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Electrical nightmares

unknown

NAXJA Forum User
For post for me, so live with my learning. I did a search and all but nothin. I have a dozen different bugs running around in my whole wiring system. I know electronics quite well and have already troubleshooted many of the problems and fixed them. More keep showing up. Is it a bad idea to think about getting a completly new wiring harness from Painless with everything in it? I figured some of you might have gone through something like this. So I really need some help. Thanks
 
Please tell us what year and model Cherokee you have, what engine and transmission, and tell us what some of the problems are. For each year or model there are a few electrical problems that are common, but in general the wiring harness is usually reliable and replacing the entire wiring harness should not be necessary.

Depending on the year, there are at least four (4) different wiring harnesses used, so before we can answer you we need more information. Also, is your Cherokee a United States model, or an "export" model (bought in Europe or South America)?
 
Generally the issues that you'll have are related to degradation of contacts and conductors (componant failures do happen, but as a rule, look to the actual harness)

R&R on a full harness is an event and the level of disassemby required is pretty massive...

For my "opinion", I'd not recommend a full harness unless you're from someplace where rust an corrosion are major issues... Generally some careful repairs and some of the current delivery modification should serve well... IMHO, of course)
 
Another thought, if you're having random and multiple bugs, is to check grounds. I had some problems on my 87, due to disintegration of ground connnections, especially the strap that goes from the rear of the head to the firewall, which looked good but had actually corroded into powder. Some accessories, such as the radio, come with way inadequate grounds (i.e. the dial lights dim when the bass is turned up, etc.) and would welcome a couple of extras. Otherwise, I would just keep shooting the bugs as they arise, rather than bother with a new harness, because some of them are probably going to be downstream from the main harness anyway - in plugs, sub-harnesses, etc.

If you haven't already, you should probably simply go out and unplug and replug, clean and lube every connector you can get your hands on. If you have windshield leaks, this can include those under the dash. An oft-neglected and problematic connector is the one that joins the front light harness to the main harness. It is stuffed into the bulkhead behind the left headlight, and hard to see. It can corrode, and cause light failures.

Finally, if you have a lot of power goodies, you can pretty much expect that the wiring to the doors will fail periodically and need splicing. There was a thread here recently about speaker problems, which indicated that this is a very common problem, especially with the driver's door.
 
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