fantic238

... and how does it work?

Firestorm500

Depending on the model, there is either a button on the housing or you push the lens.

fantic238

It's an 88 xj, what i mean is when u open the tailgate the light should come on (doesen't) but it hasen't any button/switch around the weather strip, must be somewhere inside, maybe working with gravity.

jaqattack02

On my 1991 it's built into the latch for the rear gate. When the latch is in the locked position (like when the door is closed) the light is off, as soon as it opens the light comes on. We were investigating this the other day because we were working on the Jeep and had the gate open and didn't want to run down the battery. If you push the latch closed with your finger it will turn the light off. We did that, then made a little flag to hang off of it while it was like that so that we don't try to shut the door with the latch still closed. You just have to reach up and hit the button on the door and it unlatches again.

4.3L XJ

X2

fantic238

That means that i have to take the latch off to see whats wrong... GOOD ANSWER MAN...

winston427

When you pull the hatch trim cover off and find a connector that is just hanging around for no reason...LEAVE IT ALONE. I have no freakin clue why it's there, but teeonehundred and myself found out the hard way to leave it alone. If you plug it together it creates a ground fault in the electrical system that will blow the parking lamp fuse as soon as you turn on the headlights. It took me 3 days and countless hours of searching the forum and reading threads before i found teeonehundred's thread and figured out how to fix the problem. This of course is after I disassembled the entire dash, front grill, and tail lights to look for shorted or burnt wires.

This is the cause of all the trouble.

fantic238

yeeah, noticed that hanging connector too, but just the female... was wondering where it goes... happy i didin't find the male!! let me have a look at the wiring diagrams and i'll come back later, still trying to fix the hatch switch, it won't come off cause of the rust, WD40 is working on it at the moment!

fantic238

HAHAHA, i just had a quick look at the wiring diagram, i think i know what it's for, but first i'll ask u a question: how many license plate lamps do u have, 1 or 2?

winston427

Only 1 on my 91, in the center of the hatch. While I was outside looking I also took a peek at my 87 parts Jeep because it had a factory tire carrier. The license plate and light were mounted on the driver side of the hatch. That extra connector is for that set up and the wire for the standard plate location was disconnected. So... that leads me to believe that when both are connected it creates the circuit ground fault that keeps popping the parking lamp fuse.

fantic238

Hmmm, quite near guess but it's not that. In Europe cherokees have 2 license plate lamps, because the plate is larger. It's a factory arrangement. The blue is a positive and the black is a ground. The two lamps are connected in parallel (that's why u have 2 blue wires), so when u connected them u short-circuited the lights. Just for fun, plug in a lamp and turn on the lights, and see what happens!

winston427

Very interesting. It always good to learn something new. I guess it worked out good two ways for Jeep to also be able to use for the license plate on the right with a factory tire carrier. Thanks for info.

fantic238

I'll post some pics of the two lights tomorrow...thanks.

4.3L XJ

Don't take the latch off. Instead pull the panel on the hatch and you will be able to get to everything.

Firestorm500

Are you sure the bulb"s OK?

Is power absolutely not getting to the fixture?

Did you check the lamp housing for a button switch?