mtyson

I am looking at addressing some electrical issues, and I read that cleaning the junction box has helped others... but I am not sure what exactly that means... can anyone direct me to a guide or give me an overview?

My mechanical skills are improving (slowly), but electrical stuff is still pretty mysterious to me.

CCKen

What year is your Jeep?


What makes you think you need to clean your 'junction box'? What electrical issues?

mtyson

Sorry, its a 1997 XJ 4.0 6 cylinder 4x4... need to put that on my signature.

We have a few different electrical oddities, headlights don't come on everytime you pull the switch, doors sometimes lock themselves (one time with the dogs INSIDE and windows UP), speaker cuts in and out, etc...

BlueRidgeMark

Door locks and speakers : check the wiring where it runs between the door and the body. It's in a rubber bellows type tube, and it can get pretty flaky. You'll probably find some broken, or almost broken wires in there.

Door locks can also be the switches themselves. Lots of posts here on that topic.

Headlights? Probably the switch, but.... for all electrical oddities, a good place to start is in my sig, #1.

If you can ask whoever recommend cleaning your "junction" box what a junction box is, let us know.

If they mean the fuse box, or the PDC (next to the battery under the hood), well, blowing it out with compressed air and spraying it down with CRC Contact Cleaner isn't a bad idea, but it's probably not going to affect the problems you mentioned.

mtyson

I forgot one of the biggest things... I had a friend who had his hand on the metal tubing of the AC system in the engine compartment, and when one of us shut the driver door, he felt an electric shock go through his hand.

ANY ideas what that could be???

investinwaffles

Sounds like a broken wire in the door harness causing a short. Could be the culprit for the lock and speaker issues

mtyson

Ok, I tore apart the front doors, and sure enough the passenger speaker wire was down to copper at a bend on both wires.

The rest are in remarkably good condition, even in the accordion doohickey.

Here is the post where the junction box cleaning is mentioned, still no idea what exactly that is: https://www.cnet.com/forums/post/364...-45623dec7405/

Is cleaning the PCM and fuse boxes just a matter of pulling the connectors and fuses, and cleaning with electrical cleaner?

fb97xj1

You cant clean the PCM. Well, unless you open it up and remove all the potting material. Best to leave that stuff alone unless you KNOW what you are doing, and why. The Junction Block is the thing inside the passenger side kick panel. Unless youve been boating, it should be ok. Hopefully. Should you feel it needs removed and cleaned (your choice), disconnect the battery first. Pull the connectors and check it for corrode teminals. If covered in green crusty stuff, you might need to replace it.

These are badly corroded Junction Blocks, one posted by CCken, and another by Salad.
http://i519.photobucket.com/albums/u...1594863711.jpg
https://www.cherokeeforum.com/attach...ues-img242.jpg

carcomputerexchange

Cleaning a PCM is tricky work. We're here for you if something goes wrong.

BlueRidgeMark

Fuse box, yes. PDC (the black box with fuses in it near the battery), yes.

THe PCM? Leave it alone. Disconnect (with the battery disconnected FIRST) the cable and clean the connectors, yes, but don't try to open it up and do anything inside.

See what this guy says? He's oversimplifying. I'm an engineer, and I looked into repairing mine. No dice. You really need special training, tools, and chemicals to do it right. Just don't mess with it.