mwawrzyniec

My 98 Cherokee is experiencing some intermittent electrical issues. When I'm driving my sped and tach will just drop to zero. My radio and interior lights will occasionally turn on (they normally do not work.) My horn will just start going off if the car is off. If my lights are on and the car is in park the starter may start running itself.

Any suggestions on what I should be looking at first? I'm very good mechanically with little experience with electrical problems.

Radi

What's the wiring look like when you peek up under the dash? Any sign that Commander CobbleJob has been under there doing some re-wiring? Anything bare, twisted and taped or shorting? See it a lot with backyard sound system installs. Or RKE/Alarm systems gone bad. Speaking of RKE/Alarms, is there one in there? If so, a lot of what you describe is under the control of some RKE/Alarm/Remote start boxes. I'd be suspicious...

Pull the instrument cluster and clean up the connectors.
Pull the ignition switch connector and look for signs of trouble- overheat, discoloration, anything loose or shorted.
Pull your fusebox and look around back for signs of damage or water intrusion.
Clean and tighten every ground you can find- battery to block, block to chassis, dipstick studs. Battery cables and connectors too. Basically give every bit of wiring, especially near the column, a good looking-at.

CCKen

I would suspect corrosion in/on the Junction Block (JB) and/or its connectors.

As Radi said: "Pull your fusebox and look around back for signs of damage or water intrusion."

There's been several accounts of people with problems similar to yours. All the circuits you describe go through the JB. People wih problems said that their JB was corroded or the connectors at the JB were corroded. Particularly connector C4.

Here's some pics of a corroded JB.







Here's a diagram of your JB:



Here's how to access the JB and how to remove it:





If you don't find the cause, going through Radi's steps, Try looking at the JB and its connectors.

mwawrzyniec

Thanks for the fast replies. Hopefully I can find the problem this weekend.