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electrical gremlins/dash/no-start/stall

wishihad1

NAXJA Forum User
hey everybody

Well as of about 2 weeks ago everything was completely find with the cherokee. it sits quite a bit now that my brother and I dont live at home anymore. I put a diehard platinum in it last winter and haven't had any electrical issues since then. (dead battery was causing some weird issues). Well this weekend I was home for a couple days and decided to fire up the XJ and go for a spin. I get in a turn the key, and nothing happens, no dash lights, fuel pump doesn't kick on...nothing. then all of a sudden, fuel pump primes and dash lights come on, and I fire it up. everything is running fine, until i turn on the windshield wipers to clear the Dew. XJ immediately dies. I think its coincidence, but I repeat this 2-3 times in a row. I drive down the road, and everything is driving fine, and no other electrical accessories cause it to stall. get back in the driveway, hit the windshield wipers, and it stalls.

the dash lights would kind of flicker a bit before either going completely on, or off so I'm thinking it may be a ground issue. but the wiper causing it to stall:scared:

any help here...95 XJ if that helps
 
My money is on a ground, and perhaps because the wiper is close to the firewall, it's possible that some things have been grounding through its low ohm winding when it's off.

One of the first things I'd check is the ground strap that goes between the engine and the firewall at the back of the valve cover. That can turn to dust and still look good. You would not think it's such an important ground, but it is.

Make sure all battery grounds are good, and if in doubt add one between engine and vehicle frame.
 
First thing I'd do is pull the battery clamps off the battery and clean the clamps and poles up shiny clean, then wipe them down with solvent. It takes awhile to
recharge a very low battery just driving round.

Then do a visual inspection, Rodents, Weasels and Squirrels like to snack on wiring.

Maybe buy a pulse charger. The newer ones are neat, they pulse charge, revive the battery (clean off the oxides) and you can leave them hooked up and programmed to keep the battery full for you. A good one cost around $30, they aren't very expensive anymore.
 
I have seen some mention about a ground in the driverside footwell that grounds much of the dash among other things. I'll look into that also.

Any good sources for some of these replacement grounds that are larger Gauge?
 
Can I rule out the ignition switch?
I'm kind of coming back to that because a few times I went to start it nothing at all was kicking on. Plenty of people have spoken to a bad cluster ground causing none of the instruments to work. But I was getting nothing...then flickering lights then it would fire right up
 
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