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hmmmm??

spikeypuck

spikeypuck

NAXJA Forum User
Location
in the driveway, under jeep
I have an 85 xj. It has a little problem, everytime i fix something. It likes to make something else go bad.
I had to bail out on what would have been its first run this weekend with the NW Chapter, due to a clutch issue. I put in a new slave cylinder yesterday. This morning I let it warm up while listning to the radio as usual. The radio is wierd to an acesory fuse box i put in. But when i turned on my headlights, the radio turned off. Turn off the lights, radio back on. I tried the wipers just for fun, and they moved very slow. When i turned off the jeep & checked fuses i could not get it to start back up. The lights still work, so i dont think it could be the bettery. Could it be an alternator, or regulator issue?
Im sending this from my phone at work. I just hoping to get an idea of what to start with when i get home.

Thank you for any input..
 
Sounds like some sort of a wonky ground issue - different unrelated electrical subsystems affecting each other usually is. It's because without the common ground the two units use, power will backfeed from one through the ground wiring to the other. This is most common on circuits which have the live side powered or grounded alternately - turn signals and possibly mirrors/door locks/windows come to mind, I can't think of any others off the top of my head.
 
I was coming back on to mention that i recently changed out my ignition switch, and my key cylinder. But what you said makes sence. everything i have wired in myself has its own ground. From my cb, stereo, fancy horn my daughter picked out, and my kc lights each have their own ground. I am quite new at all this and thought that would be a good thing. Could all the diferent grounds be causing a problem?
Once again sorry about the structure, and punctuation. Trying to do this between crane picks. lol
 
Different grounds for each item would tend to keep things from backfeeding... good planning there. Looking at your first post again, maybe you tapped the wrong line for that accessory fuse block? It sounds like maybe you tapped something that's only on when the headlights/parking lights are off, I know there are a few power lines like this for interior lights and such. I'm not sure on the starting issue.
 
Definitely a ground issue.

There isn't enough grounding between the batt/unibody, engine/unibody. If you have the self-decomposing braided ground strap, lose it and replace with caple, 4 ga welding cable is very flexible.
 
start with the essentials--

BATTERY
1.) use a DVOM and check battery voltage at rest-- 12.65V is fully charged
if below this, charge and continue
2.) turn headlamps on and re-check-- should remain close to 12.65V
if it drops significantly, battery has failed
3.) try to crank starter while measuring voltage-- shouldn't drop below
10.80V at any time during crank.
if the battery fail any of these tests, it's time to replace it.

GROUNDS
1.) Perform a voltage drop test across any ground wires you can find--
using DC volt setting place one lead on each side of the circuit to
determine the need to renew connections. You want as close to 0.00V as
possible.
2.) A quick check of the braided strap can be performed with a set of
jumper cables-- hook one end to the neg. battery post and the other
to the firewall at the ground strap connection-- if it's got a bad strap,
it'll start and run better with the jumper cable attached.
 
Thank you for the responses. I took a pic of the toy fuse box.

fuseblock.jpg


At the bottom center, the blue wire goes to the positive battery terminal. 6ga.
The left bottom black wire goes to my cb. 8ga.

The right top 2 blue ones go to my stereo. They both go to another fuse and run to the stereo harness. 8ga

The right bottom green one goes to my 12v. socket :rolleyes: 8ga.

So they all have a fuse there, and a ground running off of the component.

I will head out and check my voltage now, and i thank you for the numbers. If its my ground i have plenty of big gauge copper wire here to fix it. Thank you

Also i just tried to start it, and im getting a grinding type sound from the area of the starter. I'll have wifey turn the key while i look..
 
Low battery, poor starter solenoid, poor cables.

However, could be a loose starter.
 
spikeypuck said:
The battery is low, so it is on the charger now. I will go from there.

I just don't want to drive wifeys pt cruiser again... I love my ugly jeep :)
Click to expand...

Driving in a PT Cruiser is like dating a BBW; the ride is good, you just don't want your friends to see you doing it. :anon:
 
spikeypuck said:
Thank you for the responses. I took a pic of the toy fuse box.At the bottom center, the blue wire goes to the positive battery terminal. 6ga..
Click to expand...

shouldn't matter with your existing problems, but once they're solved, put a 30A fuse at the junction between the 6ga and the battery. It will protect the wiring between the battery and the fuse box from shorting to ground.
 
Shorty said:
shouldn't matter with your existing problems, but once they're solved, put a 30A fuse at the junction between the 6ga and the battery. It will protect the wiring between the battery and the fuse box from shorting to ground.
Click to expand...


I didn't think of that. Thank you. I'm trying to fix all the breaks with better stuff. But still being a noob i loose some things in my mind...
 
I don't want to keep bumping this to the top. But i like to add what fixed the issue for anyone searching. It loooks like the problem was the braided ground cable that was mentioned above. I still had to drive the cruiser in today... uggg. But thats only because I wanted to try the tests again this morning. With the jumper cable on the 2 ground ends, the jeep started on the first try. That has never happened. Its usually the third hit. So tonight ill change the ground. And will only bump this if i find any other related issues that will help someone in the future.

Thank you to everyone that helped.
 
Awesome! If you want a better-than-OEM quality one, either find a friend who has a hydraulic crimper and put good quality ring terminals on both ends of a piece of #4 welding cable (very fine strands, lasts longer under vibration/flexing than standard stranded wire), then weather seal the crimps, or buy a premade cable set from 5-90 on here.
 
just an update here. After i put in the new ground i still had the issue. I just finished putting in a new alternator about an hour ago. No problems now. When i had it tested, it was putting out 5 volts. lol
 
The alternator fixed the lights on, radio off issue? :huh: Or had that gone away before you got to the alternator.

The ground upgrade is one of the better things to do just in general. Made a huge difference in my old '90 MJ.

As to your other original question of why you keep having problems? You're driving a 25 year old car. Not to mention the mid 80's weren't exactly the height of 'quality' at AMC, if there was ever such a thing.

:gee:

Keep up the good fight, in most states you're driving a classic.
 
TomMcD said:
The alternator fixed the lights on, radio off issue? :huh: Or had that gone away before you got to the alternator.

The ground upgrade is one of the better things to do just in general. Made a huge difference in my old '90 MJ.

As to your other original question of why you keep having problems? You're driving a 25 year old car. Not to mention the mid 80's weren't exactly the height of 'quality' at AMC, if there was ever such a thing.

:gee:

Keep up the good fight, in most states you're driving a classic.
Click to expand...

The lights on--radio off one is an oldy but a goody. My Brother wanted to change the sleeper on his Pete conventional back in the seventies. When we got it mounted I wanted to add a couple extra ground cables, but he said no, the one braided strap was enough. And it was, until he turned he turned on the lights. A bunch of accessories wouldn't work with the lights on, including the radio.
 
I actually read another thread on here that had the same type of issues going. And it turned out to be the alternator. That has fixed the issue so far. The ground did make it start better tho.

I am keeping the fight going. I actually got to do a mod i have wanted to do today :rof: not just fix something that broke. yay
 
spikeypuck said:
I actually read another thread on here that had the same type of issues going. And it turned out to be the alternator. That has fixed the issue so far. The ground did make it start better tho.

I am keeping the fight going. I actually got to do a mod i have wanted to do today :rof: not just fix something that broke. yay
Click to expand...

Same boat here, my XJ "to do" has 20 items on it and its too damn cold to do any of it!

Yeah, I'm a wuss.
 
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