PDC Fuse 16

1998 Jeep Cherokee Sport 4.0 AW4

This is a question I have about a short I see across my battery terminals.

I'm working through a full refit on my XJ. Pretty much stripped it out, sand-blasted most everything, replaced floors, rockers, and other ancillary welding. Pretty much all painted and most all back together...

I'm now getting all my electrical back together in hopes of getting her started/troubleshooting any engine related issues... The battery is currently NOT in.

I would like to get the battery in, get her running and continue piecing together/troubleshooting.

Checking continuity across my batter connections I see I have a short. When I start pulling fuses from the PDC this short clears up when I pull fuse 16.

Referring to the FSM:
I see fuse 16 (8W-10-2) as M1 (8W-10-3) leading to splice S135 (8W-10-7), and powering various in lights and accessories on 8W-10-14. None that seem to me which would be limiting me from running the engine or create any sort of damage if I do.

With all electrical connections made in the engine well, inside the dash and steering column, AND NONE made to the doors and interior lighting,,,

Can I pull fuse 16 to eliminate this short, attach the battery and test start the engine, then come back and start working to finish out all my electrical connections which as I do I'm sure will most likely clear this short...

Any thoughts, or questions that help me think about this would be appreciated.

It looks like it also might power up the TCM, but that's looking at the 2000 xj wiring diagram. It might be different for the 98. Either way it will still run without the interior lights and TCM.

Come to think of it, I had a short on that same circuit a while back too. It just caused the dome lights to be on all the time. It was from the hatch done light wiring. I didn't track it down all the way though. I found a splice under the passenger door sill and snipped wires until the short went away. I reconnected the wires that didn't cause the short, so now the only thing that doesn't work is my hatch done light.

I should fix that.

Thanks for the comment...
You are absolutely right... I see the TCM hanging off M1 as well... That's actually why I asked the question as I feel there wouldn't be problems if I pulled the fuse just for a few interior lights...

I pulled the Underhood Lamp already and that didn't fix it... Had to leave it for the day...

I'll take a look for the hatch tomorrow. I can't think off the top of my head where the HatchBack Closed Switch is located???

I'm planning to start tracing through the Junction Block (8W-12-2) tomorrow...

Hoping to find something easy...

Thanks Again...