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How to Install a Factory Extended Idle Switch
EXT Idle switches are a rare toggle switch that came with police and municipal use Jeep XJs in 1997 and 1998 models. While rare, they still appear on the Internet from time to time. I picked one up on Ebay last week and I got around to installing it. It took a lot of headache trying to follow various directions online because I'm no electrician, but hopefully my hardships will help someone else who wants to do this (learn from my mistakes!)
First off, the EXT idle stands for "extended" idle. This switch bumps your RPMs up to 1000 when pressed while your Jeep is in Neutral or Park. It's a lot like a hand-throttle, only it's electrical instead. The benefits to this are obvious: 1. Higher coolant flow (good for warmer climates) 2. More alternator amperage flow (good for winching and offroad lights) 3. Faster engine warming (good for colder climates) This switch only came on police package Jeeps because the police needed the extra alternator current to run their emergency lights and on-board computer, among the various other electronics that they used. So without further ado, let's get into how this installation works on our every-day Cherokees. This guide will show you how to install a factory Mopar EXT idle switch on a 1997-2001 Jeep Cherokee. You will need: 1. Police package 4-switch bezel 2. Police package EXT idle switch 3. Police package EXT idle switch pigtail 4. Lots of crimps 5. Some extra 18 gauge wire 6. A pair of crimpers 7. Some screwdrivers (both Phillips and flat-head) 8. A pair of wire cutters 9. A basic ratchet set and extensions are recommended I already had the police package 4-switch bezel. I bought it online from Ebay, although they're very rare to come across these days. In fact, so are the EXT idle switches. All of these components are now discontinued and you would be hard-pressed to find any anywhere, although sometimes you get lucky and find them on Ebay like I did. Technically, you don't NEED the EXT idle switch pigtail if you already have the foglight switch pigtail in your Jeep's wiring harness, because you can re-purpose it by simply switching around some wires. But to make things easier, it's recommended. If you will be using the foglight pigtail, you will need to shave off the key at the bottom of the plug so that it will plug into your EXT idle switch. Also, you will need to reverse the orange and black wires when you do your crimping, because they're backwards on the foglight switch pigtail when compared to the EXT idle switch pigtail. So here is the switch, as well as the pigtail that goes with it: http://i61.tinypic.com/64jpl1.jpg http://i62.tinypic.com/287dkqg.jpg As you can see, the EXT idle switch pigtail has four wires coming off of it: 1. An orange wire (this controls the lighting and dimming) 2. A black wire (this is a ground) 3. A blue and white wire (this is where an ignition power source needs to go) 4. A gray wire (this needs to be routed to pin A12 on your computer) NOTE: You are dealing with ignition electrical here, so don't leave your ignition turned on while you are working on these wires (you can short something out). Now, you're going to want to start by removing the bezel from the switch panel (just pull, hard), and then use a Phillips screwdriver to remove the 3 screws that hold the switch panel to your dash assembly. To start, if you have a factory foglight pigtail tucked back there, you can just snip it off and use those wires. You will want to crimp the orange wire from the foglight harness to the orange wire from the EXT idle switch pigtail. Next, you will crimp the black wire from the foglight harness to the black wire from the EXT idle switch pigtail. You will not use the other two wires coming from the foglight pigtail, so just wrap them with electrical tape or twist on some wire ends. Next, you need to wire in your ignition power source. Directly above the switch panel, you will see a wiring harness wrapped in black electrical tape. You can peel away some of this, and you will find 3 wires in the harness. One of the wires is blue with a white stripe, JUST LIKE the wire coming from your EXT idle switch. You need to splice the blue and white wire from your EXT idle switch pigtail into this wire because that's an ignition power source for your HVAC system. The last wire, the gray one, gets spliced into your computer at pin A12. Pin A12 is the solid gray wire (again, same color as the switch) that is located inside of the first plug on the computer (facing the front of the vehicle). It is the first wire in the second row of the plug. Just snip this wire, run some of your 18 gauge wire (about 5-6 feet) through the firewall from the switch to pin number A12. The bottom piece of the wire that you snipped can be grounded to the chassis. There is a nice spot right under the computer. http://i58.tinypic.com/2zflt6t.png http://i62.tinypic.com/2qlu1sm.jpg http://i61.tinypic.com/28saqz9.jpg Note that because the wires in the cabin are not exposed to the elements, you're fine to just leave them crimped, although the wires near the computer are very vulnerable to corrosion, so I recommend insulating them with shrink wrap or electrical tape. Using your ratchet set to remove the air box will give you a lot more room to work. You might have to cut away some of the wiring loom to access the wires you want. This is fine and won't affect any of the wires. When you're finished, zip-tie your 18-gauge wire to your wire loom to keep it away from moving engine components. Then, re-assemble your dash in the reverse order that you took it apart. Your installation should look similar to this: http://i58.tinypic.com/sw9u0x.jpg Now test your switch. If you did everything correctly, the switch should light up with the rest of your switches when your headlights are turned on. The orange indicator light should turn on when you toggle the switch, and your RPMs should jump to 1000 when toggled on. |
Originally Posted by thatXJguy
(Post 3019217)
EXT Idle switches are a rare toggle switch that came with police and municipal use Jeep XJs in 1997 and 1998 models. While rare, they still appear on the Internet from time to time. I picked one up on Ebay last week and I got around to installing it. It took a lot of headache trying to follow various directions online because I'm no electrician, but hopefully my hardships will help someone else who wants to do this (learn from my mistakes!)
First off, the EXT idle stands for "extended" idle. This switch bumps your RPMs up to 1000 when pressed while your Jeep is in Neutral or Park. It's a lot like a hand-throttle, only it's electrical instead. The benefits to this are obvious: 1. Higher coolant flow (good for warmer climates) 2. More alternator amperage flow (good for winching and offroad lights) 3. Faster engine warming (good for colder climates) This switch only came on police package Jeeps because the police needed the extra alternator current to run their emergency lights and on-board computer, among the various other electronics that they used. So without further ado, let's get into how this installation works on our every-day Cherokees. This guide will show you how to install a factory Mopar EXT idle switch on a 1997-2001 Jeep Cherokee. You will need: 1. Police package 4-switch bezel 2. Police package EXT idle switch 3. Police package EXT idle switch pigtail 4. Lots of crimps 5. Some extra 18 gauge wire 6. A pair of crimpers 7. Some screwdrivers (both Phillips and flat-head) 8. A pair of wire cutters 9. A basic ratchet set and extensions are recommended I already had the police package 4-switch bezel. I bought it online from Ebay, although they're very rare to come across these days. In fact, so are the EXT idle switches. All of these components are now discontinued and you would be hard-pressed to find any anywhere, although sometimes you get lucky and find them on Ebay like I did. Technically, you don't NEED the EXT idle switch pigtail if you already have the foglight switch pigtail in your Jeep's wiring harness, because you can re-purpose it by simply switching around some wires. But to make things easier, it's recommended. If you will be using the foglight pigtail, you will need to shave off the key at the bottom of the plug so that it will plug into your EXT idle switch. Also, you will need to reverse the orange and black wires when you do your crimping, because they're backwards on the foglight switch pigtail when compared to the EXT idle switch pigtail. So here is the switch, as well as the pigtail that goes with it: http://i61.tinypic.com/64jpl1.jpg http://i62.tinypic.com/287dkqg.jpg As you can see, the EXT idle switch pigtail has four wires coming off of it: 1. An orange wire (this controls the lighting and dimming) 2. A black wire (this is a ground) 3. A blue and white wire (this is where an ignition power source needs to go) 4. A gray wire (this needs to be routed to pin A12 on your computer) NOTE: You are dealing with ignition electrical here, so don't leave your ignition turned on while you are working on these wires (you can short something out). |
Originally Posted by RacerX
(Post 3019624)
can this work on a Renix era Cherokee 88-91?
This is for 97 to 01 AW4 equipped cherokee XJ's. |
Originally Posted by RacerX
(Post 3019624)
can this work on a Renix era Cherokee 88-91?
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Check you out! Throwin' writeups out there! Good writeup man, if I had a late model, I'd implore this one.
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Does this work for manual transmission xj?
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Originally Posted by Basslicks
(Post 3024061)
Check you out! Throwin' writeups out there! Good writeup man, if I had a late model, I'd implore this one.
Originally Posted by cliffpenick
(Post 3025608)
Does this work for manual transmission xj?
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great write up I didn't know they made a factory idle switch.Another mod on my list . Should work great for my sanden on board air setup.
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Originally Posted by thatXJguy
(Post 3019217)
EXT Idle switches are a rare toggle switch that came with police and municipal use Jeep XJs in 1997 and 1998 models. While rare, they still appear on the Internet from time to time. I picked one up on Ebay last week and I got around to installing it. It took a lot of headache trying to follow various directions online because I'm no electrician, but hopefully my hardships will help someone else who wants to do this (learn from my mistakes!)
First off, the EXT idle stands for "extended" idle. This switch bumps your RPMs up to 1000 when pressed while your Jeep is in Neutral or Park. It's a lot like a hand-throttle, only it's electrical instead. The benefits to this are obvious: 1. Higher coolant flow (good for warmer climates) 2. More alternator amperage flow (good for winching and offroad lights) 3. Faster engine warming (good for colder climates) This switch only came on police package Jeeps because the police needed the extra alternator current to run their emergency lights and on-board computer, among the various other electronics that they used. So without further ado, let's get into how this installation works on our every-day Cherokees. This guide will show you how to install a factory Mopar EXT idle switch on a 1997-2001 Jeep Cherokee. You will need: 1. Police package 4-switch bezel 2. Police package EXT idle switch 3. Police package EXT idle switch pigtail 4. Lots of crimps 5. Some extra 18 gauge wire 6. A pair of crimpers 7. Some screwdrivers (both Phillips and flat-head) 8. A pair of wire cutters 9. A basic ratchet set and extensions are recommended I already had the police package 4-switch bezel. I bought it online from Ebay, although they're very rare to come across these days. In fact, so are the EXT idle switches. All of these components are now discontinued and you would be hard-pressed to find any anywhere, although sometimes you get lucky and find them on Ebay like I did. Technically, you don't NEED the EXT idle switch pigtail if you already have the foglight switch pigtail in your Jeep's wiring harness, because you can re-purpose it by simply switching around some wires. But to make things easier, it's recommended. If you will be using the foglight pigtail, you will need to shave off the key at the bottom of the plug so that it will plug into your EXT idle switch. Also, you will need to reverse the orange and black wires when you do your crimping, because they're backwards on the foglight switch pigtail when compared to the EXT idle switch pigtail. So here is the switch, as well as the pigtail that goes with it: http://i61.tinypic.com/64jpl1.jpg http://i62.tinypic.com/287dkqg.jpg As you can see, the EXT idle switch pigtail has four wires coming off of it: 1. An orange wire (this controls the lighting and dimming) 2. A black wire (this is a ground) 3. A blue and white wire (this is where an ignition power source needs to go) 4. A gray wire (this needs to be routed to pin A12 on your computer) NOTE: You are dealing with ignition electrical here, so don't leave your ignition turned on while you are working on these wires (you can short something out). Now, you're going to want to start by removing the bezel from the switch panel (just pull, hard), and then use a Phillips screwdriver to remove the 3 screws that hold the switch panel to your dash assembly. To start, if you have a factory foglight pigtail tucked back there, you can just snip it off and use those wires. You will want to crimp the orange wire from the foglight harness to the orange wire from the EXT idle switch pigtail. Next, you will crimp the black wire from the foglight harness to the black wire from the EXT idle switch pigtail. You will not use the other two wires coming from the foglight pigtail, so just wrap them with electrical tape or twist on some wire ends. Next, you need to wire in your ignition power source. Directly above the switch panel, you will see a wiring harness wrapped in black electrical tape. You can peel away some of this, and you will find 3 wires in the harness. One of the wires is blue with a white stripe, JUST LIKE the wire coming from your EXT idle switch. You need to splice the blue and white wire from your EXT idle switch pigtail into this wire because that's an ignition power source for your HVAC system. The last wire, the gray one, gets spliced into your computer at pin A12. Pin A12 is the solid gray wire (again, same color as the switch) that is located inside of the first plug on the computer (facing the front of the vehicle). It is the first wire in the second row of the plug. Just snip this wire, run some of your 18 gauge wire (about 5-6 feet) through the firewall from the switch to pin number A12. The bottom piece of the wire that you snipped can be grounded to the chassis. There is a nice spot right under the computer. http://i58.tinypic.com/2zflt6t.png http://i62.tinypic.com/2qlu1sm.jpg http://i61.tinypic.com/28saqz9.jpg Note that because the wires in the cabin are not exposed to the elements, you're fine to just leave them crimped, although the wires near the computer are very vulnerable to corrosion, so I recommend insulating them with shrink wrap or electrical tape. Using your ratchet set to remove the air box will give you a lot more room to work. You might have to cut away some of the wiring loom to access the wires you want. This is fine and won't affect any of the wires. When you're finished, zip-tie your 18-gauge wire to your wire loom to keep it away from moving engine components. Then, re-assemble your dash in the reverse order that you took it apart. Your installation should look similar to this: http://i58.tinypic.com/sw9u0x.jpg Now test your switch. If you did everything correctly, the switch should light up with the rest of your switches when your headlights are turned on. The orange indicator light should turn on when you toggle the switch, and your RPMs should jump to 1000 when toggled on. Do you have to use the EXT idle switch or can you use any style switch? If so any recommendations, possible something more available? |
I just used a plain old steel bat switch in the cab and grounded the wire coming out of the harness since it's in all the second generation computers anyways.
A NOS EXT Idle switch is slick and a clean install, but a $4 switch, a wire tap, and a few feet of wire with a ring termination fits the bill for a trail rig still plated to drive on the road. |
Bump. This is very handy in the hot & muggy South. I run my Jeep on the beach and attached parking lots for LEO activities. Running at 10MPH on the beach the A/C can't maintain a decent comfort level (add in body armour and it sucks!). I pull off to the side and hit this switch in neutral and in a few minutes the A/C cools down nicely. Same would go for a slow speed train ride.
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Originally Posted by cliffpenick
(Post 3025608)
Does this work for manual transmission xj?
The 2.5L PCMs support the same function via the Power Steering Pressure Switch, regardless of transmission. Pin 12 again. In that scenario the wire is dark blue with a brown stripe and heads to the power steering system instead of into the cab. The 4.0L AW4 OBD-II PCM is the only one that actually has an "elevated idle" pin. Since all of the other PCMs support this, it's possible that the 4.0L manual transmission PCM has this function inside of it too, but there's physically no pin at position 12. You could break yours open and solder one on, if you dare... |
Originally Posted by thatXJguy
(Post 3019217)
EXT Idle switches are a rare toggle switch that came with police and municipal use Jeep XJs in 1997 and 1998 models. While rare, they still appear on the Internet from time to time. I picked one up on Ebay last week and I got around to installing it. It took a lot of headache trying to follow various directions online because I'm no electrician, but hopefully my hardships will help someone else who wants to do this (learn from my mistakes!)
First off, the EXT idle stands for "extended" idle. This switch bumps your RPMs up to 1000 when pressed while your Jeep is in Neutral or Park. It's a lot like a hand-throttle, only it's electrical instead. The benefits to this are obvious: 1. Higher coolant flow (good for warmer climates) 2. More alternator amperage flow (good for winching and offroad lights) 3. Faster engine warming (good for colder climates) This switch only came on police package Jeeps because the police needed the extra alternator current to run their emergency lights and on-board computer, among the various other electronics that they used. So without further ado, let's get into how this installation works on our every-day Cherokees. This guide will show you how to install a factory Mopar EXT idle switch on a 1997-2001 Jeep Cherokee. You will need: 1. Police package 4-switch bezel 2. Police package EXT idle switch 3. Police package EXT idle switch pigtail 4. Lots of crimps 5. Some extra 18 gauge wire 6. A pair of crimpers 7. Some screwdrivers (both Phillips and flat-head) 8. A pair of wire cutters 9. A basic ratchet set and extensions are recommended I already had the police package 4-switch bezel. I bought it online from Ebay, although they're very rare to come across these days. In fact, so are the EXT idle switches. All of these components are now discontinued and you would be hard-pressed to find any anywhere, although sometimes you get lucky and find them on Ebay like I did. Technically, you don't NEED the EXT idle switch pigtail if you already have the foglight switch pigtail in your Jeep's wiring harness, because you can re-purpose it by simply switching around some wires. But to make things easier, it's recommended. If you will be using the foglight pigtail, you will need to shave off the key at the bottom of the plug so that it will plug into your EXT idle switch. Also, you will need to reverse the orange and black wires when you do your crimping, because they're backwards on the foglight switch pigtail when compared to the EXT idle switch pigtail. So here is the switch, as well as the pigtail that goes with it: https://i61.tinypic.com/64jpl1.jpg https://i62.tinypic.com/287dkqg.jpg As you can see, the EXT idle switch pigtail has four wires coming off of it: 1. An orange wire (this controls the lighting and dimming) 2. A black wire (this is a ground) 3. A blue and white wire (this is where an ignition power source needs to go) 4. A gray wire (this needs to be routed to pin A12 on your computer) NOTE: You are dealing with ignition electrical here, so don't leave your ignition turned on while you are working on these wires (you can short something out). Now, you're going to want to start by removing the bezel from the switch panel (just pull, hard), and then use a Phillips screwdriver to remove the 3 screws that hold the switch panel to your dash assembly. To start, if you have a factory foglight pigtail tucked back there, you can just snip it off and use those wires. You will want to crimp the orange wire from the foglight harness to the orange wire from the EXT idle switch pigtail. Next, you will crimp the black wire from the foglight harness to the black wire from the EXT idle switch pigtail. You will not use the other two wires coming from the foglight pigtail, so just wrap them with electrical tape or twist on some wire ends. Next, you need to wire in your ignition power source. Directly above the switch panel, you will see a wiring harness wrapped in black electrical tape. You can peel away some of this, and you will find 3 wires in the harness. One of the wires is blue with a white stripe, JUST LIKE the wire coming from your EXT idle switch. You need to splice the blue and white wire from your EXT idle switch pigtail into this wire because that's an ignition power source for your HVAC system. The last wire, the gray one, gets spliced into your computer at pin A12. Pin A12 is the solid gray wire (again, same color as the switch) that is located inside of the first plug on the computer (facing the front of the vehicle). It is the first wire in the second row of the plug. Just snip this wire, run some of your 18 gauge wire (about 5-6 feet) through the firewall from the switch to pin number A12. The bottom piece of the wire that you snipped can be grounded to the chassis. There is a nice spot right under the computer. https://i58.tinypic.com/2zflt6t.png https://i62.tinypic.com/2qlu1sm.jpg https://i61.tinypic.com/28saqz9.jpg Note that because the wires in the cabin are not exposed to the elements, you're fine to just leave them crimped, although the wires near the computer are very vulnerable to corrosion, so I recommend insulating them with shrink wrap or electrical tape. Using your ratchet set to remove the air box will give you a lot more room to work. You might have to cut away some of the wiring loom to access the wires you want. This is fine and won't affect any of the wires. When you're finished, zip-tie your 18-gauge wire to your wire loom to keep it away from moving engine components. Then, re-assemble your dash in the reverse order that you took it apart. Your installation should look similar to this: https://i58.tinypic.com/sw9u0x.jpg Now test your switch. If you did everything correctly, the switch should light up with the rest of your switches when your headlights are turned on. The orange indicator light should turn on when you toggle the switch, and your RPMs should jump to 1000 when toggled on. just did the extended idle on my 97 xj. I used a splice connector from the gray a12 wire ran it inside cab now i used my factory fog light switch as the switch for the ext idle. I used a splice connector and spliced into the light blue wire and cut off the wire at the wire harness and wrapped it with electrical tape. Now the issue im having is once i plug into the fog light switch the idle does go up but wont go back down when i toggle the switch the only way for the idle to go back down is if i disconnect the fog light switch or if the switch is still hooked up i take the small bulb out and the idle goes back down. What is going on here. Help please |
The extended idle switch is internally electrically different than the fog light switch.
To use the fog light switch, you must use a relay. The fog light switch will power the relay (85 and 86), and A12 (87) will go to ground (30). |
Originally Posted by wizardpc
(Post 3364247)
The extended idle switch is internally electrically different than the fog light switch.
To use the fog light switch, you must use a relay. The fog light switch will power the relay (85 and 86), and A12 (87) will go to ground (30). |
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