Today I've been working on the passenger side rocker. In order to cut and grind I've been disconnecting the harness that plugs into the passenger fuse panel just by the door and setting it aside. I don't believe anything's nicked or showered with sparks from the grinder, but it's certainly possible.

As I pulled out from my friend's garage I noticed a problem with the lights. L&R turning signals work fine, brakes work fine, parking lights work fine, but when I do all 3 at the same time (lights on, right turn signal, hit the brakes) the rear turning lights go out, the reverse lights gently flicker, and the right brake light dims. Of course the relay and indicator in the dash go super fast.

I stopped at a gas station just 5 minutes away for some coffee, when I got back into the Jeep it wouldn't crank. I don't even get a click from the solenoid or anything under the hood. The relays in the passenger fuse panel click fine and I lose accessory power.

I've checked and swapped the fuses, swapped relays, banged on the solenoid, banged on the starter, tried with that harness disconnected and reconnected. No dice. When I turn the key the same thing happens as if I wasn't depressing the brake pedal at all. (which is accessory power goes off, Jeep doesn't start) My friend showed up and we bump started it.

So far I can rule out:

- ASD relay (because it runs)
- CPS (never had any related symptoms)
- NSS (don't have one...)
- Starter relay
- Starter fuse

I strongly suspect that this is not a coincidence and something with the brake light circuit is causing this. I'm about to delve into the FSM to see if I can find the wiring for this. In the mean time since I'm freaking tired I'd love to get a second set of eyes.

XJ is a 1999 5-speed with the 4.0 and government issued rust.

 

Bumppity

 

Okay so after digging through the FSM it became quite clear that the brake pedal should have nothing to do with starting (8W-21-5). Hoping that these two issues were just nicely timed coincidence I checked out the wiring under the dash. This is what I found:

Some kind of hack job wiring with falling apart electrical tape and questionable solders, doesn't look factory to me:


This seems to be some kind of security box:


Searching doesn't tell me anything other than Technicentre Plus makes electronics for GM. After looking at the wires this box is in series with the clutch interlock wire (T141), has a splice coming off of the brake lamp switch (L50), a crap ground, and presumably a power feed or two. Its function appears to be that of requiring the brake pressed to start, make the red LED beside the steering column blink, and break when I'm 1 hours' drive from home in the middle of the night. It certainly worked as a "random immobilizer" lol

Ghetto bypass so that I could get my **** out of the rain and go pick up the fiancee:



Brake/parking/turning light issue still remains, I discovered that if you open the rear passenger door it also happens with the added excitement of flashing the dome light. Going to chase this issue separately.

 

Do you still have good grounds back at the bulb sockets?

Are you hearing disco music by any chance?
I hear how it is up in Canada. Turn your back for a minute and they turn your XJ into a mobile party machine.

 

Its those sasquatches coming down from the hills! Who gave those guys booze?!

The problem ended up being what I though was just a mounting screw for an unused connector. In my 1999 there is/was this connector hidden under the passenger seat. The screw beside it on a separate wire apparently at some point serves as a ground for the rear lights on that side and the dome light/door open switch. I held it to the body with a screwdriver and presto, problem solved. It's very possible the ground at the back is shot, haven't gotten there yet. Haven't bothered to see if the strange Technicentre Plus thing works again.

Cool part is I couldn't find this in the FSM. The brake/turn light diagrams only show G302/G303 at the rear and there is no diagram of the right side body harness.

 

Sasquatch here. Tis a month for coincidence. My hydro power was quitting in the rain. It wasn't the rain.

99 is over my head, (as you know). "fiancee?" So there is still time....

" It's very possible the ground at the back is shot," ...I think CCKEN showed a nice pic of a ground, on the left side, maybe under a panel forward of the spare? somewhere near there IIRC!

Guess it's starting?