The latest issue is...

my radio, cig lighter, and blower all cut out at the same time. One fuse that is melting (not blowing) is the turn signal/bu fuse, and for some reason when I pull it out all three things listed above dont get any power, but my turn lamps arent affected at all. I pulled the fuse box and took a peek inside, and it looks like the PO spliced in a wire to get power to it from the gauge fuse. The other fuse that is melting...albeit at a much slower pace is the blower fuse, and they are both melting on the side that 12 volts comes in to.

As long as I dont turn on the blower motor everything is fine, but the minute I switch it on is when those two fuses start to overheat and melt. Ive owned this 87 XJ for 3 years with the wiring unkowingly this way with no issues...it just one day decided to start melting stuff. I havent tried it in reverse yet with the radio and cig lighter off and blower on, but plan on doing that tonight when I head to work.

Any ideas with what ive described so far?

Thanks,

Jmeti000

Sounds like a blower motor going bad.

Just a thought from DJ take a look and see if you have this posters problem
84XJ 5spd brake or clutch fluid leaked on fuse box
Electronic/wiring EXPERTS: HELP
http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1045832
OP by thechief86: 10-14-2010
1984 Jeep Cherokee Pioneer, 4cylinder, 5spd, 4x4, Dana 30 & 35, 2door

check grounds. I know the radio and cig. lighter share a wimpy little ground on the 87, and it wouldn't surprise me if the blower motor uses it too. If the blower motor is trying to draw its ground current through the other components it will make a mess.

Ok, ran just the blower last night without the radio and cig. lighter and the fuses were insanely hot in the 10 min drive to work. On the way home, I turned off the blower...low and behold everything was fine. I will take a look at what you guys posted up and let you know what I find. Your help is MUCH appreciated.

Thanks again,

Jmeti000

Update: Just swapped in the blower motor with a new one and no change..still heats up the fuse. Will start checking the wiring starting with the grounds and go from there. Will keep updating with the progress as I find out more.

Another update: So, I started by pulling out the stereo and and climate control unit to gain access to the connectors. I found the switch that controls the blower speed was also getting insanely hot. So, I replaced the switch and still go the same results. The only thing left to replace is the blower motor relay, so just to check I unplugged it thinkin if current wasnt going through it and that was the issue then everything should be solved if it was subtracted from the equation...to bad it didnt work lol. The switch still overheated as did the fuse. Sooooo, I ripped off the dash and started looking for shorts...anything that might cause an issue. With all the wiring fully exposed, fuse box ripped apart, and after hours of tracing wires I didnt find any exposed wiring or any place that it could be shorting out.

Im about to head back to the shop for a little more late night head scratching and retracing, but if anyone has any more ideas id love to hear them. Im also going to try and see if giving it a dedicated ground will maybe sort out the issue.

back soon,
Jmeti000

HA!! I think I found it...maybe..quite possibly. I continued my wire tracing and turns out the brown wire coming from the ignition switch is pretty fried up, and the red wire next to it was too, just not as much. Just so happens that that brown wire attaches a panel that is one side of the fuse for the blower, and radio. Im guessing it fried long ago before I got the vehicle, and the PO just spliced across from the gauge power feed to keep it going, all the while slowly frying up other stuff too. Anyways, since I dont know of any 24hr parts stores I will pick up a new one in the A.M. and report back.

Nighty night,
Jmeti000

Note from DJ take a look at this
Rewiring the Heater-- AC blower with relays
The Definitive Blower Motor blown-melted resistor-switch-wire fix No more melted switches
From Jeep Forum.com
http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f11/definitive-blower-motor-blown-melted-resistor-switch-wire-fix-580627/

Update: AAHHHHH!!! Im gonna take a sledge hammer to this thing I swear. I got all the wiring fixed and power is routed the way its supposed to be. Radio and cig. lighter all work fine. NOW the blower doesnt work at all. I have 12 volts going to the climate control unit like im supposed to, but nothing past that. Its like now that everything else is working properly, the stupid unit decides to quit. Anyways, will post up when I finally fix this confounded thing.

jmeti000 said:

Update: Just swapped in the blower motor with a new one and no change..still heats up the fuse. Will start checking the wiring starting with the grounds and go from there. Will keep updating with the progress as I find out more.

Click to expand...

Just a point of info, the way fuses work is that they get warm as current flows through them. If too much current flows through them, the metal of the fuse melts. It is a special low temperature melting point metal.

So if fuses are carrying any current, they tend to get warm. The only way to really tell what is going on is to measure the actual current with a meter.

Having a wire change colors takes a long time, normally running hot for days or weeks solid.

Its finally fixed. I ended up replacing alot of stuff because I kept finding stuff that was burnt up and shorting out. After I replaced the ignition switch and replaced the connector as well (since it was melted too), I undid all the shoddy wiring and "rigging" the PO did to make all the wiring correct again, and replaced the blower resistor as well (since I already had everything tore apart). Wouldnt you know, all my problems I was trying to fix, and some I wasnt went away. Thanks to all for your help...on to the next project!!