Hello All. I just purchased a 1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo. Unfortunately this one has been attacked by a deer. I am currently working on it to fix'r up and make her good again. I have installed a 3.5" Lift kit, 31" tires, and it runs great! desert washes....here I come!

It still need some work however, and many problems that I didn't know it had are now surfacing. Many I found while installing that lift kit. I would like very much to play a game of 20 questions, as I am very new to the whole jeep thing. Anyone interested in answering?

Question numero uno. This one is driving me crazy..... When I put on a turn signal with the headlights off, blinkers will blink at normal speed.....left and right. When night driving and was using turn signals with the head light on, Blinkers were blinking very rapidly as if a blinker bulb was out. I have checked all turn signals, and all are working with no burnt bulbs. Fuses are all good....I have narrowed it down to a head lights off blink at normal speed, headlights on, blink really fast speed. Not sure what is causing this but it is driving me insane! Is this normal opperation? I have never had a jeep before. As mentioned earlier this Jeep is a bit mangled from hitting a deer, so could there be damage in the front that I have over looked that would cause this? A sesor or something? Perhaps just low on blinker fluid and cant find the fill port? Please help me out.... Point me in the right direction

Next question coming very shortly....

 

Check for incorrect on improperly installed bulb. My father in laws van did this because he had installed the wrong bulb. Could be in the socket 180 degrees off too. Check it out and post back.
And Welcome to CF.

 

Haha i think its low on blinker fluid

 

Checked the bulbs....Everything looks ok. Correct bulbs, and all snug in the sockets...I wonder if it could be a ground problem? Really has me stumped. Maybe it is supposed to be that way....everything seems to work. Just unique from any other vehicle I've ever seen. Thanks for the welcome I'm gonna poke around some more and see what I can come up with....

 

check your grounds, they can cause some funky problems..

 

If that's the only wiring problem you have, your lucky! I have a 95 grand and you wouldn't believe the light/wiring problems I have. The most likely cause is a bulb out, but it could also be the multi switch. The actual "blinker" handle is part of a switch that controls just about all the lights. I have replaced mine twice. Its an expensive switch, and not real easy to change out, but if things get worse you might try that. Also, check ALL the bulbs, if I get a bad marker light bulb, none of my rear lights work at all! Its just a mid 90's grand thing, they all have terrible wiring problems.

 

I still have a quart of blinker fluid if you need it, but I would check the ground circuit to the headlamps first.

 

Mine had a prob with the driver side rear blinker. I checked and everything seemed to be OK.. then I pulled the bulb out just a smidge and it started working.

 

Well.....no luck with the lights. They work....odd, but work. Good enough and moving on.

The catalytic converter in this thing is also bad. I don'tactually need it where I live, for there is no law that says I do, and there is no inspection or emissions test. I would like to just remove it and run a straight pipe.....however....looks like there is a couple Oxygen sensors in there....before and after the convertor. Can this be bypassed without opperation problems?

 

NO. You must run a cat. It's the law, and it doesn''t hurt the performance at all when operating as designed. I had the shop replace mine when it became defective.

 

Here are my thoughts. the blinker module in these cars are thermal switches rather than electrical switches. which means when you supply power to them they heat up, and break the circuit. once they cool back off the circuit closes again turning the light back on and then heats back up. because of this, if the current going through the switch is higher or lower, the switch heats up at different speeds ie. low current=slow blink, high current=fast blink. what i think, is that during the bonding experience with the deer, something has shorted out between your headlights and turn signals. i would guess that when your headlights are on they are bleeding current into your blinker circuit.

i would start at the cheapest place and work your way back. go through and replace all of your bulbs. you can trouble shoot where the short is by removing one bulb at a time and replacing it with all lights on until the problem goes away.

here are a few things to look for. turn all of the lights on, disconnect one of your headlights, if the blinking is still fast put the bulb back and move to the next. if it corrects the issue, put in a bulb that you know is good. if you are still good then all is well. if taking the lights out fixes the problem, but replacing them makes the problem return then your problems probably lies in the wiring. make sure none of the wires got cut or pinched around the damamged areas.

 

We can use you as our site encyclopedia?

 

 

Remove the front parking light/turn signal bulb and check it. It should have a dual filament bulb, not a single filament type. The single filament bulb will work fine until the lights and blinker are both turned on at the same time. Then it is acting as a short. Look at the socket end of the bulb. It should have 2 contacts, not 1 in the center.