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'89 Turd

H

HotwiredXJ

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Tennessee
Hey guys, I just picked up an 89 Cherokee this past weekend. This is my first Jeep.
Someone has gone in and hacked up all the electrical under the dash, and installed some nice toggle switches. Not that I don't like toggle switches, but I would like to take some of these back to stock, perhaps then I would be able to have blinkers. If any of you guys have some linkage to some wiring Diagrams would be awesome, I just saw a post for cruise diagrams.

Second thing, the brakes are, well...horrible. I was able to drive it home, and when I went to stop, I applied the brakes to the floor and had minimal results. I plan on tearing down all 4 wheels and doing a break job this weekend, but could this be the booster? The Pedal feels spongy, so there may just be air in the lines.

I saw a few pics of some Vacuum lines, does anyone have a more detailed pic of the "junction" near the breather box, as my '89 has a lot of these lines either cut or just not spliced, hooked up, that too will give me hours of fun working outside.

Last but not least in my epic quest to spend large quantities of money, the steering column is...loose. If I push on the top of the steering wheel, towards the wind screen, the whole column moves, even the part below the adjustable knuckle. Again, I haven't crawled up under the dash to see if there actually is anything loose. I just wanted to toss this grenade of questions and see if I could have a better list of places to start, rather then getting in and then asking questions.

Thanks in advance for help, flames, sarcasm, and good ol' fashioned insults.
 
For me, as well as many people on NAXJA, Factory Service manual, or a Haynes manual (or equivalent) if you don't have the cash for a FSM, is a necessity. with one of those, much of what you will need to know (including wiring diagrams) can be found within those pages. beyond that, chances are someone here knows the answer, or can at least point you in the right direction.
anyways...

as far as the wiring goes, i would try a FSM, Haynes manual, or a set of schematics from ALL-DATA

in addition to bleeding the brakes, remove the wheels and/or drums and rotors to see if there is any mud in them. i didn't clean my rotors too mell after offroading and mixed with air in the lines, i had the same symptoms you do

and as for the loose steering column, i would suspect a loose bolt or a broken bracket.
 
A common problem with the tilt wheel is that the 4 bolts that hold the knuckle on work loose and you get slop. The fix is to pull the steering wheel and keep tearing down until you get to the bolts to apply lock-tite and retorque. Plan on at least an hour or two, going slowly, and taking pictures as you go so you can figure out how to put all the various bits and pieces back in. It's a GM column, btw. Here's a good writeup to see what you're in for. http://www.chevyasylum.com/column/tiltcol.html

On the brakes, spongy usually means air in the lines, but the 89 brakes kinda suck anyway. The back brakes never seem to self adjust either. A common upgrade is swapping a 96 XJ booster and cylinder.

The blinkers probably just need a little of this: http://kalecoauto.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2&products_id=6
 
HotwiredXJ said:
Hey guys, I just picked up an 89 Cherokee this past weekend. This is my first Jeep.
Someone has gone in and hacked up all the electrical under the dash, and installed some nice toggle switches. Not that I don't like toggle switches, but I would like to take some of these back to stock, perhaps then I would be able to have blinkers. If any of you guys have some linkage to some wiring Diagrams would be awesome, I just saw a post for cruise diagrams.

Second thing, the brakes are, well...horrible. I was able to drive it home, and when I went to stop, I applied the brakes to the floor and had minimal results. I plan on tearing down all 4 wheels and doing a break job this weekend, but could this be the booster? The Pedal feels spongy, so there may just be air in the lines.

I saw a few pics of some Vacuum lines, does anyone have a more detailed pic of the "junction" near the breather box, as my '89 has a lot of these lines either cut or just not spliced, hooked up, that too will give me hours of fun working outside.

Last but not least in my epic quest to spend large quantities of money, the steering column is...loose. If I push on the top of the steering wheel, towards the wind screen, the whole column moves, even the part below the adjustable knuckle. Again, I haven't crawled up under the dash to see if there actually is anything loose. I just wanted to toss this grenade of questions and see if I could have a better list of places to start, rather then getting in and then asking questions.

Thanks in advance for help, flames, sarcasm, and good ol' fashioned insults.
Click to expand...

Alldata us worth the saved effort and fried Grey matter. They do a pretty good job of breaking the wiring down into bite sized pieces (sub sections etc.)

The seals in the rear brake cylinders are a known troublespot and they will suck air.

869uzgl.gif


http://www.chevyasylum.com/column/tiltcol.html

http://www.epiccomputer.com/dale/jeepjunk/tilt/tilt.html

Sent PM with some additional info.
 
Last edited:
like what most of these guys said, a lot of this stuff is easily fixable with the Haynes/FSM/Etc....along with those links...

if you still get in a stupid bind, depending on what part of TN you're in.....i'm in Knoxville
 
Basic brake rule: booster failure will give you a hard pedal, high effort. The mechanical linkage through the booster is "fail safe" and a booster failure will not cause a sinking pedal.

If you're going to go over the brakes, you'll probably find whatever is the matter, and probably have to bleed them anyway. A low pedal on an XJ might also just mean that the rear adjusters failed a long time ago, but if spongy, it probably needs bleeding.

You can test the booster by first pumping the brakes with engine off, until the pedal is nice and firm. Then, while holding the pedal down, start the engine. If the pedal sinks some, the booster is working. Come back after a few hours with engine off, and step on the pedal a few times. If it takes two or three pushes of the pedal before all the boost disappears, your booster is not leaking.

As a final check, with engine on, booster boosting, press slowly and firmly, but not mightily, on the pedal and hold the pedal down. If the pedal sinks slowly to the floor you have a bad master cylinder. Owing to the way the cups in the master cylinder expand under pressure, a bad MC might feel all right when you hit the brakes hard. It will show its weakness under lighter application.
 
HotwiredXJ said:
Hey guys, I just picked up an 89 Cherokee this past weekend. This is my first Jeep.
Someone has gone in and hacked up all the electrical under the dash, and installed some nice toggle switches. Not that I don't like toggle switches, but I would like to take some of these back to stock, perhaps then I would be able to have blinkers. If any of you guys have some linkage to some wiring Diagrams would be awesome, I just saw a post for cruise diagrams.

Second thing, the brakes are, well...horrible. I was able to drive it home, and when I went to stop, I applied the brakes to the floor and had minimal results. I plan on tearing down all 4 wheels and doing a break job this weekend, but could this be the booster? The Pedal feels spongy, so there may just be air in the lines.

I saw a few pics of some Vacuum lines, does anyone have a more detailed pic of the "junction" near the breather box, as my '89 has a lot of these lines either cut or just not spliced, hooked up, that too will give me hours of fun working outside.

Last but not least in my epic quest to spend large quantities of money, the steering column is...loose. If I push on the top of the steering wheel, towards the wind screen, the whole column moves, even the part below the adjustable knuckle. Again, I haven't crawled up under the dash to see if there actually is anything loose. I just wanted to toss this grenade of questions and see if I could have a better list of places to start, rather then getting in and then asking questions.

Thanks in advance for help, flames, sarcasm, and good ol' fashioned insults.
Click to expand...


sounds almost exactly like mine,
after 1200 in brake work and a transmission mount and mufflers, a new passenger side window and regulator and motor, a full tune up, and new tires,

I still need
- ignition switch replaced
-windsheild
- rear drivers side door handle fixed,
- cb installed
- front bumper
- open cooling conversion
- vacuum lines replaced
- and the birds nest under the dash cleaned up.

on a lighter note i went out and bought a second one.
 
lawsoncl said:
THis column looks a little different, but it does have a nice picture of that little metal piece I found on the floor a few days later. Looks like it was part of the key buzzer switch. I pulled out the buzzer box from the fuse box a long time ago which is probably why I never noticed anything wrong.
Click to expand...

The first time I did a column all the way down to the tilt mechanism (in the vehicle) I laid all my pieces on a board in the passengers seat, In order, in neat rows. My son come by jumps in and sits on the board, I yell, he jumps out and all my junk ended up in my gravel driveway. I put that thing together and took it back apart three times before i accomplished the feat, with no left over pieces. I had no diagram at the time.
I found out the buzzer switch can go in bassacwards also.
I use a piece of plywood and a couple of saw horses and even cover it with an old sheet. Keep everything in order and have a diagram handy. And I've done it a dozen times or more. A little preparation and order sure makes the job a lot easier.
 
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