work..

pete
I don't if they all still have it but it's just another black box under the dash.
 
Or your box is broken. Search the forum, there's a post that shows what it looks like.

If you don't have it and others of the same year do, get a box from the junkyard. It's a plug and play operation.
 
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