Hello everyone, I regret that this is my first post on this forum.

The reading lights on my 97 xj has stopped working. Before it stopped working we had removed the radio since it wasn't working (it isn't reading any frequencies, already checked the antenna cable and it's good).
Once the radio was removed, we attempted to change the small lights behind the center console to LED but decided not to since the build quality of the little LED lights weren't good. We put everything back including the radio.
We also changed the non-working halogen lightbulb for the dome light to an LED strip. When tested it did not work either (the dome light itself never worked since we bought it but the two reading lights did) we put the halogen bulb back but the reading lights still didn't work.
Then the dome light was not working. We tried to run back all the things we did to no avail. They were working great before, in fact, we had one of the reading lights not working changed the polarity and it worked before we did anything.


This is how my dome light looks like

Thanks for taking the time to read.

 

Welcome!

A couple quick thoughts. My guess is you might have blown a fuse when working. No idea on your background so I'll go maybe in too much detail here. Apologies in advance.

Did you disconnect the battery before attempting any electrical work? I would normally recommend disconnecting it even if you are only swapping the instrument cluster bulbs. It's just too easy to jostle a wire and cause a short.
If you didn't think to disconnect power, no worries. Just important to know as this could cause a blown fuse (below).

Have you checked fuses?
Location on the 97 are here.
https://www.cherokeeforum.com/how-to...diagram-398208

Disconnect a fuse (pull it out, may be stiff, I use a set of needle nose pliers after disconnecting the battery). You can see a little flat metal wire inside the translucent plastic. If it's blown that wire should be broken or burned. Sometimes it's not obvious. In those cases I might just replace a fuse if in doubt.

Start by checking out the fuses that seem most likely (instrument cluster, Courtney lights). But look through all of them while you are down there. Write down (diagram if needed) all blown fuses, rating and what they are labelled / used for.

I suggest replacing failed fuses with new, but in a pinch for troubleshooting you can swap known good ones around as long as they are the correct rating. You'll probably want a bunch of new ones anyways so it's probably best to just buy a bunch of the correct style and of a range of ratings though..

Obviously after identifying all blown fuses and replacing them, reconnect the battery and test.

If you found a blown fuse, and replacing it makes everything work again, don't stop there. Make sure it doesn't blow again (check it after testing to triple check it's not blown again) and using the diagram of blown fuses think about what circuit caused the fuse to blow. If you touched that circuit earlier when swapping bulbs then recount your steps and inspect the wires in those harnesses carefully. Any frays, breaks should be repaired. Replace lengths of wire if necessary and solder if you can. Use heat shrink tubing to insulate all connections. Instructions on this should be easy to find online. Again, disconnect battery before any electrical work.

Then reassemble and test again...and hope you got it.

If you know a multimeter that's helpful to check continuity to check for breaks in the wiring or bad grounds.

Anyway. This might not be the right direction or lead, and I'm tired and rambling so I'll stop here. If you aren't comfortable with any of this, speak up, ask questions and we can give a hand.
It's easy to underestimate automotive electrical but I've seen wrenches get welded to battery posts and some fun sparks so just be cautious and be sure to know how to disconnect the battery before you do anything electrical. It should not be scary but it's definitely something to be careful and methodical with.

I might not be back online for a bit - heading camping but may check when I get back. Hopefully others can give a hand. Best of luck.

 

A final thought - if you swapped LEDs in those can sometimes be sensitive to polarity. Meaning there might be s "right" and "wrong" way to install them. Often this is solved by just... flipping thr bulb if you can install it in another orientation (flipped 180 deg).

Finally, LEDs can require a minimum voltage. As in they may not be dimmable like a normal bulb is. So if the battery is super low, or there is low voltage somewhere due to bad grounds or high resistance somewhere (corrosion etc) then an LED may just not turn on. Normally a bulb would just seem dim but the LED would be off.

 

Hey, thanks for all the advise, I did not disconnect the battery, definitely should have. I'll check all that this Saturday when I get a chance. I'm not sure if it's a fuse I believe if it were none of my other interior lights would be working but it's worth a check.

About the polarity - that was the issue I had with one of my reading lights before. I turned it and it was good. All this started happening after I removed the radio and all the other center console stuff.

Thanks again I'll keep you posted on what I find this Saturday. If I got any questions I'll definitely post them back on this thread. My goal is not only to figure this out for myself but also maybe help others in the future that might have this issue.

 

Hey, thanks for all the advice, I did not disconnect the battery, definitely should have. I'll check all that this Saturday when I get a chance. I'm not sure if it's a fuse I believe if it were none of my other interior lights would be working but it's worth a check.

About the polarity - that was the issue I had with one of my reading lights before. I turned it and it was good. All this started happening after I removed the radio and all the other center console stuff.

Thanks again I'll keep you posted on what I find this Saturday. If I got any questions I'll definitely post them back on this thread. My goal is not only to figure this out for myself but also maybe help others in the future that might have this issue.

 

Quick update:
I was messing with the light just now and I noticed the LED lights up for an instant before turning off, the flicker is small enough that if it were daylight it wouldn't be noticeable. Not sure if perhaps, as you suggested, there is low voltage getting to it.

Anyway ill keep messing with it on the weekend and post my findings.