high5

89 cherokee- had a bad battery + a drain in dome fuze area. have new battery, tried fuze and still have light on tester with neg cable off. is
there something tipical here or am i on a quest to search it out.
any one else seen this problem and how it was resolved, ++++++++++++++
Ive had this jeep 5 yrs now , and with the fuze pulled i have no radio and the electric windows arent working, i know i already at the area to check
for problems, but am asking if anyone else has had this issue and how it
was fixed. JEEP ON AMERICA!

residentg

I think that the under hood light is on that circuit as well - check it out for shorts.

The Rooster

Check the door light pins... I cant think of the name right now... also have you turn your headlight switch to make sure the dome light is not turned on...?

The Rooster

also does your cig light work? I had a small piece of metal in mine and didnt know it... it blew the fuse..

Texas Hank Palmer

I know this is a very old thread but if there's anybody out there who struggled with the parasitic draw as I did, I would like to help.
My 89 XJ randomly started to die after being parked overnight.
I did a parasitic draw test by pulling fuses (you can find a bunch of youtube videos on this part).
Turns out it was the dome light fuse.
The problem now is that this fuse is connected to practically EVERYTHING.
After almost tearing my whole jeep apart searching for the little bugger, it turns out it was the GLOVE BOX LIGHT. When the lid is shut, it should turn the light off, however, a screw came loose and the button that disconnects the light couldn't be pressed in enough and therefore the light was constantly on. All I had to do was screw in the screw that had fallen out and viola! the light shuts off now, and no more parasitic draw.

If this isn't your issue, the dome light fuse (on the older XJ's) is connected to the dome lights (courtesy lights), radio, glove box light, another light under the hood, lights under the dash by your feet on the driver and passenger side, and probably more that I cannot remember. I'd check out those lights to make sure they are not constantly on, and then you can also disconnect the radio to see if that was the issue (sometimes the radio can get shorted out inside and you'll need a new stereo/radio or try pull apart the radio and find the short... although that's probably more work than it's worth).

If you STILL cannot find the issue, you can check out the door jam switches to make sure they are working properly. You may run into a situation where your dome lights are off because they burnt out and not because they are actually disconnected when the door is shut. Also, don't go buying a new door jam switch because they are very easy to pull out, sand off, make sure the spring inside is still "springy" and working properly (i.e. it connects when the door is open AND disconnects when the door is shut (the latter could be your issue if there is parasitic draw). Once you pull it out I'm sure you can figure out how the little mechanism works, it is very simple. If you want an explanation, here it is: There are two wires connected on either side of a piston. When the door is shut, the piston is pushed in and the two wires are no longer connected to each other and the current is stopped, shutting off the power to the dome lights. When the door opens, the spring pushes the little piston out and touches both wires which then gives power to the dome lights and they turn on. If, for whatever reason, your door switch does not properly disconnect the connection between those two wires, then this might cause parasitic draw, and you might not find it if your dome lights are burned out.

If after all that, you are still struggling to find the culprit, you can try checking the headlight switch. This seems to be a common troublemaker on the XJ.

Unfortunately if you still cannot find the issue, there are probably some evil spirits haunting your jeep and you'll need to call a priest over to fix the issue.