simonphill

Hi all, I am new to this forum and to jeep ownership and could do with some advice. I have a 93' cherokee that has a problem with the interior courtesy lamps, they have a mind of there own!! They keep coming on by themselves and will not go off which is playing games with the alarm system? I can here a relay clicking below the dash when they come on/go off but cant find which one it is? Could it be the relay? The car has been idle for about 2 years and I am working on getting it all back to working. Also none of the instruments are working on the dash?
Any ideas would be very gratefully recieved!!!

Liquid_Cure

Finally something I can help with.

You have to be somewhat careful if your alarm is hooked up to your dome-light. I used to manage a car stereo shop, and this is the crappy installation way of installing a alarm. Im going to assume its a aftermarket one. This is the reason why. Instead of grabbing the door pin/pins wire, and tailgate wires, they grab'd the dome light wire, which is generally easer to find, and their is always only one. The downfall to this is that on some cars if the dome light is out, or is on the wrong setting on/off/door the alarm wont go off. Im pretty sure your cherokee dome is similar to mine.

If the dome light uses a common ground make sure that its securley connected to the metal frame rail on top, or visa versa if its thowing a negative, thats most likely the case, and I'm sure you've done this, but do it with a known working bulb

Is the relay clicking when your turning the dome on and off, or when your disarming/arming the alarm?

As far as the instruments go, Its most likely a fuse if they aren't working. And if your unsure how to test the fuses you can either pull each one out visually look, test for continuity with a meter. Or you can use a meter and ground one side and using the contacts on the top of the fuse, each side of the fuse should have the same reading, You should do this with ignition on. Except for anything with a bright yellow plug/wire/paint/cap

simonphill

Thanks for the speedy response!!! It is an aftermarket alarm (Sigma a38).
The siren for which does not sound, just the side repeaters flash so I assume I have inherited this problem!
Could you please explain where these lights earth out? All the fuses are ok and I think the relays are too. I run a car parts shop and have learned that most of these electrical issues are normall resolved by bad earths. Problem is I dont know where to look!!! As I said this has been parked up for close to 3 years and in our climate that creates an awful lot of damp, I had a dehumidifier in it for 48 hours and it pulled out half a gallon of water!? I just wat the lights to go off!!!!!! At present I am pulling the earth off the battery every time I park so as not to come back to a flet one!

Cheap$200Jeep

Do you notice the light comes on when you crank the steering all the way to the stops?

simonphill

Nothing seems to effect when the lights come on or go off! the only way to put them out is disconnecting the battery!!

Cheap$200Jeep

Start by getting to the pin switches and put a meter to them to make sure they are opening and closing the circuit the way they should. I'd suspect the driver door or hatch to be the most likely...

simonphill

ok I have checked all the door switches which are working fine, I am completely stuck?!!!

VAXJCOUNTRY

I had a faulty rear cut-out switch that made them go wild, I just wired out the switch and added my own down on the side by the spare...but that was only with the doors open....Could one of the door pin wires be rubbing ground? I think they are yellow.

simonphill

Thanks to you you guys you have been a great help!! I have found the problem, it was the swicth in the rear luggage bay on the roof!!
Replaced it and now all seems ok but I am sure my story is not over so will be back with my next challenge!!

Cheers.