Electrical 4wd light ground wire

[jamesweed]

1985 CJ7 , Dana 300 . Trying to find where the ground wire (orange?) comes out of the body harness and feeds to the switch on Transfer Case . My wire is nowhere to be found. The light is there with bulb, power on red wire , ground wire attached, just need to find the other end after it disappears into the bundle under dash. Thanks In advance!

 

[Patrick]

This is when a toner and probe comes in very handy.

 

[TSB8C]

That orange wire comes through the bulkhead connector on the firewall into the engine bay, then down to the Transfer Case where the grounding switch would be mounted (depends on what x-fer case you have).

 

[cj5orion]

That...is the BEST pic/info of elect. I have ever seen !
Where did you get that ?

View attachment 76468

 

[TSB8C]

Quick online search some time back. I have an entire collection of pics and diagrams I have accumulated over the years, and keep them handy to share whenever needed.

 

[85yellowcj7]

The orange wire is in a harness that has a black, white, orange, and red wire. They terminate in a four wire connector. The black is a neutral safety safety switch if yo have an automatic, the white and red are for the back up light, the orange for the 4WD. The red also splits off to the electric choke switch.

 

[TSB8C]

The orange wire is in a harness that has a black, white, orange, and red wire. They terminate in a four wire connector. The black is a neutral safety safety switch if yo have an automatic, the white and red are for the back up light, the orange for the 4WD. The red also splits off to the electric choke switch.

Yes. In the engine bay side, coming from the bulkhead connector, those 4 are as stated. Thanks "85" for the further insight. So "jamesweed", now you know from the gauge cluster, under the dash, to the inside of the firewall bulkhead connector (behind the fuse box), through that connector to the engine bay side, and to the final 4-pin connector, where you should find the end of that orange wire. And here it is:

 

[jamesweed]

Thanks all! I found the wire, cut in one of the looms coming out of the bulkhead connector. The Haynes manual schematic doesn’t identify the bulkhead connector so that info was helpful. Used a meter to buzz the spades till I got continuity. Now I’m wondering how my backup lights are wired. They work, so I won’t worry about it for now. Second owner for 11 years, this was the Only thing not working. Just got to run a new wire to switch then should be good.

 

[TSB8C]

Backup lights should be wired through pins 34 and 35 on the bulkhead connector (lower left of my earlier pic). Since the lights are grounded in the housings where they mount on the back of the jeep, the switch on the tranny switches the +12 on/off. Pin 34 has the keyed power from the fuse box to feed the switch on the tranny. Then pin 35 has the +12 from the tranny switch (when in reverse) going back into the cab to connect to the 6-pin connector that goes to the rear lights (left of the fuse box under the dash). Of course this can vary based on the Transmission you have.