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Yay for electrical problems (Video!)

M

mattbred

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Canada
I just realised I have some electrical gremlins in my jeep. bastards!

I think a video can describe it better than writing ever will, so enjoy!

(1989 Cherokee 4.0L RENIX)

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=2fc_1179883908

The jist of it:

*Turn signals are really slow, and stop completley if lights are on.
*(Not shown in video) I dont need the key in the ignition to turn it on/start the vehicle and let it run, and I put keys in&out anytime.
*If I turn the headlights on, the door open buzzer comes on. If I turn headlights off, it goes off, unless I wiggle the key in the ignition, sometimes the buzzer will come on, then stop, then wiggle some more and itll come on again.
*When starting my truck, the temp gauge goes all the way up (thats normal right? just checkin).
*(Not shown in video, irregular) The temp gauge flucuates sometimes. It'll be at 60, then 40, then up to 80, then 60, then 120, then 100, etc. Only does this when it's running. Some sort of interference? Where to start looking?
 
Last edited:
As far as the buzzer with the headlights, on most newer vehicles, thats supposed to happen....its a headlight on reminder warning. Not sure if the older renix Jeeps do that, but I know for sure that the 97+ do it, and my buddy has a 96 dakota with that annoying buzzer system that will do it also....and its the same buzzer (or chime on the newer models) that sounds when the keys are in the ignition and the door is open.

Checked your grounds lately? If you have, did you thoroughly clean them? If yes also, i'd start looking for damaged wires causing a short somewhere.

When you were playing with the key in the ignition, did you have the door open? If you did, that (I also believe) is normal for it to sound....but for it to occasionaly sound like that would lead me to believe a lose part is the problem...perhaps ignition switch. But if the door was closed, disregard all that.
 
The door was open during all of this. I'm thinking my whole ignition thingie is screwy? IE I dont need the key in it at all.. I cleaned all my grounds in the engine bay. Dont know of any other ones.
 
Ok, since the door was open, the buzzer with the key in the ignition is normal, and the buzzer with the lights on is more than likely normal (but i'm not 100% positive on that one with the older model XJ's).

Not sure if you can replace the locking mechanism in the ignition switch or not, with out replacing the entire switch.
 
The buzzing with the key in ignition is NOT normal though. Look at it. It will buzz only when I press it in hard, and if I wiggle it a bit it stops. Its like a loose wire or something. Which aint good.. Would like to know about me signals though.
 
Well champ your switch is bad in the igniton. Buy new ingnition and swap it in. Its a standard GM ingnition so with heavy keys and abuse they tend to get distroyed quite easily.

Im also thinking ground for your signals too. May be a bad flasher but sounds more like ground.

So check all grounds, clean or replace and get a new ignition. Kinda standard with a rig this old. And the headlight being pulled with the ignition off is normal on renix. Easy fix.
 
Hm so you're saying my ignition switch is OK then?

I noticed that my left signal is a little bit faster than my right signal, yet with hazards they both work at the same speed, which is quite fast. So the actual lights themselves cant be bad?

I'm really curious about the signals not working when the headlights are on though. What's that mean?
 
Oh and just for the record, my power door locks dont work well (They click and everything, but they dont have enough juice to move turn the locks over)

The rear wiper sometimes gets stuck (bad motor OR not enough electricity flowin)

With engine off, ignition on, and the shifter in reverse, my backup lights are not on.

And last night my headlights wouldnt turn off when I pushed the dial in. After pulling it in and out a couple times, it made a crackling sound for a split second, then they shut off. They work normally now.
 
Well lets see its a 1989 not a 2009 so the locks are 20 years old. I have to click mine like ten times to get them to all lock or unlock. Grease builds up with dirt in it and turns to a thick paste. Thats the first problem in the latches, then the acutators get old and worn.

Shifter problems prolly your NSS (nutral saftey switch) do a search. Can you start your rig in drive??

Donno about the rear wiper.... its your truck check it out.

So pretty much searches will get ya those answers and doing some work and troubleshooting will help ya with the rest. Or just sell it and buy a 2009 or get one with manual windows and no PDLs??

mattbred said:
Oh and just for the record, my power door locks dont work well (They click and everything, but they dont have enough juice to move turn the locks over)

The rear wiper sometimes gets stuck (bad motor OR not enough electricity flowin)

With engine off, ignition on, and the shifter in reverse, my backup lights are not on.
Click to expand...
 
It's a manual, I dont have a neutral safety switch. And im not asking to buy a new truck.

Also, clicking the unlock switch from the driver side doesn't work as well as from the passenger side. IE hitting 'lock' from the driver side wont lock the driver's side door, yet hitting 'lock' from the passenger's side will lock the driver's side door. Connections to the panel seem good.

And I added those in case they were all related, get it? not because im bitching about everything thats wrong in my jeep. I was thinking that maybe it's all related somehow, I dont know.

And I have searched. Im searching right now, and I cant find the answers. I'm also not an electricity expert, Im just asking if anyone has had the same deal, or knows of something that might cause it.
 
mattbred said:
Hm so you're saying my ignition switch is OK then?
Click to expand...

Probably not. The fact that sometimes it buzzes with the key in and sometimes it doesnt, and the fact you mentioned you can pull the key out at any time (running or not) and dont even need the key to start it, you'd probably be better off replacing the switch.
 
1. The locking cylinder in the steering column is broken on my 90 XJ. I can turn the key with no key most of the time. If I mess with the steering wheel lock/unlock/lock/unlock eventually the lock will engage and I will need key. If you replace the locking cylinder mechanism I believe it will fix the problem including the intermittent buzzer.

2. The buzzer is not a "door open" warning. It's a "hey, your lights are on and your opening the door" (aka leaving the car) warning.

3. The blinker stuck on may indicate a faulty or failing flasher under the dash. Mine did that several years ago, flasher fixed it.

4. The variant temp guage could be the sender OR there's air passing the sender (it's a water temp sensor, it won't read air). It could also be the guage itself or a bad connection in the harness behind the guage cluster.

5. Don't have power locks or windows, can't help with that but old age would definitely be my first guess.

And finally there is the definite possibility that the connections throughout (grounds, connectors etc.) are old and in need of cleaning, sprucing up and tightening. Investigate one system at a time and go from there.
 
I would definitly check all the engine grounds again make sure that they are clean and tight. also look over all charging/ignition wires to make sure none are weakened (especialy if you are running any aftermarket electrics:lights especialy)
The lock cylinder is really cheap, like $20 and isnt to hard to replace. your just going to need a wheel puller and a spring compressor, probably like $30 max for the two.
Im sure doing some electrical tests would also give you more info to work off of.
 
Update:

When it's running, its a lot better. More power im guessing. However, with highbeams and foglights goin, my blinker is still slow. Im guessin its either my batt goin out, a short, or a grounding issue.

Hey here's somethin else. Today when it wasnt running, I turned me foglights on, and my blinker stopped working. So I disabled me foglight ground, essentially turning off me fog lights, yet my blinker still stopped working. Disabling the fog light switch made the blinkers blink again.

Where's the blinker ground to? And does anyone know where any other grounds are other than in the engine bay? Thanks.

Also, what would I need since A) I dont need a key in ignition to use it and B) wiggling it makes my buzzer come on. Ignition switch, or Ignition lock cylinder?

Thanks so much for your help everyone.

Edit: Oh yeah. So my temp gauge doesnt look normal? I'll get the sender unit replaced. Its only 15 bux. If it doesnt fix it, maybe a new gauge. I notice that my other gauges vibrate at certain times, ie around 1500 RPM my tach starts to go up and down by 50ish RPM's pretty vioently, and its not the engine. Bad gauges im guessing. Again thanks!
 
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