88jpxj

Hey Guys, Hopefully I can quickly give ya'll an overview of what my project is looking like after 6 months. This time I've included pictures off my iPhone (on a snowy day). Feel free to help with my overheating/electrical problems! That would be greatly appreciated!

-Summer of 2012 Bought the Jeep for $800 in Ft. Worth. Previous owner listed it on CL for $2000, but it overheated during the testdrive.

-Threw a bunch of parts at it. Including:

-Water Pump
-Fan Clutch
-Thermostat (Drilled Small Weep Holes at 12 and 6 O'Clock)
-Replaced Lower Radiator Hose (Cracked Eventually During Troubleshooting)
-Overfill Tank Lid? The tank with coolant in it Passenger side next to fire wall.
-Head & Head Gasket
-Cleaned and Honed Cylinder Walls
-Cleaned Valve Cover
-Cleaned Rockers & Push Rods
-Replaced Serpentine Belt
-Removed Radiator and Performed a "DIY" pressure test (with a water hose)
-Removed electric fan (never worked in the first place, suspected electrical problem)

After that long headache, I thought I was in the clear... The engine turned on, still overheated- but took longer to do so. The only fan running while pushing the engine to overheat was the mechanical fan clutch. Now in the in the following picture Ill show you guys what my options are as far as connectors go for the electric fan.
(Attached)

Now I couldnt figure out which wire was correct. One had a bit of current to it. I plugged the fan in... nothing. I crossed the fan connector.... nothing. By the way, I did this while the engine was running at around 210 degrees, so the ECU should have the aux. fan running.
I turned the Jeep off. Cleaned up all the tools, went to rest inside the house.
The next day, I would turn the key.... nothing! I turned the key again, heard the fuel pump priming, but still nothing. The engine doesnt even try to turn over. No weird noises, nothing. As long as I have the battery charged the fuel pump consistantly primes.

I have not rented a steering wheel puller from O'rielys yet, but i have bought a new set of keys.

At this point, I think there are major electrical problems...

Anyone have any ideas?

The Rooster

ok 1st welcome to cf... 2nd thing is you have a 88 jeep xj which is a Renix 4.0 with a closed Coolant system... there is a method on how to bleed it you may have air pockets... now the fan wiring i am not 100% sure on thr wiring it is snow here as well otherwise I would check also... now in this Renix Jeep thread they give you steps to help you with your no start issuse
https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f51/cr...x-tips-153657/
Renix is a great system it just takes some time to get it going... hope this helps a little bit... and make sure your fan wires have power or the fan is not burnt out...

88jpxj

Thanks for your help,
Ive read about bleeding and burping the renix cooling system before. In the middle of my project when I was replacing the head, I spoke with a great mechanic that only worked on Jeeps. He said the simplest way to fix any cooling problems with these Jeeps was to take the top hose of the thermostat housing off, and start pouring coolant into that hose, until I see about 2 inches of coolant in the tank next to the firewall. I'll attach a picture.

Hose on the bottom right. ( picture not oriented like I want)

Is this a good way to do it?
Ive done what the mech. said a while ago. Would it cause any problems?

cruiser54

Your electric fan is triggered by 2 things, neither of which is the ECU. One trigger is the temperature switch in the driver's side bottom of the radiator. At about 218* the switch closes and activates a relay which turns the fan on. The other trigger is when you turn the AC or Defrost on. That overrides and turns the fan on.

Be sure that you got the braided cable back on at the back of the head to the firewall during the repair process.

88jpxj

Allright guys,
Ive bled the system. No on to a few other questions...
1. I made the stupid decision earlier to cross the wires when trying to figure out which connector the electric fan belongs to, after this the Jeep wont start. The fuel pump primes, but nothing else happens. The lights on the dash, cabin, and guages work. The engine wont turn over. I know by now that the wires I crossed shorted out something farther up the line of cables. Possibly a blown fuse/relay? Where should I look?
Today Ive been looking for a starter relay under the hood.
However there are several missing fuses under the dash- driver side. To clarify- Ive never pulled any fuses from the panel. The fuses were missing since I bought the Jeep. The Jeep has started since Ive bought it.

2. Should I buy all the missing fuses and install them in the panel?

Tommorow I will put the charged battery back into the Jeep. The Jeep has been sitting for a few months in the bipolar texas weather. The battery lost its charge and Ive been charging it today while I was poking around.

Tomorrow evening I plan to jump the starter to rule out that I shorted the siliniod. (spelling)

Sorry guys dont mean to be rude, Just very tired to see my Jeep sittin in the drive way, rotting.

The Rooster

here is a thread with wiring diagrams for a Renix jeep
https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f23/te...itings-136452/
hope this helps

88jpxj

Hi Guys,
Been busy for a couple days, haven't had time to work on my jeep.
I took my battery to O'Reillys for them to test and they said it would charge but lose the charge in a short amount of time. They recommended I buy a new battery. Me being cheap, (and this jeep isn't my DD yet) decided to shop around before I blew 200 dollars on a battery.

Here's what I've been thinking...
When I turn the key I can hear the fuel pump prime, every time. The dash lights light up, every LOW VOLTAGE component I can think of that is needed works.
When I replaced the fuel pump into ford expedition I was told that it was a low voltage component.
Now the reason why I say this....
My home battery charger only charges the battery to a certain point. The little time I was able to go outside to work on the jeep- I got less than 9 volts for 15 minutes.

My main question is before I start replacing things, could it be that I just have a bad battery?

Cruiser: I like the idea of refreshing the grounds and cleaning the connections in the c101. I'll just have to carve out the time to do so.

cruiser54

C101, ground refreshing, and connector refreshing are very important. Takes little time.