wiring gremlins

This is what sucks about owning a 89....all these electrical problems I have.

Here's the run down:
When I turn on my parking lights the pass. side bulb does not work and the pass. signal indicator stays light all the time,then when I turn on the pass. signal,it works but blinks slower than the driver side signal and out of time with the rear signal...bad ground in the socket?Hooked up meter to the socket ground and tested socket voltage and it was low(about1.5volts)....so I grounded the neg. lead of the meter to the body and got good voltage?(about10volts)

While probing the socket I did something stupid:with bulb removed and using jumpers attached to the hot connections inside the socket while grounding the bulb to the body with another jumper(to bypass socket ground)voila!the light worked but then......

the parking lights went out and the fuse popped....replaced the fuse and now I don't have any parking lights but the signals still work,wtf?
......How do I fix this?

One more problem:I have no dash lights all the fuses are good and I have power at the fuse box.Where should I start looking to solve this problem?

I've looked and looked at the wiring diagrams in my chilton(need fsm!!!)but can't seem to wrap my brain around the problem. I'm so frustrated because it seems like even when I work on something non-electrical I end up with elec. probs.

Thanks

The dash lights, is most probably the rheostat (dimmer) in the headlight switch.
The bulb problem is most likely in a ground circuit someplace. Mine dim when the A/C cycles. I'm probably going to check the grounds near the windshield washer canister. And piggy back (solder) some ground wires in the lighting circuit and add some grounds. Most any black wire is a ground wire. A few extra grounds in the lighting circuit, is unlikely to hurt anything. Adding grounds to the sensor, relay or solenoid circuits can cause problems though.
Check your blinker module, they aren't really universal fit on many makes and models. I put a newer Ford blinker module in my XJ and it did some strange things. If you have the trailer wiring package with the relay pack, a faulty/weak relay can cause trouble.
If the ground for one bulb is bad, the current will often try to ground through another bulb in the same circuit and cause strange things to happen. I've even had die electric grease get old, thick, crusty and cause trouble.
I've spent many long an frustrating hours, troubleshooting the electrical in a Renix XJ.
One trick you can try is to use a volt meter in various ground circuits, trapped or standing voltage can be picked up, between the ground wire and the chassis ground as voltage.

Make sure you have voltage at every fuse, you could have burnt a fuse link.

is there a fusible link in the parking lamp circuit?

I'm pretty sure there is a circuit breaker bulit into the headlight switch. If your getting any lights at all (headlights) the circuit breaker and the fusible link are probably OK.

Wow all these threads with suggestions of ground problems and here's one that really has a ground problem at the socket.

You can cut the ground and by cleaning/scraping of the socket if it is metal solder it directly to the side of the socket. Otherwise you'll probably have to replace the whole socket.

On to your other problem. I assume you pulled all the fuses and looked at them good. Power comes from the fuse to the headlamp switch and then out to the lights. Since you said you have power at the fuse (make sure you check it again with the parklamp switch on just to make sure it's real voltage) then I'd suspect the switch itself or the connection at it.

If your hazard/stop or dome lamps are working then the fusible link is fine. The fusible links are located underhood right side under a plastic cover. They connect to the starter relay (silver can).


Mike R

Oh and here's the factory part # for a replacement front park/turn socket 3764863.


Mike R

jeepdeepfreak said:

is there a fusible link in the parking lamp circuit?

Click to expand...

The fuse link is red or green, it's on the starter relay (Big post) the breaker is built into the switch.
The fuse link feeds the Head light switch and the stop haszard/stop fuse.

you guys are awesome!!

I have headlights and dome so the fuse link is good.The thing I don't understand is before I accidentally shorted the socket the driver side park light was working....now it doesn't even after I replaced the fuse that popped,is it possible that the short somehow fubarred the head light switch?

The confusing thing is if it is the light switch why would the headlights,and tail lights still work?

another thing I just thought about is my dash lights worked before I was trying to wire up my backup lights(which still don't work) I used to have a peugot and swapped to ax15 so I clipped the 4 wire connector off to wire up to the 2 wire connector ax15 b/u switch
at one point I had the upshift light light in the dash....thats how I found out what the 2 extra wires are for
So there are 2 wires that go to the b/u light switch and 2 wires for the upshift lamp???Like I said above my dash lights worked before I started fiddling with the back up lights wires......how would these 4 wires have anything to do with the dash lights?

Sorry for all these newbie like questions,but I'm not an electrical engineer.....

jeepdeepfreak said:

you guys are awesome!!

I have headlights and dome so the fuse link is good.The thing I don't understand is before I accidentally shorted the socket the driver side park light was working....now it doesn't even after I replaced the fuse that popped,is it possible that the short somehow fubarred the head light switch?

The confusing thing is if it is the light switch why would the headlights,and tail lights still work?

Click to expand...

It's a dual switch, it has two power feeds one for headlights and a second one just for dash/tail lights.

jeepdeepfreak said:

I have headlights and dome so the fuse link is good.The thing I don't understand is before I accidentally shorted the socket the driver side park light was working....now it doesn't even after I replaced the fuse that popped,is it possible that the short somehow fubarred the head light switch?

The confusing thing is if it is the light switch why would the headlights,and tail lights still work?

Click to expand...

Yes it's possible the headlamp switch died.


Mike R

Dash light problem solved!!!yesssss

Still don't have park lamps...I've got power at the fuse box but no power to the sockets.Just installed brand new headlight switch so it's not the switch either...so it has to be in the wiring.....Is it possible to have a burned wire?t?

I mean I had park lamp power to the sockets before I shorted the passenger socket and blew the fuse.Why wouldn't they work now?

How did the wiring/connection look at the headlamp switch? Any melting of the connector? Power goes from the fuse to the switch and then to the lamps.


Mike R

Parking lights are the DK BLU wires on the switch.
Power in to the switch for the Park section is the Red/Blu wires, check voltage there.

I got an AX-15 in the MJ, it started life with a puegot. I'll take a look at how the wiring was done as my B/U lights work. PM me your email address, I'll send some pictures of the connector to you. Might not be tonight, most likely tomorrow when I can snap some pictures in the morning.
I too have weird parking lamp turn signal stuff, so we may have to get together on this wiring and figure it out sometime.

Cool,shoot me some pics,Nathan.My e-mail is [email protected].I think I got the wires figured out....blackw/yellow is power and brownw/white is ground,then the other two wires are for the retarded upshift lamp?I have power going to the b/u light switch but it's not reaching the rear lights so I jumpered the switch and still nothing.

Btw my dash light problem was due to corrosion on the fuse blade......can somebody recommend some kind of spray or something that is safe to spray on a fuse box?Maybe silicone?

Thanks again for all the help.