the one on the steering column? I figured if that went out the jeep wouldnt start

 

The one down low on the column.

Didn't I post pics at the beginning of this thread? It's likely melted where the brown wire is.

 

well i'm back just to say hi. right. this white 96 i think it is that my grand daught rolled was left out all last winter which saw a LOT of rain and on top of that somebody took the cover off the steering column and pulled on a few wires breaking a connector. it cranks over like a **** but it still wont start. it had no spark at all to the plug wires and i got nothing for voltage at the coil either. i'm sure there are big time problems with that ignition switch. i'm totally ready to sell them both. i still have the original red one that started this thread, which runs somehow on only 50lbs of compression in each cylinder!! what's the going Corona rate for a junk as cherokee these days?

 

I have a 89 Cherokee Laredo it is not a tilting steering column no. But I still believe that probably the base of your problem or anyone who's having this if you with those four things is the ignition switch. You'll probably also noticed that the lighter doesn't work. So you cannot charge your phone.

the ignition switch is not where you stick the key in which is the ignition cylinder. The ignition switch is on top of the steering column down above the pedals. Have to drop the steering wheel with some bolts unhook two wire connectors then unscrew the little box and replace it. Another thing that seems very common that could have caused the ignition switch to go out or it might actually be the problem itself and not the ignition switch is one of the wires seems to burn out in a lot of jeeps. I believe that that is the one that goes to the heater blower which is why once they get loud and you keep using them it can cause a fire in your Dash.
but it doesn't necessarily have to start a fire sometimes it just blows the fuse or short circuits the ignition switch. First time I changed my ignition switch everything worked after that. But then a month or two later they all went out again and I thought there's no freaking way that died already there has to be some other issue what is up with us? And that's when I found somebody's video about how those wires tend to burn out so you can either buy a new plastic wire connector and replace all those wires into that weather some hackware Egypt's place that burnt-out one to the power cable which is what makes everything turn on when you turn the ignition on but this will supply constant power to it which can also be a dangerous thing so in my opinion I would rather just fix the wire instead of splicing it and giving a constant power.
I'm sorry I'm not giving as details of answers it's been about 6 months since I did this so I don't have everything fresh in my mind but if anyone reads this and wants more specific instructions for changing out the ignition switch can you respond to this I will look up the videos that showed me how to do it and post the links here.