BimmerJeeper

Need a favor.

After driving with your heater on.

Can you open your glovebox.
Remove that rubber grommet
Let entire contents of glovebox spill onto floor (not really)
Feel the black square relay.

Is it warm?
Or totally cold?

PatHenry

I'd love to check this for you, but the glove-box design of 95/96 and earlier XJ's doesn't open such that anything would drop out. I'm guessing that the 97+'s used the same design as the TJ's had where the fuse panel was behind it and it was exactly as you describe, getting behind it meant pretty much dumping the entire contents on the passenger floor.

If you know where they stuffed the equivalent part on a 95 I'll be happy to check it.

jordan96xj

What is a heater relay? Do you mean the blower fan relay? 96 and below don't have one (amperage for the fan comes directly from the slowly melting-down ignition switch, just the way god intended it. lol).

PatHenry

As opposed to the rapidly melting wires at the blower motor resistor?
I'll take the 96 and earlier setup any day over the failure plagued setup they used in the 00 TJ.

I also hated that glove box. You really did have to empty it any time you wanted to get at the fuse panel. And of course any time you wanted to take the doors off you had to pull the stupid "door switch defeat" fuse. LOL.
The TJ's used a strap that pulled off to the side - there was no grommet thing. To fully remove the glovebox you had to tilt it up a bit then down to get it off.

Bimmer, what is the problem you're trying to solve? No blower motor operation?

4.3L XJ

That is a resistor, not relay. So the answer is it gets really hot. Got all your blower speeds?

BimmerJeeper

No, it is a relay. Pictured to the left of the green thing.
Mine gets pretty warm. Was curious if this is normal.

PatBlue08

I, after 3 hours of troubleshooting and having no idea that the relay was there, had to replace mine today. It burnt up and left me scratching my head as to why I couldn't get the blower to turn on from inside the jeep.

craigjacob1

Under 90*F is nothing to worry about.
Is that green wire in the background damaged?

A faulty connection could cause overheating. It wouldn't be a bad idea to check the wiring for damage.
It could also be an overpowered relay, a cheap relay, or even an aftermarket blower motor that is drawing too much current through the relay.
I imagine that you need a 20/30 amp relay for running the blower.
A Bosch 0332209159 would be a good replacement.
I bought a bunch of used ones off of ebay for about $4 each (2 years ago). The gray ones are made in Germany. I can highly recommend them.

BimmerJeeper

The green wire has electrical tape on it.
Lately, I am having to bump this relay almost every time I want heat.
I suspect it might be a wire connection and not the rely.
I will post a close up photo, and maybe someone cal tell if something is not right.

craigjacob1

Pictures really aren't going to help.
Check the wiring. Make sure all wires are making a proper connection.
Splices or repairs should be soldered or attached with butt connectors.
Clean the connections
Replace the relay

BimmerJeeper

System died and it might be wires, not relay. Question posed in here.
https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f2/dea...es-hot-249960/