Down to a few electrical issues.

[Jay Ratliff]

1992 Cherokee Laredo 2wd, 4.0 w/auto trans. Around 140k original miles.

Brief history,

Inherited this thing several years ago. She's a survivor, in great shape, no rust, all original except a 4.5" lift and 32x11.5's. and while I do make sure she sees road time at least every few months, that's been about the extent of her use since we've had her. Just not something we regularly use. Until now. Kid is getting her license next month and this will be her first vehicle. So I've gone over pretty much everything mechanically the last few weeks. New battery, batt terminals, brakes, rotors/drums, new brake fluid and flushed/bled system, new radiator hoses and heater hoses, belt, oil change, diff inspection & fluid change, fuel pump assembly to fix bad check valve and non-operational fuel gauge, fuel filter, new headliner, valve cover gasket, plugs & wires, radiator flush, wiper blades and a few other odds and ends.

Now I'm down to a few electrical issues. Need some advice....

* Speedo doesn't work: I can't remember it ever working, but it might have in the beginning. I know it'll be way off when I do get it working because of the bigger tires, but that's a gear swap in the trans, no biggie there. Either way, it hasn't worked in some time now. Today I replaced the speed sensor, no fix there. Pulled the assembly from the trans and it looks fine, no teeth missing or abnormally worn. Reinstalled as it came out, still nothing of course. Found a suggestion to reset the gauge cluster by holding the odo reset button and turning on the ignition, and releasing button, that did absolutely nothing (I suspect that's an OBDII thing, mine is OBDI). Found a suggestion about three ground wires on the block being a fairly common issue. The only place I can find a ground wire terminated on the passenger side of the block is where the bracket for the oil dipstick attaches, and it has one larger (maybe 10ga) wire connected there, no others, and none I can find connected or not. The wiring on this thing is surprisingly in tactso I'm curious if all models had the gauge cluster grounds terminate there, or maybe somewhere else?

I'm pretty much stumped at this point. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!!!!

* Tachometer: It works, kind of. Idling it's reading about 4k or 5k rpm and wraps the needle well past redline as rpm increases. Any idea what the heck is up with that? Maybe a ground issue related to the above speedo issue?

* Power door locks: The master switch on the driver door was in pretty bad shape, just age and not making good contact. I got a new replacement installed today, and while I'm dealing with the obligatory slow window syndrome, they all seem to work better after just a little silicone lube sprayed into the channels. Plan to pop the door panels off for a stereo install soon, and will clean and lube thoroughly at that time. But the door locks aren't functioning. When activated via the switch I can hear the front passenger door solenoid trying to activate each direction, it doesn't do anything but it tries. It's the only one making any noise at all. Again, my plan is to lube the linkage and such when in the doors, just wondering if I should go ahead and have replacement actuators on hand? Or is there another common probable reason as to why the rest aren't even trying to function?

* Power Seats: They are not working correctly either. They never really did. I used to be able to get some adjustment front to rear, but none of the up/down options have ever worked on the driver seat. Passenger seat is currently not working at all, and I don't know if it ever did since I don't ever sit in it. I dug into the driver side, and can make the forward/rear adjustment work by connecting the power to a battery at the seat itself, but not getting any power when connected to the vehicle. Fuse ohms out good. I have two new switch assemblies to install there, and if needed I can get power to the seats myself. Just wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience that could enlighten me as to its cause?

Sorry about the long winded post but I like to be thorough. Thanks for any help or advice you can provide.

Jay

 

[XJI6191]

Having been brought up on cable driven speedos, I learned that if the cable's good, the speedo's failed - seems there's a direct parallel.

Power locks: can't help you, in my book they're a cheap novelty, which I wouldn't expect to work at that age, so when they fail, you just ignore them.

Power seats: something I always aspired to - but it wasn't 'til I got something that had them, I realised I don't actually adjust the seats. That's why it was rears before I discovered my driver's seat only went back. It never occurred to me it wasn't the switch - &, fortunately I had a spare (as someone much taller than me had shot the seat right back!)

 

[Dragonslayer]

The ground wire that is near to the oil dipstick bracket is known as G101 in the workshop manual. The gauge pack, as well as many other components, are grounded there and I suspect it may be the source of many of your car’s ills.

The factory made those wires so short that, in time, engine vibration and torque-over while accelerating will weaken, fray, and break those wires.

I know this from personal experience. One day (on my ‘93 XJ) the gauges started to flicker wildly. Sometimes they would die altogether, only to
come alive again randomly. This drove me nuts and, like you, I was spending much time and treasure throwing parts at it. At the time I gave G101 only a visual inspection using a small mirror and flashlight. It seemed to look good.
After more time had passed, I returned to G101, but this time I removed
the nut and, behold, the wires were holding by only a few strands and they broke and fell away from the ring connectors. The clouds had parted open
and the angels sang.

Dismantle those wires > cut off the ring connectors > solder and heat-shrink an additional 4”-6” length of wire at each > crimp and solder new ring connectors > reattach to the block.

 

[Jay Ratliff]

I did go ahead and remove the nut, the smaller wires were hidden behind the larger wire (which leads to the battery negative terminal). I cleaned them all up and reconnected them, to no avail. All of the other gauges work, just the speedo and tach are being funky. Gonna use a drill on the speedo at the sensor and see if I can make it register. I suspect it might be indexed wrong for the gear that's on it. It appears to have zero wear. As for the tach, I'm not so concerned with it working, but it's just funny to watch it being so far off.

Thanks for the advice, I will rebuild those connections when I get back into it as well.