WrightwoodXJ

Hi,

After having my 95 xj(4.0, aw4, np231, 23x,xxx miles) parked in the garage for the last 5 years, I've started tackling its list of issues that ultimately led to it being parked.

The current issue that I've been focusing on is electrical. The tail lights, and parking lights are not working as well as the gauge lights. I do have working headlights, and brake lights & dome light.

There are no fuses blowing in the PDC under the hood.

Fuse #15(15A) and #19(5A) on the interior fuse block are blowing as soon as the headlight switch is pulled to the parking light setting, and I'm assuming #19 is blowing at the same time.

I have been attempting to locate a short to ground and have done the following:

-removed liftgate interior panel to double check that I hadn't connected the two alternate license plate light connectors & inspected condition of all of the wires where accessible including wiring to rear wiper motor. Also inspected condition of wires entering the body from liftgate.

-removed interior panels in trunk area & inspected condition of all taillight wiring & connectors. I also completely removed uhaul tow light setup at this time(it was tied into the harness with some block that both factory harnesses connected to). Cleaned up the ground.

-I've pulled the majority of the dash & disconnected most/all components. Including the gauge cluster, the rear wipe & wash switch, heated rear window switch, headlight switch, hvac controls, aftermarket stereo(factory orange wire was capped w/ shrink), cigar lighter(there is a non connected orange w/ white stripe wire & connector, along with a purple & a black wire), my ashtray is not lighted as far as I can tell(no electrical connector or place for a bulb to mount that I can identify), and glove box light connector was disconnected(the glove box light hasn't worked since I bought the jeep in 2011, didn't even realize there was one until I started digging through the FSM trying to sort out this issue) it appears the majority of components on this circuit are on an orange w/ black stripe wire.

-I've dug around under the passenger side & looked at the wiring/connectors under the glove box.

My xj is a fleet model of some kind I believe, as it has manual windows/locks, no overhead console, no center console beyond the small plastic surround for transmission shifter & transfer case lever(which the lights do not work in also, and have not since I owned the jeep iirc)

Thanks in advance!

I'd be happy to take pictures of anything if requested.

cruiser54

Is there a trailer harness on the vehicle?

WrightwoodXJ

Yes, there was a trailer harness.

I removed & discarded the u-haul trailer harness when in the driver side cargo area doing the visual inspection.

WrightwoodXJ

Progress!

Spent some time messing with it today, and I believe I'm getting closer to finding the short.

I disconnected the (2) 16 pin connectors in the driver kick panel that feed the loom to the rear. Disconnected gray 16 pin connector & replaced fuse, pulled head light switch and fuse popped. Disconnected black 16 pin connector & replaced fuse, pulled head light switch to park lamp position and fuse did not pop & front parking lamps were on. I re-connected the gray 16 pin connector and fuse remained good.

So I went back into the cargo area(drivers side) and disconnected every connector. I then re-connected the black 16 pin connector in the driver footwell/kick panel and pulled the head light switch & fuse popped. This tells me the short to ground I'm dealing with should be between the connector at the kick panel and the connectors that tail lights and liftgate connect to, correct? So if I'm thinking correctly, I should be able to determine which wire is connected to fuse #15 and focus on that wire in that stretch of harness?

I'm just realizing I should maybe double check to make sure the passenger tail lights were disconnected from the harness.

My next step will be removing the seats and trim panels to try and locate the short in the harness running to the back.

Thanks again for any help!

UKXJ

I think you're probably on the right path, but I don't envy you the task you've set yourself.

I just wonder whether, if you can identify which wire is the culprit, it mightn't be easier to disconnect it at each end & run a new length of wire between the connectors at each end.

WrightwoodXJ

It hasn't been too bad, I'm not in any huge rush to get it figured out as it's not my daily driver. Mostly just trying to button up what I can on it to drive locally for a few days if necessary while my 2013 jku gets moved into the garage for an oil filter housing replacement & some smoke testing. The XJ has a pretty significant list of maintenance and other issues to tackle before I'd consider it totally road worthy(mainly death wobbles that I believe I have narrowed down the root cause of).

The wire in question is a dark blue w/ red stripe 16g per the FSM. It splits/is spliced from the harness just under the front of the rear seat bottom and runs along the unibody in between the carpet under the rear seat bottom and back to the right tail light. It also continues in the harness on the driver side to the left tail light and connectors.

In my case, about 6-7 years ago I had installed seats from a 96 zj, and the rear seats required some brackets to be installed over the wiring harness that travels along the bottom of the back seats, I have started looking over that stretch of harness and am assuming that I'll find my short somewhere along this stretch. I will have to wait until the next few days to finish up and confirm but I think I'm moving in the right direction.

Its funny because the xj is ripped apart right now, just a few days after I drove it for the first time in 4-5 years lol a reminder of why its been parked to begin with I suppose lol

I'll include some pictures of the chaos when I update again.

UKXJ

A connection between the tail lights is odd, as they are on separate circuits: remember the 2 fuses?

WrightwoodXJ

If I'm reading the wiring diagrams correctly(maybe) both tail lights and rear side markers are on the same circuit(#15 15a) the splice is referenced as S308 in the FSM(turn signals & brake lights are on a different fuse). It's located at the top/center of this wiring diagram and in the wiring harness just before the front of the back seat bottom.

The other fuse that I'm popping is #19 5a dimmer dash illumination. Its powered by fuse #15 through the headlight switch as far as I can tell.

UKXJ

Sorry, bust be one of those things that changed '96/7.

WrightwoodXJ

Just wanted to update where this issue currently stands.

As of right now, fuse #15 is not popping and I have working parking/tail lights. In my case the short was located in the wiring that runs behind the carpet below the front of the rear seat bottom, I had damaged this wiring when I installed the zj rear seat bottoms over 5 years ago, repaired it at the time but the wires were sandwiched between the zj brackets and unibody in a way that caused the problem to resurface(unfortunately I didn't remember doing this until I started digging in, or it would have been the first place I looked)

Moving on to fuse #19(5a)- This fuse is fed power from the dimmer switch in the headlight switch. I started out by testing for 12v at the fuse block with parking lamps on and key turned to the on position. The dimmer was set to full brightness(turned all the way to the right) I was not getting 12v at the fuse block, proceeded to test orange w/black stripe wires throughout the dash(lights for rear defrost switch, lights for rear wipe/wash switch, hvac control panel light) and 12v was not present. I then dimmed the lights a bit and measured at the fuse block again, 11.7v+ was present, installed 5a fuse and checked for voltage on orange w/ black stripe wires throughout the dash and voltage was present at all locations. At this time I also checked for voltage at the transfer case & transmission selector lights in the floor console and did not read voltage, so I will be chasing that back to figure out why power is not making it there.

Unfortunately, the lights were not working in the dash, and I called it a night with some things to consider. Mainly, my headlight switch needs to be replaced at some point soon to have the full usage of the dimmer function, and I'll need to check for continuity on the grounds for the dash illumination circuit.

I'll also probably be attempting to get the other interior courtesy lights functional including the glove box lamp, and floor courtesy lights that I'm not sure this xj has ever had. Those lights are on Fuse #9 and are supplied power through pink wires. I'll provide updates for this as well.

Also, new blower motor was installed while I was taking a break from wiring issues. Looking forward to using the heater for the next test drive.

UKXJ

Glad you're making good progress.

I've only ever used the heater fan in conjunction with defog (+ a couple of emergency supplements to the engine fans in low coolant situations).

I've heard/read several references to glove box (& even ashtray) lights but none of mine have had them, not even the highly spec'd Orvis - anyone have any details?

WrightwoodXJ

I have had mostly similar use of the blower, my xj has had an overheating while going up long sustained grades issue since I've had it despite all new cooling system components & general engine tune up parts. That's one of the big issues I'll be trying to solve in the near future and will likely start a new thread for when the time comes. Its honestly been the issue I've been most focused on solving since I bought the jeep. I've done leak down tests, coolant gas tests, compression tests, etc to try to diagnose a bad head/gasket instead of throwing parts at it. My Nox readings(high combustion temps/ lean fuel mixture) are generally right above the fail threshold for CA emissions- luckily my local smog region doesn't test for Nox(this was a bigger issue at my last address in another city).

The wiring should be present for the glovebox light/switch & ashtray light even if it wasn't equipped from the factory. It appears that the ashtray light housing/pigtail is available on eBay. I'm not sure whether either were factory options on all trim levels, but the wiring diagrams show that the wiring should be there on all models, so adding them in shouldn't be too difficult.

Since my xj has very limited options I have a lot of excess wiring that I should be able to utilize for things like cargo area lighting, 12v/usb power in the cargo area for things like air pumps etc. Once I get a handle on its current electrical woes anyways. I'm not sure if it's a better idea to utilize unused factory wiring/fuses or if I'd be better off adding an auxiliary fuse panel and running new wiring. I suppose that's pretty dependent on existing wire gauges and planned loads on those circuits.


For the record: on my 95, Fuse #9(10a) supplies power to the left & right courtesy lamps, glove box lamp/switch, constant to the radio, overhead console lamps, rear cargo lamp, power mirror switch, door lock switches, and the instrument panel. This circuit is a 20g pink wire(18g to the radio from the splice only, which is strange as its fed by a 20g wire).

WrightwoodXJ

Wiring diagram for fuse #9(10a) for reference purposes

UKXJ

Didn't expect to find anything on ebay.co.uk (although generally it's served me well) but looking at ebay.com I see any number of combined latches/lights - but all for pre-'96's. Ironically, there was one listing by, probably, the most expensive advertiser of XJ parts in the country - I can't believe he's ever actually sold anything - for an "84-98 facelift" (that's the usual term here for '97+), so that's pretty meaningless - & he's, supposedly, a used XJ parts specialist!

Anyway, thanks to your diagram, seems like I'm looking for a pink wire, coming down from the instrument panel to the latch area. When there are more pressing issues and the weather's better I might have a rummage.

As for re-purposing factory wiring, that's fine for low wattage bulbs, relay triggers & the like but be aware that, for the most part, Jeep wiring is, at best, marginal.

WrightwoodXJ

Just a quick update-

Late last night I did a quick resistance test on the grounds for the dimmed dash illumination circuit(fuse #19 5a) at every bulb connector and was reading 48.x ohms. So I'll be chasing a bad ground in the dash, I believe this ground is the one to the left below the steering wheel, it appears clean and tight but I'll double check that everything is tied in and re check resistance. If I'm still showing anything more than ~0.3 ohms I'll know that the problem likely lies in a broken/pinched ground wire, probably somewhere in the dash.

I also spent a few minutes staring under the hood and noticed that the 2 ground contacts next to the ecu on the inner left fender were not tight(the sheet metal screw was just screwed in randomly to a non factory location) so I removed the screw and also observed that the paint behind these grounds was still completely intact. So I'll be spending a minute or two this afternoon ensuring that those grounds are properly grounded, before I continue troubleshooting the illumination circuit.

I will probably spend some time in the near future cleaning & tightening all of the engine ground locations.

On the bright side of all of this, having all of the interior panels and seats removed has allowed me to deep clean all of these areas that are usually inaccessible. The dust is THICK in many areas, maybe my interior will smell a little less like dirt when I'm done lol