oldburbboy

Ok, so this is by far the most confusing issue I've ever had with my Cherokee. Yesterday I was driving my Jeep home and when I got home it wouldn't shut off. Ps. is there a better way to kill it than pulling the coil wire? Anyway, I didn't have a tool to try and replace the ignition switch but I had a 91 Cherokee for parts and everything plugged in the same so I switched steering columns. A little annoying but not bad.
Ok, so that didn't work. It still wouldn't turn off. I borrowed the ecm from my brother's 87 to see if that was the issue, not hard to swap and figured it was a good direction. Nope, that didn't work either.
So then I heard that if there is a short in the alternator that that can sometimes do that. So I did what I was told and disconnected the alternator from the system. That kept it from starting at all. I flashed the ecm just in case. So then I put everything back the was it was when I started.
Now it won't start at all. And when I hook up the battery the fuel pump runs and the gauges work, just like if the ignition was still on. Also, the radio and accessories turn on and off correctly with the ignition switch but the engine ignition won't turn off for anything, but now it won't even start. It has a new cps and I've encountered those issues and this is nothig like that, and I still smell gas coming out the exhaust so fuel delivery doesn't seem to be the issue and I haven't had an issue with that anyway.
If anyone has any idea what is going on with it I would really appreciate it.
ps. the tps and idle air control were both fine

Slick761

Check out your starter relay! Might be sticking.

oldburbboy

It was a good idea, but sadly that wasn't the issue. Still searching...

oldburbboy

Since I can hear the seatbelt warning buzz I don't have to even start it up to know that everything is still being weird. I disconnected wires one by one from the starter relay. The only wire that made it stop buzzing was the one that is attatched to the main post at the top of the relay that sends power to the rest of the system, fuse block and all of that jazz. So it has to be somewhere between the ignition switch and the computer. Granted it seems there must be several things there but I haven't found a good enough wiring diagram for me to pinpoint other possibilities. It still cranks over when I try it and it seems like I'm getting enough spark and I know I'm getting fuel. May not be enough spark though but I'm more concerned with why it won't shut off then why it won't start.

FL Denmark

does your daytime running lights function proberly ? do they turn off with the key ? try pull the light switch and lightsrelays

fatbill

could be your ignition switch. failed in the run position. check your 12v switch wire going to the starter solenoid. have someone turn the switch to start and see if the switch leg is getting 12v.


nevermind............................im an a$$

oldburbboy

Well I got it to start again. Since I was killing it, the idle stepper motor wasn't getting the opportunity to set itself up for the next restart. So at least that part is over with.
When I pull the B+ Latch relay it kills it but not when I unplug anything else. And I mean everything, including everything off of the steering column. This suggests to me that it can't be the ignition switch.
To test all of this I installed a 50 amp switch between the battery and the rest of the electrical system, not the starter though because that hasn't been the issue. This has allowed me to just flip the switch and see if the gauges, seat belt warning, and fuel pump(cuz it's loud enough to hear inside from the driver's seat). I try something, flip the switch on and if I see everything come back on without turning the ignition I kill the system by flipping the switch back off.
Disconnecting the alternator from the system didn't do anything either for when I turned off the ignition switch. However, with the alternaor disconnected, my main system kill switch did kill the engine. Any more ideas will be greatly appreciated. I've tried a lot of things, most of them I posted already but if you have something new I'll give it a try.

oldburbboy

Well, still haven't found the issue. I was able to completely eliminate a lot of possibilities though. My brother is a certified mechanic and helped me out the other day and it definitely wasn't the ignition switch, starter relay or the alternator. I'm looking through everything now to see if I can't find a short somewhere in the system.
I did have a quick question. My speedometer cable doesn't seem to be the usual type and because of that I can't remove it to look closer at things behind the instrument cluster. It doesn't have an obvious clip type of retainer that I've come across pictures of. If you know how to remove it I'd appreciate the help.

dev_daddy

My bet is your ignition switch. It could have had an amperage overload, which melted or stuck the switch open. Therefore not allowing the switch to close. And eventually it melted through or shorted out. One or the other. Is my guess.

FL Denmark

He said that he have tryed to disconnect everything on te steeringcolm, that would rule out the ingnition switch

FL Denmark

Did you try the lightswitch or daytimerunning relay ?? Ive seen that on other makes of cars.

oldburbboy

You're right FL Denmark. I unplugged everything from the steering column while it was running and nothing got it to turn off.
I did get the gauge cluster out of the way. I've unplugged everything that I came across under the driver side of the Jeep. Obviously it no longer ran with the computer unplugged but none of the others made a difference. I'm looking to see if something may have chaffed against a constant hot wire therefore making a short. I take a fancy to driving Jeepspeed style and so there is a chance that that happened.
Now I'm in the process of taking everything apart so that I can trace every last wire. It's getting way old but it seems like that's what I have to do.
It was involved in an accident in its past. A deer didn't survive... So the grill and stuff up front are next on the list.
Ps. Does anyone else have a weird toggle switch that has 6 wires going into it that serves the purpose of turning your headlights on and off downstream of the main switch while keeping your parking lights on? It's peculiar and since I have everything taken apart I kind of want to delete it from the system.

oldburbboy

The lights are all working properly. I did disconnect them to see if it made a difference but it didn't. Thanks for the idea though

oldburbboy

Ok so here's what happened. A couple weeks ago my parking/run lights went out on my Jeep. I replaced the fuse and things were fine for just a moment. One of the dash light wires that went to the stock radio or something (if I had known I would've wrapped it up to prevent this) is part of that system and so when I replaced the fuse it grounded out inside on something and then it began frying things. The blue dash light wire burned up and the wire from the fuse box that feeds the light switch got hot enough to melt to the wire that goes to the gauge lights that then keeps going to the rest of the engine management system.
This explains why nothing would kill it. It wasn't anything that would be considered usual suspects and it was a pain in the tuckus!!
I am still new to the forum so I don't really know how to put up pictures of everything. If someone could pm me and help me out with that bit I'd appreciate it.
Thanks everyone for your help with this debaccle!