mkawski

Hey everyone,

(I've done repairs for: head gasket, cylinder head replacement, clutch master cylinder, power brakes, new aftermarket water temp gauge, that sort of thing so far to give you an idea of my knowledge/experience)
I have a 1985 Cherokee, 2.5L 4cylinder carbureted

To give you an idea of some of the ongoing problems:
-hard start, need to give gas and try 5-10 times
-power steering pump leaking quickly and whining
-carb prob needs to be adjusted
-A/C won't blow anymore
-at idle, if A/C running then car will stall out

So my car was running alright for a while, it would take a few tries (usually 5+) to start it, with my foot fluttering the gas and also holding the gas for 5 seconds down between one of the start attempts. After I start it and drive it a bit, then usually it starts easier.
Then I tested it by driving it to Flagstaff, and I think the distance/uphill/cold temps killed it. When I got there, I noticed that pulling out of a gas station my car turned on after a few times but then as I tried to turn out of the station my car just sputtered out and died.
The weird thing is that when this sputtering thing happened usually I'm in 1st gear, going up a slight uphill, and turning (power steering pump is also leaking and whining). I floor the gas but it just sputters out, if it catches then eventually it will start reacting to the gas, then once in higher gears and at higher speeds it runs just fine.
Thought it might be the power steering pump going out and pulling too much electricity, along with the cold temps messing with the carb fuel/air mixture.

So back in Tucson, its driving alright, not doing that sputtering thing anymore. One day I drive it around fine all day, then trying to leave a parking lot I don't immediately pull out of the parking spot and accelerate after turning it on, and it dies and won't turn on. There's white smoke, wires melting near the battery. Towed it home, trying to solve it from there.

Maybe wires had been exposed and touching metal? So I replaced them, (tried pretty hard and couldn't figure out what they go to, some appear to go through firewall into dash). Tried to start car again, this time other wires melted, some again near battery in other spot and others on drivers side near air cleaner.
I found lots of badly connected wires (twisted, barely covered with old electrical tape), exposed wires, wires that had melted:
Also replaced the starter cable (from power to starter) because some wires were exposed from insulation and covered in oil/car crap

Lots of questions:
Is all this connected? Is one thing causing another?
Planning to replace mechanical fuel pump, any recommendations? It is a mechanical pump in engine bay on passenger side. Was going to test if pump is working by disconnecting a fuel line to carburetor, turn ignition, see if fuel comes out (into a bucket). Can't find much info about a 2.5L engine mech fuel pump replacement, do you need to bleed the system and how? Release fuel pressure first?
How do you replace wires that are like 2 fused together like the trailer hitch wires? Can I just completely disconnect trailer hitch wires and forget about it? They appear to already be spliced with these blue connectors.
Could it be an issue with A/C blower motor causing wires to melt?
What is this silver box thing (best guesses so far from friends/car parts shops is that it is a relay, one person guessed "Choke Heater Relay")?
I have carb choke cleaner, would that help? I would adjust it but it is so complicated and not sure if I would just make it worse, only 1 person in Tucson said they do carb adjustments for like $300

I have tons of pics so if clarification would help on something let me know, I know there is a TON in this post.

I just want to fix this up so I can SELL it and have a reliable car that won't break down or not start when I need it to, so I can go drive out to the middle of nowhere and not worry about it.

Thanks guys!!
-Monika

mkawski

Photos:




initial wires that melted: 2 stranded green wires that connect to a ring terminal to power, other ends then split off each into 1 red and 1 red white (so 2 red and 2 red white total, with 2 green)



noticed this whack attachment of this black wire instead of a ring terminal. possibly rubbed and exposed wires on other wire?



exposed ends on cable from power to starter, replaced this




2nd round, these wires melted on driver side, near air cleaner. yellow pieces attach to vacuum lines. not sure what this whole thing is? connects to pigtail that had a red/white wire, potentially same red/white wire as from 1st melted green wire?



2nd round, these wires melted on driver side, near air cleaner. yellow pieces attach to vacuum lines. not sure what this whole thing is? connects to pigtail that had a red/white wire, potentially same red/white wire as from 1st melted green wire?



2nd round, these wires melted on driver side, near air cleaner. yellow pieces attach to vacuum lines. not sure what this whole thing is? connects to pigtail that had a red/white wire, potentially same red/white wire as from 1st melted green wire?




relay where wires had melted 2nd time around. what is it for? (friend says: heater choke relay). none of numbers show up when searched, not sure how to replace it. thought maybe there was an issue with this, that's why wires had melted right by it, and that's why I wanted to replace it.



relay where wires had melted 2nd time around. what is it for? (friend says: heater choke relay). none of numbers show up when searched, not sure how to replace it. thought maybe there was an issue with this, that's why wires had melted right by it, and that's why I wanted to replace it.



pigtail off of relay: can see exposed wiring where it got hot and melted when I started the car. <br/>relay where wires had melted 2nd time around. what is it for? (friend says: heater choke relay). none of numbers show up when searched, not sure how to replace it. thought maybe there was an issue with this, that's why wires had melted right by it, and that's why I wanted to replace it.

where the relay connected to (battery side passenger side). 3 wires to 1, 4 wires to other, both these attached to relay. <br/>this is where wires also melted the 2nd round



where the relay connected to (battery side passenger side). 3 wires to 1, 4 wires to other, both these attached to relay. <br/>this is where wires also melted the 2nd round




found some exposed wires for trailer hitch.



trailer hitch light. if you notice, the wires for Tail Ground and Left Turnstop are all attached, but for some reason the green wire (The one that had been exposed) is cut and instead spliced to some random unknown green wire leading into car



trailer hitch light. if you notice, the wires for Tail Ground and Left Turnstop are all attached, but for some reason the green wire (The one that had been exposed) is cut and instead spliced to some random unknown green wire leading into car. Also could I just remove the entire trailer hitch? It appears that the hitch wires were spliced into the rear lights with these blue connectors, I wasn't able to figure out how to undo them, maybe it's permanent? Just have to cut and use butt connectors if I were to disconnect the hitch?



exposed green wire. green and yellow wires are somewhat connected side-by-side, how do you replace this kind of wire? can't really cut strip and use butt connectors when you have these two sets of wires basically attached but not electrically connected

machinisttx

When you have a wire meltdown, it's not wise to simply replace them and try again. The entire circuit needs to be traced and checked to find out where the problem is. The wiring you see may not be all that was damaged. Also, properly placed and rated fuses prevent that sort of thing from happening. It looks like someone did some hack job wiring, so I'd start with ripping out anything that wasn't factory and tracing out the circuits that were damaged. Relays can fail, but I've never seen one short to ground. Possible I guess, but not very likely. They can be tested.

Mech fuel pump = remove lines, remove bolts, remove pump. Reinstall in reverse order. Any air in the system will purge itself.

2 wires together...they aren't in a common exterior insulation, so usually you can just pull them apart. You may have to make a small cut to get the split started.

The vacuum things are probably vacuum solenoids for emissions/climate controls/front axle disconnect. I don't have a service manual for an 85 model, so I don't know for sure.