scottjames84

Hi guys; new to this forum and new to Cherokee ownership

I brought a 1995 Cherokee this afternoon and found it has some issues.

1. Headlamps do not work BUT taillights work.
2. Rear indicators work BUT the front indicators do not (turning OR hazard)
3. Break lights do not work
4. Cigarette lighter does not work (might be a cut wire)

I am hoping this is just a minor wiring issue.

If anybody out there on this forum knows what this could be; that would be awesome.
I have checked the fuses and they are all good.

Thanks
Scott


**List of things not working**

Frontend
- Headlights
- Fog lights
- Front indicators
- Highbeams

Rear
- Break lights
- Reverse lights

scottjames84

I took the dash covering off and it appears to be a wire with a plug on the end coming out of the cig lighter; nothing attached.

scottjames84

Also reverse lights do not work :-(

PNWjeeper

Brake lights could be as easy as the switch on the brake pedal being loose/misaligned I'd check that first. The other wiring has me a little lost.

The reverse lights could be due to a dirty NSS, there is a way to bypass it or you can take it off and clean it. Do a search for cleaning NSS it should turn up some good results.

And welcome to Cherokee forum.

scottjames84

Thank you for the warm welcome.

I have a feeling though that all the electrical issues are the same problem; too many to be coincidental; But I could be wrong and they all have separate issues.

I took a look under the dash where the fuse box is and its a mess; could be part of the problem.

scottjames84

Oh and fog lights do not work, nor do the highbeams; so no light works on the front end of the jeep.

Lead Foot

First check ALL fuses, dont know if you already did this.

Sounds to me like honestly you could have a melted harness. Some odd wiring issues. Either that or someone went under there and just started cutting stuff up for fun. Headlights and blinkers usually flash with an alarm system. Maybe it had one at some time? Just throwing some thoughts out there. Maybe someone swapped the harness at some point and didnt hook everything back up correctly. Start tracing wires just like you did with the cig lighter.

scottjames84

I just went out to look under the dash again; will take some photos in the morning and post them.
There are a few wires not connected to anything; one of which is a bunch of tan and white wires with a harness at the end which is not connected.

scottjames84

I think this is part of the problem




this is at the front by the left hand side light; am I right in thinking this also feeds the right hand side?
It was disconnected and I believe one of the pins has been corroded off.

Where about's are the break light and reverse light pigtails located? possibly the same issue?

Thanks

PNWjeeper

That's pretty ugly. I think you found your problem for the front half of the vehicle, to test you can take a tester light to the other end of the pigtail and use your blinkers headlights haz. etc. and see if the test light comes on.
The pigtail for the rear is in the driver side rear quarter panel, behind where you would mount your spare tire. I'm fairly certain anyway that's where it is on my 90'

scottjames84

I found the other half of the pigtail; turns out the 'corroded' pin was not a pin at all but a piece of dirt and there is no wire to go in that socket.

I disconnected the battery and reconnected the pigtails, voila now my front end lighting works 99% the other 1% is the right hand blinker bulb needs replaced, simple fix.

Okay now I need to find where the fuse box is in the hood to find the reverse and breaklight fuses because it looks like the pig tail looks connected; besides the tail lights work but and so does the rear blinkers.

scottjames84

Found problem with breaklights; both bulbs were blown.
Got one issue to work out which is bugging me; the reverse lights are not getting any power to them.

Radi

As mentioned previously, that's likely the NSS. It's mounted to the side of the transmission. You can jumper pins A&E in the plug (near the dipstick) to see if the lights come on. (assuming you have an auto trans)

scottjames84

Had a look and is not that; my neighbor who is an automotive electrican also took a look at it and is stumped; the guy who owned it before me did a number on the electrical.

Fixed all the problems bar the reverse lights which for a non car guy I think that is amazing; in fact I had fun doing it :-)

Cigarette lighter not working turned out to be a faulty cigarette lighter so that will be replaced this week.

Thanks for the help guys