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Stock XJ Cherokee Tech. All XJ Non-modified/stock questions go hereXJ (84-01)
All OEM related XJ specific tech. Examples, no start, general maintenance or anything that's stock.
Checking for a short will be really easy. Later if it comes to that, looking for 88 Ohms at the gage will be a little more involved, but you'll be more comfortable with the meter by then. I plagiarized these diagrams from an 8 year old post. They are from djgrayxj, who has already commented in this thread.
After you put the batteries in the meter - and plug the leads in, roll the dial to the scale with the "horseshoe" (Ohms) next to it, any scale, but say the 200. When you touch the probes together the display will go to 000.0, which indicates a dead short. In the car, with the battery disconnected, put the black probe on the negative battery cable's lug and the red probe on your new blade connector on your new fusible link. There should be no change in indication on the display, if there is, let us know what it is. Then, with the black probe still on the negative battery cable lug, put the red probe into position "4" (87) of the fuel pump relay socket (as shown in the diagram). Again, there should be no change on the display.
For extra credit you can also move the red probe to the D1 diagnostic port 5 as shown.
I think that OL is Open Loop. That is what I'm hoping to verify before you restore 12V battery power. There should not be a direct connection between those positive side connections and the negative battery terminal. If you find that there is, we'll have to search it out and eliminate it. That fusible link did it's job by burning up, but it should last the life of the vehicle without ever burning up.
I have not replaced the fusible link yet. I did test Is the exposed wire and it showed zero. A little jumpy, but it would eventually show 0. then I tested the relay and it would not 0 but would show something like 170 and would jump around a bit but stabilized around 170.
I tried that middle hole on the diagnostic port. And for some reason it won't connect. it will stay open loop and then every once in a while poking at it. I can get it to jump, but then it will eventually go back to open loop. And then I dig some more and nothing will happen. And then eventually it will numbers but then go right back to open loop. I tried other holes and they all would zero out except the one on the bottom right, which would give me a point nine.
If I'm reading what you're saying right, 0 is indicating an unwanted connection between ground and power somewhere. Pull the wires off of the ballast resistor (make sure they aren't touching anything) and try the test again. It is interesting though, I believe all three of those points you are testing are spliced together. I would have expected the same reading from all three.
I'm gonna be turning in to have dinner and that will probably be it for the night. my wife is hollering out the door so my hobby time is done for today. I'll try again tomorrow afternoon my time. Thank you for the help and back and forth.
Well, we probably need to get some more electrically savvy folks to respond to this. I went out and did the same test on my '88 to make sure I'm not talking out my butt. I'm not disconnecting the battery, but I see minor resistance at all three points and between each side of the disconnected wires at the ballast resistor to ground. I believe there are some dynamics with a motor (fuel pump) that I don't understand that will cause some resistance to be detected. But it does look like you have a short while the ballast resistor is connected. Might I suggest reconnecting the ballast resistor and disconnecting the fuel pump, and checking again. - BTW, OL isn't Open Loop, that is one of the three operational conditions the RENIX ECU can be in, OL on a multimeter is Over Limit.
Good Evening. I'm keeping this short because it's cold out and I got home late.
I went ahead and disconnected the fuel pump under the truck and ran everything except the ballast resistor. the results were the same as yesterday. posting pictures.
The last 2 will the diagnostic port. And when you first probe, it will run numbers and then it will go to open loop. That's all I have for this evening. from here. I still don't know what to do.
Yeah, I'm going to noodle on this with someone who is more fluent in twiggets. I would suggest that you isolate the positive lug of the positive cable so that it doesn't give us a circuit by touching something metal.
Happy saturday I think. Too much shopping b s for me.
I watched the video on ground issues and fuel pumps. And I started to go through all my grounds that I know of. all of them looked good and I checked the negative to the battery cable that connects to the engine block and. The cables good and there seems to be 2 connections other than the cable. one I can't tell what it is. I don't have a step stool to get my body Weight up above the engine right now Which will be tomorrow's task. but there is a thin black Wire that comes out of a bundle that goes up into a larger bundle that eventually goes along the firewall and towards the brake booster. the other end I don't know where it goes. Wire is broken at the connector. tomorrow's task is to try to pull out as much as I can and add some extension and redo the clip.Do you think this possibly could be the culprit?
If someone knows what these 2 wires are or to. I would love to learn what they are So I can pull up a diagram and see where they go. thanks again, I'll probably say thanks a 100 times because. You guys are now the invaluable owner's manual of these old beasts.
That picture is kinda up close, can't quite tell where it is, but it looks like a freaky clean dipstick ground. If that is where that is, and one of those wires is broken, they are very important. I think it would be a good idea to get the positive battery cable leaning on something rubber, or on a piece of wood, and recheck the test between the black battery cable and the fusible link. If you do redo that check, put the ballast resistor back together, having it apart is just complicating the problem, but try it with the fuel pump connected and disconnected.
Sorry I call anything on the ranch that can go off road with axles truck. It is a SUV. Jeep Cherokee Laredo SUV. Throwing a few pics to show and few to show it held up well under a tree for 25 years without moving.
12-14-2023, 11:26 AM
