XJeepWerks

The other night I was driving home from work with the heat on full blast (8 degree nights with negative wind chills) when all of the sudden the Jeep filled with smoke and completely shut off. When I tried to restart the Jeep it acted like the battery was dead (It was less than two days old... I just replaced it so that wasn't it). I turned off everything electrical and it fired up as if nothing happened. I started driving back home again and slowly started turning everything back on... Started with the radio, then the amp, and then the heater. Almost instantly the Jeep shut off again. I turned everything off again, fired it up, and drove home. The next morning I pulled the dash apart to check everything out... The climate control switch it melted, the multi connecter on the back of the switch is melted, the resistor is black, and the wires going into the blower motor are melted. I suspect the old, worn out blower motor to have been pulling far too many amps which led to a catastrphic failure of my heating system. I have the fuse pulled for the blower motor and the plug disconnected from the back of the climate control switch and everything seems ok to drive. I know that the switches melting is a very common problem on these vehicles and I've never found one that isn't melted in the junkyard.

Has anyone experienced this problem before? Where can I find a switch/wire connecter that are new and not melted without breaking the bank?


Would it be possible to swap in a switch from a '97+ Cherokee? I prefer the way they are set up compared to my currect setup.

00JeepNewbie

My buddie's 89 caught on fire sitting overnight in a garage. makes me nervous about fires started by failed electrical components.

mentalbreakdown00

Well, j/y is about your only option as jeep has been bought and sold over 5 times in 10 yrs. The "new" owners everytime has cut which parts should still be available. If it's anything like my dealer anything older than 1997 is from memory only no way to even look it up.

dukie564

i've heard of melting issues where the connector is attached to the resistor pack. I'd check that out first since it's easy to see.

JeepingDan

What amperage is the fuse to it? It maybe to high I'm thinking for it to let it cause that much damage.

XJeepWerks

It's whatever the stock fuse size is. A while ago I had a problem with the blower motor constantly blowing fuses so I bought a 50 pack of them at the auto parts store and just kept replacing them. Eventually the problem stopped, but I should have known better than to just keep throwing fuses at it. If it's blowing fuses, something is wrong. I was very busy at the time and when it stopped blowing fuses I forgot about the problem all together. I always verify the correct fuse size with my manual, not just putting the same size in that was there... you never know what people do. The fuse was perfectly fine when I pulled it Saturday. It had to have been faulty.

I never put fuses in that are a higher amperage than what's supposed to be there... it's just stupid. If I don't have the fuse I need I just wait until I can pick one up or replace it with a lower amp fuse until I can get the correct one.

From talking to my cousin I found out that the jeep he used to have also caught fire, but not as bad as mine. His gave out a little bit of smoke then popped the fuse and it turned out that the connector on the back of the climate control switch had melted. He couldn't find one at a junkyard that wasn't melted so he sold the jeep.

XJeepWerks

It is scary and it can hit at any time. Electricity is a powerful thing and should never be fooled around with. My climate control system is one of very few electrical components I haven't messed with on the Jeep, which makes it kind of ironic that it is the component to catch fire. I hope everything turned out ok for your buddy. Vehicle fires in a garage turn real ugly real quick.

KD3NE

In removing a climate control assembly from a junk yard, I had to remove like 3 or 4 before I found one that 'looked' good.

The first 3/4 had nasty burned looking contacts and at least one had some melting.

Could be a blower motor growing old and drawing too much current? I'm not sure but that would be my guess.

You could put a lesser valued fuse in, but carry plenty of spares ... my guess is you'll be replacing them often.

Of course this is much better than a fire!

XJeepWerks

Yea, I've never seen one that looked worth buying in the junkyard but I will keep my eyes open for them. It just stinks that Cherokee's are so scarce around here since the Cash for Clunkers program.

KD3NE

I have found that you can replace all three components, Switch / Fan / Resistor Pack, relatively inexpensive and that is what I plan to do.

New Switch - $32
New Blower - $27
New Resistor - $7
Not Having A Fire - PRICELESS

http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/web...m=blower+motor

I'm doing a total replacement.

I figure the switch is rated to handle the motor current, but as it ages maybe the motor draws more current and overloads the switch. Makes sense to replace them all at once.

XJeepWerks

Thanks! That helps a lot. I didn't notice that the switch for the blower motor was a seperate part and could be replaced. Any idea where I could get the multi connector for the blower motor switch that isn't melted to splice in?

XJeepWerks

Just tried to order the parts.... The blower motor switch is out of stock. Any other ideas?

KD3NE

There are several suppliers showing it in Google Shopping.

Maybe one has it in stock.

http://www.google.com/#q=1995+jeep+c...94c57c705f04bf

XJeepWerks

Thanks. I'm using this forum via my phone so browsing the web is a little tough. When I get a chance to get on a computer I will look for somebody else that carries them.

Has anybody ever swapped in a control setup from a '97+ Xj? I'd love to see it if they have. I have a factory service manual for my '94 to look up wiring diagrams... does anyone have one for the newer climate control setup so I can compare the two?

KD3NE

Next time I get to a Junk Yard I plan on pulling one to try.

I do know that the replaceable switch itself is probably not interchangeable as it is a Rotary Switch but that does not mean the connector is also different. ( but it may be ). Even so a technician with enough knowledge could make that work. ( that's the easy part. The part I would have problems with would be the other two, where you select Temp, and air position.

I'll pull one to look at the back of it, if it looks 'doable' I'll bring it home.


As far as ordering the switch from Advanced, I must have gotten the last one this morning. Least now I know what it would not let me order two, it said the quantity was invalid. I have two XJ's and want to replace all the components in both of them.