Hello All,

I am new to the forum (and to XJs in general) and am trying to get the rear window wiper to work on my '98 Cherokee Sport. I will describe the issues and my attempts at resolution so far and am hoping some of you might have suggestions to lead me towards the fix.

Condition:

Neither the wiper motor or the rear washer pump will activate when switched on. The rear defogger, which runs in the same wiring bundle to the hatch, does still work.

What I've done so far:

-replaced rear wiper motor with new Cardone replacement
-verified with multimeter that rear wiper/washer fuse is good
-verified wiper switch function with multimeter and took switch apart to clean contacts for good measure (found a thread here on rebuilding the switch)
-checked for voltage at the wiper motor (with switch turned on)...there is none
-inspected the hatch wiring harness up to the bulkhead connector at the roof. Did not find any breaks.

What do I do next?? I am lamenting the thought of pulling out the headliner to inspect the full length of wiring harness (and don't know which wires I'm looking for). Does anyone have a schematic or troubleshooting procedure for this? Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

Well, I solved the problem. The entire harness bundle just past the rear hatch passthrough was chewed up. I'm glad I found it before it caused a fire. Now I have to get busy with the soldering iron. 'Tis a huge pain in the rear, but at least it's inexpensive (minus the new wiper motor I didn't need...).