Now nothing comes on with key

Hey everybody
Some of you may have seen my last thread in regards to funky ignition issues. Well today my brother called and tells me jeep won't do anything. Battery tests good and headlights and dome lights work. However he's getting absolutely nothing with the key. Turn it forward to start no dash lights fuel pump or anything. Told him to turn it backwards and see if any accessories come on and still Nothing. I'm getting a ignition switch and heading that way soon. Any other ideas?

Year model? I know you had the other thread but I, for one, don't remember your year.

Best to always include it up front.

1995
Harness is untouched for the most part.
Few weeks ago started having some funky starting issues with dash lights and fuel pump being delayed.
Now can't get anything to turn on with key

Ignition switch seems to be the most probable.

Replaced ignition switch with no luck.
Been trouble shooting all day.
I have power at the input for the ignition switch at a violet/grey wire
Maybe purple/grey. But 3 of the 4 others show nothing.
Also not getting any power at auto shut down relay from ignition

The ignition switch is a multi switch and breaks the power down into sub systems or modes (like ACC). Red wires (2 red wires I believe, same wire and fuse from a splice) are power in and come from a 60 amps fuse in the PDC. If a 60 AMP fuse is blown you have something major wrong and it would likely be better to troubleshoot before popping a new fuse in there and hoping for luck.

Violet wire is accessories, windshield wiper etc.

Orange wire is for motor management and the major sub system for all the necessary engine functions.

A bad or broken ground can cause all sorts of mischief. A broken ground could be your issue or major short blowing the 60 AMP fuse. 60 Amps is enough to do a complete meltdown on your wiring harness and even start a fire.

If it is a fuse you are unlikely to have any juice to the violet wire. But it could be possible to get some voltage feedback (going the wrong way) into the violet wire circuit if a ground is flaky someplace. A flaky ground may not be a bad ground and not even be an issue if the circuit feed is correct to the proper end of the circuit. My explanation may sound complicated. Imagine two water hoses running to one sprinkler (ground), you restrict one hose at the faucet, you are still going to get pressure on the restricted hose, though the pressure may be less and the volume of water is likely to be less. Make any sense?

At the 7 wire plug I have nothing. Those are all solid colors (2 reds also are dead)
At the 4 wire plug at the switch I only have power at 1
Been trouble shooting all day to no avail and I can't find the first bad looking wire anywhere

wishihad1 said:

At the 7 wire plug I have nothing. Those are all solid colors (2 reds also are dead)
At the 4 wire plug at the switch I only have power at 1
Been trouble shooting all day to no avail and I can't find the first bad looking wire anywhere

Click to expand...

Also the fuse that blew was alt 2 if that helps

If the two reds are dead, it is a 60 amp fuse or the wiring. Try a volt test on both sides of all the 60 amp fuses with the ignition off (or better yet the ignition switch connector pulled).

Sometimes those fuses look OK, but aren't.

Next question is why the 60 amp fuse blew. You have to isolate the sub systems, then test them for short.

Also possible something melted down inside the PDC. It is not the most rugged construction and prone to problems.

Ok
I checked everything at the 7 wire connector and zero juice there but at the pdc everything has power and the fuseblock inside cjecks out.
I'm thinking something in the harness has shorted

I'd check the bulkhead connector, kind of split the possibilities in half, red wires for juice. May take some trial and error, I'm not sure how many red wires go through there, but red wires are typically always hot.

I have a 1991 XJ and it has the same problem no power when turning ignition, I got it to some how gain power and start, everything seemed fine. I then hit my blinker and it died. I jiggled the ignition a bunch somehow got power and started it... lightly touched the blinker and it almost died, put more pressure and it died. now I cant even get to gain power again to even start it. Mind during all of this I can still turn on my headlights and dome light but nothing else. Any thoughts? Please help