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More work for me on the ZJ

PacificEd

NAXJA Member
NAXJA Member
Location
Middle Tennessee
Got a call late yesterday saying that my wife backed the Grand into a light pole at school. I just don't know what to say anymore. I could have tuned into the Incredible Hulk at that point.

It needs a tail light and new bumper shell for sure. Of course my bumpers are the smooth body color type so options at the pull-a-part will be much slimmer. The lower corner of the hatch is bent but I can probably straighten it.

What has me worried is the steel bumper frame under the plastic shell. It can probably be straightened too. I did watch a YouTube video and it seems pretty easy to remove the damaged part and replace it. So that is good news.
 
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Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I installed a replacement tail light I picked up and unfortunately the brake bulb doesn't light up. The brake and reverse lights are on the same circuit (3057 bulb). One filament works, the other doesn't. I only had a 3157 bulb on hand and it didn't seem to change anything.

What is the difference between a 3057 and 3157 bulb? They look the same in every way.

I will need the bumper cover and a new steel shell. This one is bent. I sure hope the bracket that ties it from the steel shell to the unibody isn't tweaked.
 
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Score! I went to Express and found a complete tail light housing along with the factory wiring harness. It was uncut and in great condition. The stickers on it indicated it was an original Jeep/Chryco harness and was dated 1997. The ZJ is a 1998 mode.

Just a note to help those who mess with ZJ's. The tail light housings and the wiring harness plus are all the same from 1993 to 1998. The plugs that hold the bulbs are very different. The 1993-1995 models use a socket (straight) that twists in place but the bulbs are the traditional push-and-twist type like the 2057 and 2157. The 96-98 models use a different socket (90*) that is made for the 3057 and 3157 bulbs.
 
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There are a lot of differences between the 93-95 and 96-98 across the board that you don't notice, until you work on both :)

How fast was she going? Lol

This is why my wife drive's a 98 as well.

Around here they are all over the Junkyard. Easier to find than an XJ.

mac 'so the tail light all works now?' gyvr
 
I haven't had a chance to swap in the new harness. I'm hoping it will fix it. I'll post a picture of the boogered up harness once I get it out.

Slow speed in her school parking lot. It kills me since the rear bumper cover was in great shape. Around here all the junkyard replacements are either gray or the wrong color.
 
I removed the rear bumper to expose the bumper. It did tweak the bracket.
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Then after removing the bumper, I found that the bracket wasn’t damaged too bad. A few minutes of work has it straight again.
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After removing the interior trim I unplugged the tail light harness. Everything came apart easily. I then set the next to each other. The new harness is on top and the old jacked up harness is on the bottom. Look at all the splices and connectors. There are even a few exposed wires.
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The good news is the brake light how works!
 
wow what a mess the old one was, that was a good move grabbing the harness.

mac 'nice work' gyvr
 
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