Greg Smith Power door locks writeup PRE-1991

[BigRonLM55]

JUST A FEW WORDS TO SAY I FOLLOWED THE DEAL HERE AND MY LOCKS WORK GREAT. FORGET ALL THE CRAP ABOUT WHERE TO GET THE RELAYS. I SCORED EM ON EBAY FOR ABOUT 4 BUCKS EACH.....AND JUST GET SOME FEMALE SPADE SOLDERLESS CONNECTORS TO HOOK EM UP...NO NEED FOR THE RELAY SOCKETS (WILL JUST BE MORE CRAP UR GONNA HAVE TO STUFF BEHIND THE KICK PANEL)

THANKS TO ALL WHO HAVE CONTRIBUTED ON THIS ISSUE

BIG RON

[Greg Smith]

Originally Posted by BigRonLM55

JUST A FEW WORDS TO SAY I FOLLOWED THE DEAL HERE AND MY LOCKS WORK GREAT. FORGET ALL THE CRAP ABOUT WHERE TO GET THE RELAYS. I SCORED EM ON EBAY FOR ABOUT 4 BUCKS EACH.....AND JUST GET SOME FEMALE SPADE SOLDERLESS CONNECTORS TO HOOK EM UP...NO NEED FOR THE RELAY SOCKETS (WILL JUST BE MORE CRAP UR GONNA HAVE TO STUFF BEHIND THE KICK PANEL)

THANKS TO ALL WHO HAVE CONTRIBUTED ON THIS ISSUE

BIG RON

BIG RON,

Glad to see you cut the "crap" and got to the point! Who needs those time savings things anyway. Greg

[xjjk]

I don't know if I'm special or just got lucky, but I set out to do this the other day and one of the relays I bought was uh....*messed up from the factory* after I pressed on it too hard, and it didn't work. On a whim, I reconnected the tan wires before rushing off to the store to get a new relay. Lo and behold, it worked as described. Thought I'd throw that out there, that maybe just doing one relay is sufficient to provide a shorter path to ground. Maybe it won't last as long... either way, I called it good. Thanks, Greg!

[albush1]

Greg Smith -my hero!
I just got done installing his mod to my 89 XJ with 223k and for the first time since I have owned this thing the locks all work better than new! I would have paid lots of money for this info, but you gave it for free and so many have benefitted from it. You have my vote for the single most helpful mod that has helped the most people on this forum - thanks again!
Adam

[Greg Smith]

Originally Posted by bassthumb

I don't know if I'm special or just got lucky, but I set out to do this the other day and one of the relays I bought was uh....*messed up from the factory* after I pressed on it too hard, and it didn't work. On a whim, I reconnected the tan wires before rushing off to the store to get a new relay. Lo and behold, it worked as described. Thought I'd throw that out there, that maybe just doing one relay is sufficient to provide a shorter path to ground. Maybe it won't last as long... either way, I called it good. Thanks, Greg!

Only one of your circuits was very bad. Likely your other circuit will need help in the future. Glad all is well. Greg

[Greg Smith]

Originally Posted by albush1

Greg Smith -my hero!
I just got done installing his mod to my 89 XJ with 223k and for the first time since I have owned this thing the locks all work better than new! I would have paid lots of money for this info, but you gave it for free and so many have benefitted from it. You have my vote for the single most helpful mod that has helped the most people on this forum - thanks again!
Adam

Happy it worked for your. Greg

[Gritts]

Great writeup Greg. After reading, I decided to do this mod on my 91 XJ laredo (usual story--lazy locks-- in my case rear passenger door lock). But when I pulled the passenger kick panel off, BEHOLD the modification had already been done. Looked like factory work to me, but I'm no expert. Just wondered if the factory made this change or maybe a dealership due to some TSB. At least I know I need a new actuator...

[TiRod]

Nope, you may be looking at the remote system. Do you have the mini overhead console?

Other posters have attempted to rework them - I wish it could be done - but the new grounds on the fix-it seem to be the best answer.

[Gritts]

Originally Posted by TiRod

Nope, you may be looking at the remote system. Do you have the mini overhead console?

Other posters have attempted to rework them - I wish it could be done - but the new grounds on the fix-it seem to be the best answer.

My 90 XJ had the remote lock/unlock once upon a time, but the key fobs disappeared before I bought the old gal. I'm going to have to take a closer look at this thing. Tinkering with an XJ is good for the soul.

[Gritts]

I did a little checking and I think the factory remote control relays in the kick panel esentially replace the action of pushing up or down on the lock/unlock switch. Since this is a parallel circuit I did a different sort of mod.

This requires running a pair of red/black wires from the passenger kick panel to the battery up front. You'll also need an inline fuse for the plus side. This mod provides an additional current path for the electric lock system.

For the POSITIVE feed all I did was carefully slice about 1/4" of the insulation away from each of the red wires on the two relays in the kick panel. THIS IS RELAY PIN NUMBER 87 WHICH IS NORMALLY OPEN. I THEN SOLDERED A SHORT JUMPER WIRE BETWEEN EACH RELAY AT THESE BARE SPOTS CONNECTING BOTH RELAY PIN NUMBERS 87. I THEN SOLDERED MY RED LEAD GOING TO THE POSITIVE BATTERY TERMINAL TO THE JUMPER. I insulated everything with electrical tape.

For the NEGATIVE feed I similarly sliced about 1/4" of the insulation away from each of the TWO CENTER wires on each relays. THIS IS RELAY Pin NUMBER 87a WHICH IS NORMALLY CLOSED.
I THEN SOLDERED A SHORT JUMPER BETWEEN EACH RELAY AT THESE BARE SPOTS CONNECTING BOTH RELAY PIN NUMBERS 87a I THEN SOLDERED MY BLACK WIRE GOING TO THE NEGATIVE BATTERY CONNECTOR TO THE JUMPER. I insulated everything with electrical tape.


As far as running the wire, I already had a hole near the radio antenna grommet (also in the passenger kick panel) for my CB radio so I ran the wire out through this hole and up the passenger fender and into the engine compartment.

I AM NO EXPERT BUT I THINK (NOTICE I SAID THINK) THIS SHOULD DUPLICATE RESULTS OF THE ORIGINAL MODIFICATION BY GREG SMITH. IF YOU HAVE THESE REMOTE RELAYS ALREADY INSTALLED BY THE FACTORY GIVE IT A TRY.
OR NOT.

[89CherokeePioneer]

I bet this would totally work if I had power locks.

[jaxes88]

I did this to my 88 xj wagoneer and it works great,

the wording in the instructions was kind of scary and not to specific sounding but i went at it slow and eventually i got to the point where it all kinda fell into place and now i have working door locks WOO-HOO.

thanks greg, now i wont have to tell my friends to lock their doors every time they get out, or almost wrench my back having to unlock them all from the drivers seat

[grimah1w]

Much thanks! Worked as advertised on my 1990 XJ. Couple of photos:

10Ga Power Cable from engine compartment through the passenger side panel


10Ga Power Cable attached to start battery cable


Find the tan and green wires from correct connector


Wires cut and ready for splice into relay(s) wires


Install complete (note 30amp inline fuse and 10Ga wire pass through)

[Greg Smith]

Glad it worked for you. Thanks for posting your great pics. I am sure others with find them very helpful. Cheers. Greg

[88JeepXJ]

Hey Greg, any chance you have any advice for a 97+ XJ with a nonworking Driver's door lock? I can't even push the lock manually.