Calgary Jeep Association
4x4 Related Groups => Tech Talk => Topic started by: dubbleJs on November 02, 2008, 11:30:48 AM
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The other day I signalled left and my XJ completely shut off. After hittin the steering column and tappin fuses around it fired up again. Now it kindof has power when it wants, and if it does run the second I signal or try to use the windshield wiper lever (both are on the same lever) it will shut off, and regain power within 3 seconds.
I unplugged the ignition switch and it will still run, also allowing me to signal without stalling. Now the ign switch is unplugged and it runs, but doesnt signal or windshield wipe at all.... Its gotta be some bad wires or something somewhere but....anyone had a similar problem??
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have not had that problem.
maybe a tricky little shorting problem?
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Yup definitely some sort of a short or something.
Bump, anyone?? I need to get this thing running the snow is coming..... :-\
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I wouldn't chance looking for a gremlin,.. I would swap out the whole steering column,.. just my guess
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problem is probably in the switch...
whole steering column... Jay you crazy!! LOL!!!
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Well,.. I've had a couple steering columns apart (different makes),.. there could be a problem with the switch itself,.. but shorting and shutting the car off isn't good,.. so the problem would be morelikely where the main plugs are, a little further down the steering column,.. somewhere something is burnt out and shorting,..
That's why I would assume to replace the steering column, incase some of the hidden wiring is burnt/arcing
otherwise the problem would be in/around your fuse panel,.. check for non factory wires entering the fuse panel area,.. look for any charring of wires and etc.
I had a dodge at one point and the previous owner wired the stereo up to the wipers through the fuse panel,.. dough-head burnt all those wiper wires right up through to the ign switch.
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Hmmm... thanks for the reply Jay.
The column on my XJ is quite inaccessible. Looks like I can replace the turn signal switch, but i have to pull off the steering wheel and all the rest of stuff that will be in my way.
The jeep stalls if I either use my signals or wipers, and it stalled when I turned on my rear wiper as well, which is controlled by a switch on the lower dash panel...not even on the steering column. Sometimes if I just flick one of the switches it will stall and fire up right away on its own.
I started tearing into wiring tonight, unplugged all the harnesses on the column looking for any loose or burnt wires. Nothing yet. I think im going to try and replace my ignition switch, and then try tearing into the column and replace the signal switch....we'll see what I find.
Any other ideas or opinions appreciated!!
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......, and it stalled when I turned on my rear wiper as well,....
hmmmm that is strange
not column related,.. I would start with that wiring,.. follow it right to the fuse panel
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Oh man, this is really starting to get me down! :-\
So, I found that if I pulled the fuse for the rear wiper, I could signal and use my windshield wipers without stalling. I took a good look at a most of the wiring under the dash and didnt see anything unordinary. I removed a bunch of old alarm/stereo wiring that I thought may have been messing with it, but to no avail.
I drove it around the block no prob, then went to take it out a day later and it stalled outside my house.
Now it will only start sometimes if you hold the key in the on position for 5-10 seconds. If it does start, you have to hold the key in the starter position or it will stall right away.
I did an Igntion switch from a parts XJ I have and it still stalls after random start ups.
I tried a new computer, nothing.
I think Im going to do one more ignition switch just to make sure the spare I put in wasnt screwy as well.
I'm stumped, and frustrated!
Anyone got anymore wisdom?
Thinking maybe a TPS, or a CPS? Dont know if those sensors going bad would affect my rig this way...
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check through the wiring harness from the firewall?
could be a couple of bad wires arcing together?
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The other day I signalled left and my XJ completely shut off. After hittin the steering column and tappin fuses around it fired up again. Now it kindof has power when it wants, and if it does run the second I signal or try to use the windshield wiper lever (both are on the same lever) it will shut off, and regain power within 3 seconds.
I unplugged the ignition switch and it will still run, also allowing me to signal without stalling. Now the ign switch is unplugged and it runs, but doesnt signal or windshield wipe at all.... Its gotta be some bad wires or something somewhere but....anyone had a similar problem??
I'm not sure if you have done this yet or not, but when I had electrical issues with my cherokee, everyone & their grandmothers advised me to start with the battery connections. Apparently our cherokee's are really finicky with low power & amps. I would suggest starting with the connections at the battery, ensuring that there is a good connection at the post's & when I say a good connection, I mean pulling them off, etching the metal to ensure a good contact will be made, spread the post terminal connectors + - apart a bit to re-bite fully on the battery when you re-clamp down. Check all grounding from that end as well. Gremlins live in the Jeep if you are lacking a full connection from this point.. Everything I recieved on this advice came dirrectly from Jeepforum . com
I really hope this helps as simple as it sounds... Not saying this will be the fix, but it's the cheapest & easiest thing to try...
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My vote is for CPS or TPS. I had a similair problem with my 96 Ram. It seem that everytime I turned my lights on it would stall...spent hours trying to figure it out and was on a wild goose hunt. Turned out to be the CPS, resulting in random stalling and hard starting. Swapped that out and it was all good.
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I put a 4L wiring harness for fuel injection on my yj, it was a closed harness that doesnt have anything todo with existing circuits like headlights/signals/cig lighter/interior lights etc in the jeep except it does need a power source - for computer and fuel pump ...
so - when it shuts off did you notice loosing power to radio or other acc like heater fan etc ?
does it generate any trouble codes after shutoff ?
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As far as I remember, when it was shutting off I would lose power to everything and then it would come back randomly.. sometimes immediately and sometimes a few seconds later. I flashed the signal once really quick and it tried to stall but fired itself right back up.
Thanks for the suggestions! Ive got no time nowadays so at any chance I get im pickin away at this and trying to locate the wild goose.... :-[
CPS might be next on the list...they are a PITA to change!
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CPS is a 10 minute job on a snow covered driveway
It sounds to me like you have a bad ground somewhere It will be a bitch to find because there are ground conections everywhere start with the battery to block connection then the block to body strap at the rear of the engine compartment
All the lights , radio,wipers,etc ground to the body then the body is grounded to the engine block and then the block to the battery
I worked on a buddy's car that had electrical gremlins it was all caused because his ground cable from the battery to block broke so he used a shorter cable and connected the battery to the body replaced the cable with a longer one to the engine and all the gremlins went away
Worth a try :)
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+2 on the bad ground somewhere
all power flickering off sounds like a drain on power.
I would check all your main grounds and main power
CPS is a 10 minute job on a snow covered driveway
It sounds to me like you have a bad ground somewhere It will be a bitch to find because there are ground conections everywhere start with the battery to block connection then the block to body strap at the rear of the engine compartment
All the lights , radio,wipers,etc ground to the body then the body is grounded to the engine block and then the block to the battery
I worked on a buddy's car that had electrical gremlins it was all caused because his ground cable from the battery to block broke so he used a shorter cable and connected the battery to the body replaced the cable with a longer one to the engine and all the gremlins went away
Worth a try :)
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Well I tried moving the battery Neg ground to another spot on the motor. It was on the bolt for the idler and fan pulley because the other one is stripped and wont stop spinning. Now its just beside the usual spot in a threaded hole I found in the bottom part of the head. Nothing.
I do also have the batt grounded to the body @ the fender.
I took the Positive clamp apart on the battery brushed it out and cut a fresh set of wires out to clamp back down too, this was off the power that goes to the fuse block. Nothing.
I did notice though, when I held the key for a few secs and it started, from what I could see from the drivers seat, the positive side on the battery shot a big blue spark. ??? Next time I tried starting it after that I just heard a relay click once.
A few months ago I hit a bad mud hole without the cover on my engine bay's fuse block, needless to say it got very dirty and blew a starter relay. Im thinking my next step is to pull that off and pick at the tiny clips to pull each wire off and try to give them a good cleaning...
The strap ground from firewall to motor is intact. What other grounds are there that I can check?
Also, it is not throwing any CEL's unfortunately.
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Do the problems occur immediately, or after the vehicle runs for a while?
have you tested your alt? if not give it a good hosing and take it to a Crappy tire store and they can bench test it for you (free last time I had one done)
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A few months ago I hit a bad mud hole without the cover on my engine bay's fuse block, needless to say it got very dirty and blew a starter relay. Im thinking my next step is to pull that off and pick at the tiny clips to pull each wire off and try to give them a good cleaning...
If your going that route, try some electrical contact cleaner & spray it down with that???
Have you measured the voltage before & after the fuse distribution? Power going in & power coming out?
Sorry to hear that man, but it's a start..
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Chack the ground just under and back of the altinator, The ground strap ia attached to a plate that is bolted to the block.On my xy the ground straps where all good but, the double nuts attaching the plate where all loose. Had some grounding issues and now all solved.
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also - on my yj - in eng compartment - down by starter - there is a junction box thingy where the different wiring harnesses come together - check it for corrorsion - loose nuts or something unusual ... when I put the 4L mpi/fuelpump wiring harness on this is where it connected ... the signal harness may also terminate here ...
consider disco the battery if playing around these thingys cause sparks will fly ::)
I know elect probs are a pain the arseeE , hopefully the following will let you have a chuckle in the midst of the frustration ... courtesy of jpmag - the gremlin
(http://www.msc-inc.ca/maclean_20050801/gremlin.jpg)
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I havent had a chance to check any voltages or power with a meter yet...Started lookin into the engine bay fuse block today to see if muck was in the wires, its dirty but doesnt look too too bad. Gonna try a new POS post on the batt...gotta push the thing around the back into my garage as well...i hate workin out on the cold street!
Lol.....thanks for the cheer yjcanibul....Ill catch that gremlin someday....or he may just head to the junkyard with this pos. :-[
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ive had simalar problem cps fixed it (but mine had nothing to do with column...?) go with the grounding issues like mentioned before they can cause havoc the most.
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ive had simalar problem cps fixed it (but mine had nothing to do with column...?) go with the grounding issues like mentioned before they can cause havoc the most.
yeah,.. follow the wiring harness and look for some wires that might be bare or scorched,.. possibly grounding out somewhere
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Jonas, in this thread (http://forum.calgaryjeep.com/index.php?topic=10519.0) Marco says he put his signal light on and his wipers came on. Maybe your signal light switch is bad?
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ive had my fair share too i have a 89 xj i actually had to replace every relay on the jeep and there was some wires in the hatch for the wiper there is a relay there to had to change it even sometimes you had to get out of the jeep open hatch slam the hatch so the jeep would start these damn things r hard to trouble shoot i had a faulty battery to which screwed the whole jeep up even heard of the coolant sensor doing crap like that too could be a number of things i did my battery first then alt then starter relay then all other relays then it was ok pick n pull becomes your friend very fast to try to eliminate problems without spending alot of dough