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Electrical gremlin help

Electrical gremlin help

Jimbos76cj

Full Time Jeeper
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Location
St.Cloud FL
Vehicle(s)
83 CJ-7.. 4" YJ springs front rear, J-10 44 front/AMC 20 rear,6 cy auto dana 300 35' bfg Done and gone!!


Ask me about my head light upgrade harness!!!
Im pretty sure I know the answer but want to see if any one else knows of this issue and may have some input to help me track it down.

WHen I tired hooking up Johns head lights last week there were some issues with them not grounding and being dim and not always working. I rewired them into their own system using relays and breakers. Now they work great

Blinker switch on the steering wheel is broke so the blinkers are not working.

His tail lights would come on with no issues but the brake lights didnt work. I crawled under the dash and found out that the brake pedal switch was not installed. I plugged one in to make sure it worked before installing it and according to my 5 year old they both worked. I had to unplug alot of stuff to make access to the spot to install the switch. When I finished up and tested it only the Right rear came on when the pedal was depressed. I walked around the front of the jeep to get a screw driver and noticed my left front marker light was on! when I pull the pedal all the way up (have not installed the spring on the pedal yet) the right rear and left front light goes out. When I removed the front housing it sparked off the grill as I was pulling it away like it was grounding out. I unplugged the rear harness incase there was a short in it and still the front light stayed on.

I decided that I was over that issue for the day after getting pretty pissed off at it and installed the Transmission harness. Of course I didnt have enough room to hook the two ends together so when i went to pull on the main engine harness I it felt warm. after pulling the wire ties and covering off I found the wire that runs to the coil to be hot to the touch. I leaned across the Jeep to check the ignition to make sure I didnt leave it on and noticed that the left blinker light was on but not flashing, I turned the ignition off and the coil wire started to cool off but the blinker light stayed on. Should the coil wire get warm/ almost uncomfortable to touch with the ignition on?

Any ideas. Obviously Im going to remove the the head light system first to see if that is causing and back feeding into the main harness. I dont believe thats the problem but will do it any way.

Next Ill remove the head light switch, if the light stays on Id have to assume that the issue is crossed hot wire in the brake light circuit.

Then Ill remove the brake switch. Hopefully I can track the issue down to one of those systems and not a bad fuse block.

The only other wiring I messed with was installing electric choke relay but again I dont think that is the answer but Ill disco it to be on the safe side as well.

Any ideas will be great, but I know the answer will be tear it apart and look for bad connections.
 
If you are tinkering around with the ignition key on for a long time that is not good, since it can fry the ignition control module. I will become hot to the touch and that can affect it, you might want to unplug it. Have fun!
 
I think I got the culprit narrowed down to a faulty hazard switch and broken blinker switch. Im hoping that once I replace the switch every ting else will work right. I still need to figure out why my blinker or flasher wasnt working right but I think I have a burned out bulb or two and if I remember correctly that will cause them not to blink.. If that not it she might get a viking funeral.
 
Make sure the 'Hazard' switch isn't partly pushed in... Or didn't fully come out when you released the 'Hazard' lights.
The switches get old, full of crud, and don't move like they should sometimes.

Had the same issues, turned out to be the 'Hazard' switch was party engaged when it shouldn't be.

Since you didn't mention a year model, it's hard to diagnose...

Leaving the key switch in the 'Run' position for long periods with an 78 or newer is certian death to the ignition module, and often the coil also.
It's a quirk of the DuraSpark ignition module, when the key is in the 'Run' position without the engine running, the ignition becomes a 'Dead Short' and the module gets REALLY HOT.

Wouldn't surprise me a bit if you had module potting material running down the fender if the coil and wiring got as hot as you say they did...
 
Yeah the hazard switch was stuck on. I think the flasher unit is bad becuse it wouldn't flash but would just light up one or both indicators randomly. I put a new turn signal switch in it (PITA) and now every thing works but the hazards reinforcing my thought that the flasher unit is bad.

The blinkers blink fast, both bulbs light up on the passenger side but only the rear on the drivers side, I don't have the little bulbs in the side markers so I'm hoping that will cause them to flash slower.

I drove the jeep around the block a few times yesterday and the ignition wire didn't get as hot as it was just sitting. I also ran all the proper ground wires under the dash.

Thanks for the help.
 
Pretty common, and a real pain to find if you don't know about it!

Fast blinking is usually a large load on the flasher,
Not all flashers are created equal, there is a continuous rate flasher out there, don't have the part number, but it's the one you use when you have a trailer.

The flasher you have is thermal, so when there is high load, it heats up faster and flashes faster,
The continuous rate flasher (Also called mechanical flasher sometimes) will solve the fast flash rate issue.
 

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