Cox89XJ said
"Don't bypass anything even with a fuse. I'm still trying to trace down wiring gremlins from the previous owner. It had a bad ignition switch and they tried to make things work by bypassing."
:eyes: My ears are burning, LOL!:laugh:
Sorry, but after replacing two brand new, burned out melted and fused ignition switches in less than 12 months, and after pricing the only 2 remaining
partial, under the hood only wiring harnesses in stock in the entire USA (at $495.00 ea, and the dashboard side harnesses with the fuse box being NLA) and getting tired of fidling with a literally shot falling apart fuse box in both of my jeeps (85 was really shot and 87 was not that bad so it got salvaged and reused) I decided enough, was enough.
I bypassed the ignition switch on my 87 and the fuse box for several of the biggest loads (one 10 gauge wire) that were part of the overheating problem in the ignition switch. One in particular was the A/C power to the blower motor on my 87, a notorious trouble spot for jeeps. Another was the head lights on my 85. I installed a dash switch on my 87 which bypasses the ignition switch for power to the windshield wipers, radio, turn signals and A/C blower motor. I also used heavier gauge wires. I have had no electrical problems since then.
The OEM and aftermarket igntion switch is simply not designed for that much power to run through the ignition switch on one punny little connection carrying maximum amps on a #10 multicore wire. I left the rest of the ignition switch and igniton wiring intack, on purpose!
You would love trying to figure out the wiring on my 85 Cherokee. The engine runs with the ignition key removed and steering column locked! It has Nissan diesel, SD22 engine transplant from 82 Nissan pick up truck under the hood.
I can disconnect the battery and the diesel will still run!:sunshine: No electrical worries with it! Actually it was fun tracing down all the non-blueprinted, undocumented wiring changes in it when I bought it (it already had the diesel transplant, but it was sort of an incomplete project that I took over). It had lots of OEM wiring problems and the custom, undocumented wiring for the diesel made it even more interesting!
But I like black box chalenges. Its why I drive a Jeep! LOL.:laugh:
Anyway, next time you buy a Jeep, you may want to ask for custom drawings and blueprints!:eyes:
All kiding aside, I agree that Jeeps do have enough wiring gremlins with out adding new ones. Good luck with traking down yours. Just think of it as a treasure hunt and picture how much fun you will have when you find the gremlins!:sunshine: