87lowcog35s

my moms 1994 xj randomly lost everything listed in the title of this thread,


upon searching, I quickly discovered the ignition switch was the culprit. there are tons of threads that start off "my (listed above) quit working, what happened?" and they usually end with "replaced the ign switch, all is good now" but I couldn't find an actual write up with pictures. so here goes.



step one: remove the ground cable from your battery. no pics here, its the black cable. there should also be a - on the battery by the post.

step two: remove the lower part of your dash. there are screws along the black stripe where the lower dash meets the upper.



there are 4 screws on the underside of the dash. this pic is of the drivers side, they are in the same location on the passengers side (2 screws per side). the outer screws (silver in picture) only need to be loosened, not removed completely. the inner screws (black in pic) need to come out. the inner screws go thru the dash panel and screw into your courtesy light bracket.


now remove your ashtray, there is a screw behind it. push down on the silver part in the middle of the pic, and pull the ashtray down and out. if you have to force it, your probably binding something up.




the box on the drivers side is held on with 2 plastic nuts. mine came off by hand, but you can use a screw driver to turn them. don't forget to unplug the ashtray light.



if your xj is an auto, unplug the trans computer on the passengers side. if you have a 5 speed, there will be nothing there except 2 studs with nothing on them.



now you can pull out the lower dash and put it somewhere out of your way.



the following pic was taken from the floor, looking up. the top of the pic is towards the drivers seat, the bottom of the pic is towards the firewall (gas/brake pedals). you can see the 2 bolts that hold the steering column to the dash support.



take off the left (closest to the door) bolt first, its a 15mm. there are 2 black supports that run from the stud, to the panel behind your kick panel.
pay attention to how the 2 supports come off. take pictures, or wrap some tape around them and number them, whichever works best for you.
I removed the support that ran to the panel closest to the door. the second support bolts up behind your fuse box, I just bent this one down out of my way for the time being.



now you can remove the bolt on the right, and drop your column a couple inches. you can see the ignition switch in this pic too, its the brown/tan deal with a blue connector attached to it. you cant see it in the picture, but there is also a black connector behind the blue one.



here is a better pic



pay attention to how the brackets are lined up/stacked. the 2 bolts that hold the ignition switch to the column also hold the dimmer switch and interlock cable to the column.



to further explain the above pic, and negate any confusion: the dimmer switch is the brown and white plastic deal in the bottom of the pic. the black plastic tube with steel rod coming out of it is the shift interlock cable. there is a piece of steel standing behind the interlock cable, if you look at the right end of the piece of steel it looks like it is crimped to a piece of tan plastic. that is the ignition switch.
see the 2 bolts holding everything on? look at the one on the right. slightly above and to the right of this bolt is a steel rod that is laying under the ignition switch. the end of this rod is bent 90* upward. this is what moves when you turn the key. it also slides into the ign switch.

the bolt on the right is an 8mm. the one on the left is 3/8", it is also a stud, not a nut. the stud is 8mm (this will make sense once the nut and underlying brackets are removed.)
my camera hasn't been charged in almost a year, and for some reason decided not to keep any of the photos after this point, but from here you follow the directions that came with your new ignition switch.

my plug was melted, but not too badly. I reused it without modification, and all is well so far.
when your done installing and adjusting (yes, adjusting. the switch can slide up and down the steering column) your new switch, re attach your battery gound (-), and start the truck. if all is well with your accessories, turn the truck off, and put your dash back together in the reverse order that you took it apart.


-Greg Kelly.

CCKen

Nice pics. Worthy of pinching.

Bookmarked thread.

87lowcog35s

thanks!

bulldawgfan99

I have been to Autozone and asked for this part, and they keep trying to sell me the ignition switch to replace the where the key goes in. Is there another name for this part? Thanks.

87lowcog35s

They're trying to sell you the ign lock cylinder. Tell them you need the actual ign switch. If they don't know what your talking about ask to talk to a manager (grey shirt), one would hope a manager of a parts house would know the parts. Or try going on their website, if you find it there write down the part number and go tell them to find one. I don't have internet right now, or I'd look it up for you. Good luck.

bulldawgfan99

This is what they sold me

bulldawgfan99

Anyone? I'm running in south Georgia with no A/C and no wipers. I looked on the website and the part pictured above is the only "ignition switch" part that comes up.

87lowcog35s

what year is your xj?

87lowcog35s

http://www.autozone.com/batteries-st...mString=search


these are for a 94, I don't know what year your rig is. took me like 2 minutes to find...

freegdr

Newer years...

bulldawgfan99

Its a 1996 Cherokee Country 2wd. I went back to Autozone and showed the guy the pics from this thread and he still kept trying to tell me it was the part I posted the pic of earlier.

Peter Preciado

Yeah Buddy!
Thanks for this, I was finally able to fix these same issues. It has been really freaking hard and frustrating to have radio, blinkers, heater fan and windshield wipers not work in Portland Oregon in January and December!!! I finally have it all good. it took me two hours and $22 from O'Reilly's. Why did I wait so long? haha
I have an 1989 Cherokee Laredo with NOT tilting steering wheel, if anyone has any questions.

Pete

unknownsarg

went to town tonight, everything was working until i got into the middle of town, had no wipers, turn signals, & heat, didn’t work, got back home shut the jeep off, then started it back up and everything started working again, could this be the ignition switch? forgot to mention it’s a 1989

cruiser54

YES

that_guy1984

I'm having the same issue, however it's on a 98. is it possible still it's the same culprit? I don't know how much they changed behind the dash post 97