89 xj no start help

Jeepguy91 said:
Okay i went and changed out the ignition switch today with a new one and still have nothing. I did notice that on the blue connector on the switch where the brown wire comes in looks a little burnt and melted. Also on the black connector for the switch, the red wire coming in looks to have gotten a little hot and melted the plastic around the terminal. What would this mean? Where should i check next to get this thing running? Everything else is checking out ok so far.
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Are you the OP of this thread with another ID, his friend, or someone with a similar problem? I am getting lost here?
 
OK, I will re-read it....Thanks.
 
Jeepguy91 said:
Okay i went and changed out the ignition switch today with a new one and still have nothing. I did notice that on the blue connector on the switch where the brown wire comes in looks a little burnt and melted. Also on the black connector for the switch, the red wire coming in looks to have gotten a little hot and melted the plastic around the terminal. What would this mean? Where should i check next to get this thing running? Everything else is checking out ok so far.
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You need to start tracing the wires with a volt meter, and find out where there is power and not. The ignition switch wires that are overloaded are not related to ignition and starting, they are mostly due to overloads by the AC blower wiring, that has a bunch of other stuff using it as well, like radio, wipers, electric windows....

Be sure you have the switch mounted in the sweet spot!!!! It is a bit touchy on that issue too. But it sounds like the battery and or other stuff under the hood is still suspect. Starter relay already mentioned, another fuse link? Did you replace the bad fuse link?
 
Well i have been outside kinda tinkering with the jeep to see if i could get any life to come out of it. I did end up running a seperate wire from the fuse link for the ignition to the red wire going into the firewall and joined them together. I was able to roll up the windows and everything inside turned. I tried to start it once but when i went to try it again there was nothing there. Windows still worked but starter didn't crank. Then the red wire for the ignition coupled with the one i put on started to smoke and and get hot and melt. I know my try at the wiring may not have been the best but i to try something and i think i found that the factory red wire going from the fuse link to the ignition is bad. Have tested and tested and can not get any power to the ignition. I also had the hvac system turned off but the blower was still running before i tried starting it.
 
Jeepguy91 said:
Well i have been outside kinda tinkering with the jeep to see if i could get any life to come out of it. I did end up running a seperate wire from the fuse link for the ignition to the red wire going into the firewall and joined them together. I was able to roll up the windows and everything inside turned. I tried to start it once but when i went to try it again there was nothing there. Windows still worked but starter didn't crank. Then the red wire for the ignition coupled with the one i put on started to smoke and and get hot and melt. I know my try at the wiring may not have been the best but i to try something and i think i found that the factory red wire going from the fuse link to the ignition is bad. Have tested and tested and can not get any power to the ignition. I also had the hvac system turned off but the blower was still running before i tried starting it.
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Sounds like the Blower switch is stuck on (welded contacts). Also, sounds like an unfused wire, hot all the time wire, in the ignition-run circuit is shorted to ground. Other wise it would have blown a fuse.

Did you ever check the O2 sensors wires for a short?
 
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No I haven't checked the o2 wires yet. Will do that tomarrow. What exactly would I be looking for?

As for the blower, can I just pull the fuse for it?
 
Jeepguy91 said:
No I haven't checked the o2 wires yet. Will do that tomarrow. What exactly would I be looking for?

As for the blower, can I just pull the fuse for it?
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Look for burned or eaten wires from a nasty encounter with the front drive shaft or exhaust manifold.

Yes the blower is marked, should be a 25 amp fuse under the dash.
 
Was able to get back out and look at jeep today. The o2 wires look to be in ok condition and don't look to be burnt or anything. I went and pulled the fuse for the blower motor. I still have the wire hooked up from the fusible link to the wire going to the ignition. Today i could turn the motor over just fine and everything seemed to be working and nothing got hot or smoked. Now it just won't start. I have got fuel at the fuel rail.

Had my dad over and was looking to see if i was getting power to the coil for starters. We did have the key in the "on" position and had the ohm meter out on the little plugs that are under the coil. Next thing i now is that things are starting to make noise under the hood and it starts to crank without the key being turned. It was still in the on position. Starting to think this jeep is possessed or something or it just doesn't like me. Anything else i should look at? Kinda wondering if i should just cut my losses and get rid of it but would like to make it a wheeler if i could.

Is there anything on the renix wiring that can be done to it to make it easier to work with? Seems like there is a lot of extra stuff on these compared to the 91 and newer xj's.
 
You don't have the ignition switch bolted down in the sweat spot. Search for ignition switch install threads here that discuss how to adjust the linkage and switch location as you tighten the bolts holding the switch in place.

I have had to use a little trial and error in getting mine into just the right sweetspot.

I have had starters go bad, specifically the bendix in the starter, and had them stay running till I disconnected the battery. Another smoked the solenoid on the starter once, and another stuck on because the mounting bolts were loose on the starter.

Starters pull a lot of current from the battery, unfused, but I think the switch location is your first issue right now. You also might have too much damage in the wiring harness connector to the switch???? Like loose contacts oor burned plastic-carbon shorting it out?
 
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Jeepguy91 said:
Is there anything on the renix wiring that can be done to it to make it easier to work with? Seems like there is a lot of extra stuff on these compared to the 91 and newer xj's.
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there isn't anything more in the AMC wiring than in the Chrysler wiring, it's just that all of the AMC wiring runs up to the battery rather than a PDC.

I agree tha tit sounds like your ignition switch is either broken or not installed correctly.
 
Well i will go look at the ignition switch and see if i did it right. I have got it turning over by the key now but just doesn't seem to be getting spark.
 
Jeepguy91 said:
Well i will go look at the ignition switch and see if i did it right. I have got it turning over by the key now but just doesn't seem to be getting spark.
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I forgot to mention there is slot in the mount area bolt hole on the Ign switch that allows you to slide it up or down a good 1/4-3/8" till you find that sweat spot!!!
 
Well with the weather being crappy here lately i haven't been able to do a whole lot on the jeep. I did end up going out to the junkyard this past weekend and getting a pair of new connectors for the ignition switch since mine were kinda burnt. Got them installed and have messed with the ignition switch a little bit but it still wont fire. I am having no problems with trying to start the jeep by the key but it just doesn't even seem to sound like its even starting to try and start. I will look at the cps like 87manche had posted. Is there anything else i should look at? All the fuses under the dash are good. Just don't know where else to look.
 
There is small starter relay near the battery with a bunch of fat wires on 1/4" post. One is red going directly to the battery.
 
Are you talking about the same place the fusible links mount up to? Figured the starter relay would control weather or not the starter would engage or not.
 
Jeepguy91 said:
Are you talking about the same place the fusible links mount up to? Figured the starter relay would control weather or not the starter would engage or not.
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IIRC it is powered on by the ignition switch to tell the starter to engage and to feed power to some other stuff like the fuel pump....

Edit: OK, I thought your last post was "nothing" no cranking, you need to pick your words very carefully. So have you cranked it while someone else checks for spark at one wire? If you have spark, floor the gas peddle and hold till it starts (It will if it was just flooded). No spark, then test the CPS with an ohm meter while cranking. It needs to be at least 0.50 AC volts on the low range AC volts scale.
 
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Well I was working on the Jeep last nite and am hoping I found my problem with it not starting. Got looking around and was getting ready to test the cps when I noticed the wires for it were messed up. Looks like they had gotten up against the exhaust and melted and the two wires were touching. Going today to get a new cps to put in it. Would these 2 wires touching be the cause of my electrical short I had? Figured it also took out the cps so need to change it anyways.
 
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