That very well could be a draw if the hot wire came loose from the door switch in the jamb and is grounding out. That could be the reason the light doesn't work, and the cause of your problem. JMO
Dan

 

Well I pulled the switch out, un plugged it, cleaned it up a bit as it was pretty corroded looking, and when I stuck it back in, it works now. We'll see if that was the culprit. I'm going to try and do some more troubleshooting later as well.

 

Well it's good you fixed that issue at least.
Keep us posted.
Dan

 

Thanks for the help

 

I am following this thread as I seem to have the same kind of problems.

I have a drain on the battery as well that seem to disappear if I pull the fuse for the "dome" lights.... and as far as I can see it is the only one that causes the drain.
My passenger door switch was broken and I replaced it.... it works but unfortunately it didn't solve the drain.... I hope this was your problem that is easy to fix.
I am with you there, tracking these gremmlins is not easy (especially if like me you are not experienced). Do you have wiring diagrams for your car model ? I have an 89 XJ laredo and haven't found one yet, just the 88 ones but I understand it is pretty close and it really helped me answering some questions and cut down the tracking process...
I have a couple of other things to test....slowly as I am learning... these include : the lift gate open switch (or whatever it is called) I have heard that it get stuck sometimes.... the overhead console, mine is missing (I don;t even know what is supposed to be there), the hood switch (there has to be one to turn one the hood lamp (which is not working.... blah)....

Advice of a beginner, take your time, use method and go from the most simple to the more complicated.... at least this is what I have learn from this forum... (and don't get upset with sarcasm from others...)

 

That's part of what we're here for. To try and help each other.
Dan

 

and we the ignorant jeep owners that always ask the same questions because we are lazy and seeking for a "bolt-in" magical answer that will fix our problems, we are thankful for your patience

 

The only "Ignorant Jeep Owners" are the ones that think they know the answers to all the problems, but refuse to help people in a jamb. IMO
I'm more than willing to help when I can.
Dan

 

If there were more people like you on forums, they'd be a whole lot better place!!!

 

I think we owe it to each other as a Jeep community to help each other out. The "Know-It-Alls" would understand how it feels if, when they encounter a problem, no one responded to their request for assistance. But come to think of it, they'd probably prefer to pay a shop to fix their problem rather than to be perceived as less than the "Gods" they portray themselves as to fellow forum members.
There's a whole lot I don't know yet, and I'll be the first to admit it, and I've asked for help on different occasions. Thankfully, I received the needed advice right here on CF! I think this is a great site, and a great bunch of folks overall.
Dan

 

88 and 89 should be very close, if not identical.

 

I just bought a 98 Cherokee sport a week ago, no problems until day 7 and I had a dead battery in the morning. Something just started draining the battery over night. A 5 minute drive to work had the battery nice and charged so I don't think it's an alternator issue. I am not an experienced mechanic and am pretty intimidated by the issues I'm probably going to be facing.

 

heres a thought i had a battery drain problem with mine check yor electric antenna relay mine was trying to put the antena down even when it was down hense draining the battery overnight took about 6 months to work out

 

Another thing that could cause your battery drain, is your engine bay light,I believe it is a mercury switch it could come on if you park on a incline or it is just rustrd in the open mode.(not sure if itis your problem) For your rough running loosen up your coil pack bolts < and reajust yor coil pack maybe even pull it off and carefully set back on sometimes springs will not be on plug ends just right. Try the heatsheild from the dealer too its only 5 bucks. good luck

 

Probably an odd thing to think about, but have you had any oil leaks down the pax side of the engine recently? I've seen a few cases where the starter motor gets crudded up and will drain the battery - clean the starter motor off (or, in the very worst cases, out) and it goes fine again!

Frequency of the problem is somewhere between "Uncommon" and "Rare" - but it's happened.