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Went to replace the license plate lamp on my 97 - I had the hatch open when I tested the lamp and it worked great! Then I closed the hatch and it stopped working... I then opened it again and lamp came back on. Then, I hit the rear wiper which hasn't worked in years and sure enough, it worked with the hatch fully open. Closed, it wouldn't work.
So what started out as an easy repair has turned into yet another classic "Cherokee problem" - this 97 seems to have every "common XJ problem" in the book, including now the damaged rear hatch wiring. I don't even have central locking yet I have two broken rear hatch lock wires!?! Come on!!!!
Went to replace the license plate lamp on my 97 - I had the hatch open when I tested the lamp and it worked great! Then I closed the hatch and it stopped working... I then opened it again and lamp came back on. Then, I hit the rear wiper which hasn't worked in years and sure enough, it worked with the hatch fully open. Closed, it wouldn't work.
So what started out as an easy repair has turned into yet another classic "Cherokee problem" - this 97 seems to have every "common XJ problem" in the book, including now the damaged rear hatch wiring. I don't even have central locking yet I have two broken rear hatch lock wires!?! Come on!!!!
Common problem. Yes it sucks. Glad you found it, but sad you gotta deal with it.
I replaced the spark plugs, coil pack 2 weeks ago. This weekend I replaced all of the fuel injectors (stock, original 1 hole with 200k miles!) with refurbished 4 hole injectors, replaced the heat shield, and wrapped the injectors and fuel rail.
After moving to south Florida, I was getting vapor lock with classic symptoms: turn it off, go into a store, come back 15 minutes later, start it up, engine runs rough and throws a code (injector #3). Couldn't use the air conditioner for the first 5 minutes without it running rough.
Seems to be running like it did 20 years ago.
PS I had the same problem with the wiring to the rear hatch. My rear wiper stopped working, had my mechanic look at it, and then he repaired all of the wires. Over $700 mainly due to labor.
I learned about this problem on Cadillac Seville trunk lids of the same era & don't even get me started on WJ driver's doors (is that why Liberties originally had the leccie window switches in the console I wonder?) but never associated it with XJ's, not even when the tag lights came on instead of the dome light when I opened the hatch Of course, when I needed to replace the hatch I just had to check all that wiring & repair as necessary. Still don't know if that was the real issue with the rear wash-wipe because of whatever a PO did to the wiring when he sacrificed the washer fluid reservoir for a snorkel. 1 day . . .
Did the front speaker wire in the doors fix with the help of my son. Drivers side was blatantly obvious but passenger side was hidden so we still jumped over the problem area and its all working now. Nice to have the front speakers back as the phone bluetooth connection only comes over the fronts.
Almost bought another xj tonight. Looked good from the pictures but like normal, far from good. Being that I have owned 7 xjs now, I feel that I know what to look for and I'll nit pick everything. So first up, it was 2wd. No big deal, easy to convert. First red flag was the check engine light plus 3 readiness monitors still pending. Second was after it shifted to 2nd, it (the engine) cut out for a second, everytime. Then we get to the paint. They seriously painted right over huge rust spots. Looks like someone gave it a spray can clear coat too. Leather seats, ya only half existed. All bad. Got the guy down to 2600 when he was asking 3900 but still had to pass. Sad cause it was green and I have been searching for a clean green one for a long time now. On to the next or maybe just keep working on the one I own....
Almost bought another xj tonight. Looked good from the pictures but like normal, far from good. Being that I have owned 7 xjs now, I feel that I know what to look for and I'll nit pick everything. So first up, it was 2wd. No big deal, easy to convert. First red flag was the check engine light plus 3 readiness monitors still pending. Second was after it shifted to 2nd, it (the engine) cut out for a second, everytime. Then we get to the paint. They seriously painted right over huge rust spots. Looks like someone gave it a spray can clear coat too. Leather seats, ya only half existed. All bad. Got the guy down to 2600 when he was asking 3900 but still had to pass. Sad cause it was green and I have been searching for a clean green one for a long time now. On to the next or maybe just keep working on the one I own....
For guys like us that already own an XJ, more often than not, the devil you know is better than the devil you don't.
05-07-2023, 02:53 PM
Of course, when I needed to replace the hatch I just had to check all that wiring & repair as necessary. Still don't know if that was the real issue with the rear wash-wipe because of whatever a PO did to the wiring when he sacrificed the washer fluid reservoir for a snorkel. 1 day . . .
