GHayduke

Need Electrical Help! Where to troubleshoot next??? When I got the crashed donor XJ, the dome light stayed on all the time regardless of the switches position. Quoted from earlier: " Another related & weird issue is the jeep does not prime the fuel pump/run, if the drivers door is closed. (works fine opened). & if the door is closed while running- the engine runs poorly or dies.... I'm assuming the door switch must be bad & creating a short or ground to something..???? " First off, I'm new to this wiring. I've worked with 80's and older car wiring plenty, but this 98' is a different amimal... I know Alexia said I can ground the fuel pump to the body & I might do that (in addition), but it seems like a work around & not solving a bigger issue... & I want my dome lights etc to function too... I recieved the new door switches and installed them, but the issue was not resolved. I'm using the XJ harness and switches. I tested each switch compared toan old switch and they all work the same: all three wires are disconnected (switch presed) until switch pops out, then all three connect. None of the switch harness cables show continuity (or ground) to the body. I checked continuity & power at the drivers side main harness plug, ingition off: the side BLK wire/pin show ground, the middle pin/ Blk w/blue strip wire shows 4.44volts & not grounded. Voltage is seen between either outer pin bridged to inside pin as well as to a body ground. I'll retest Yellow as I though I saw ground once?? If the key is in ignition, the warning beeper works when door is opened (switch out/closed) but no dome light/ or floor lamps. The dome lamp bulb looks good, floor bulbs may be burned out? The manual dome light side courtesy lamps work if turned on. Passenger side switch: I tested the switch and it workes correctly or as the driver side does. At the interior harness the plug only uses to outer two wires. There does not seem to be any continuity or power when bridging these wires. Blk wire shows groud, yellow does too. Maybe just bridging / grounding a circuit? From the basic wiring diagram I'm guessing the yellow shouldn't be grounded? where to start? Possiblly related?: I plugged in the rear lighting/turn signal harnesses to the factory plugs, and wired up the nose (or tried too). when the ingition is on, one rear bulb is always lite, even if I ground the stray body ground? I figured it might be related to the door switch issue so I stopped & went back to the door switch circuit testing.... I'll add more if I discover anything new.... But I'm not sure where to test next. Any help would be appreaciated as always!!! I'm so close to having the project on the road if I could solve the electrical issues.

The Mainland I'm guessing.... :laughin:

You decided to keep the Manche? Nice! Hopefully you can use some the the like new parts I traded you!

Where did you find the diff covers? Haven't seen those before.

I wish they made chrome handles for the late 90's XJs... But alas..it's hard to get chrome on modern cars anymore... even just chromed plastic...

And assuming the sensor is working does the computer log this data? And if so.... Does anybody even read those TPS reports?

I have a craftsman one that sat behind the wheel well, but it was just a tool box. Literally with a rear door and small pull out tool drawers so not much else would fit in it. I use a bed side box as a mini cross box in my full size truck & it works well. just ideas.

I lifted my MJ about two inches and went to Rubicon Shocks as they are supposed to be longer. To use them on a 88' Comanche I did the following mods: Front- Pressed out the longer JK bar pins and pressed in the shorter MJ bar pins & installed them. Rear- Pressed out the bar pins and drilled out the bushings as much as I could as it's hard to drill out the rubber. Still didn't want to fit 9/16 inch studs. I then ended up greasing the bushings, and using a map gas torch to heat the MJ shock studs and lightly hammer on the rear shocks. You could say this was not a basic bolt on application. Ended up being a few hours of work, but for the $20 I paid for the shocks it worked.

I used the front of a XJ liner, trimmed until I liked the fit, then covered it in cheap Polar Fleece from JoAnn fabrics. Looks decent for the most part. picks on my build thead page 5. http://comancheclub.com/topic/37521-haydukes-operation-comanche-repower-88-to-98-swap/page-5 It looked perfect until I forced it to flex up to meet the XJ dome light I welded in. Then it creased a bit. In hind sight, I could have spaced the light down a inch and prevented this.

If you get a Wolo 419 Bad Boy horn or the knock-off above, it will not be as loud as a real air-horn, but for a jeep definitly Much louder 118 dB, 530/680 Hz http://www.harborfreight.com/bad-boy-air-horn-94117.html Or they now show a Big Bad Max at 123dB. Cost wise these are a cheapish easy addition, one horn, one relay, & wire. if twined in with the existing or upgraded horns. On my Dodge I have all on the same button, two factory horns, a low Bull Horn, http://www.farmandfleet.com/products/392585-wolo-bull-horn.html and the twin bad boy horn. Almost loud enough over the Cummins 12Valve roar... One of the electric PA style horn units might be a option too. The horn sound I really want is the Fire Truck / Ambulance electronic low honk, simulating a old air horn.

Here's the tank after I used a heat gun hammer & a spring shackle to push in the side a little. I now have plenty of room for the driveshaft. And mounted ready to go... just need to test the sender wiring as pump & engine runs. Mounted Evap box right in front of gas tank. used XJ straps & MJ bolts.

I got the shaft ! I came home to treasure on the front steps today. My Tom Wood's driveshaft, my front Axle seals, and a Chero Haynes manual... too bad the door switches didn't arrive so I could start troubleshooting the electrical. I installed my old stub shaft off the transfercase (because all they had was used ones anyway- this saved me some cost). I then buttoned up the fuel sender wiring confirming color codes via Alexia's post (his post confirmed how I already had wired it :thumbsup: ), and tied the wires up out of the way. I then installed the driveshaft. The clearance between the driveshaft and gas tank is very adequate, I'd guess two inches or more. I started to mount the factory MJ muffler & exhaust, but the old set up is about 5 inches too long. I just ordered a XJ muffler (around 22 inchs long vs. 25-1/2) and will trim some off the tailpipe. The old muffler was rough anyway....

I used the XJ harness so everything then just plugs in for the most part. If you add optional equipment you then need to get creative. I'll likely end up adding a custom relay and power wired for the powered, heated seats I added.

Looking good but Sad to hear you took the stripes off.... I hope they go back on :banana:

you've got pictures of stuff above that I can't even identify? like the first two? Trans part maybe? looking good.. a bumper would help appearance!

Hello, I aligned my doors and installed the latches this weekend. I ended up using the MJ door shims as the doors don't line up without them. Save your thin XJ shims for fine tuning just in case. Adjusting the doors myself was interesting, especially moving them up. I ended up having to hold them open with a strap, push up from the bottom with a jack, and tap the bottom near the hinge side with a deadblow hammer to get them to move up. Here's a picture of my technical door alignment tools! For the latches I decided to try a different route than usual. I looked at a bunch of others pictures as to where the latch goes, held my latch up to the door, guessed and marked the holes. I can always go back and drill & remove the back plate if needed. just didn't want to make more holes to weld shut. I also did not drill and remove the old latch back plate but just moved it over to the outside. The passenger door latch worked ok this way. you can enlarge the holes if you need more adjustment. There is a retainer tab you'll drill through and then have to bend out of the way. On the drivers side, I tried to tear out the tab from the inside & did remove part of it. Then the backing plate can fall out. This is bad because then the door mount bolt plate will not sit well. I tried modifying one, but ended up putting the backing plate back in in the end. The Left nut plate below is the factory bend one. You also could try using nuts in the back. One of the bold heads looks lik the bolt is crooked but the door closes fine. The doors are now working ok but when pushing the outside button to open the doors, I have to depress it way in & sometimes push it twice. It seems tight or bound? It kind of pops when opening the latch. I tried adjusting the latch & even tried adding a shim but nothing seems to improve it? Any advice on what would help? I'm not a auto body guy.

Did you get a picture of the interior roof reinforcement? I know you wanted to assure it wouldn't cave in...

Some people cut out a XJ firewall to use as a template. I cut out a piece and welded it into the MJ firewall. Time consuming, but worked really well! I moved over the XJ gas pedal mount at the same time as well. You can see pictures on page two of my build thread: http://comancheclub.com/topic/37521-haydukes-operation-comanche-repower-88-to-98-swap/page-2

I then pluged in the door wiring, and tested the doors. The electric windows work from both sides, but the power locks on the drivers door don't work? Next I wired up the fuel pump and started the wiring for the fuel level sender as I don't know which wire is which. once connected I tried the ignition to see if it was reading. It's not reading hooked up with wires either way? But then i realized none of the (needle) guages were working on the dash. Not sure if this could be a ground or door issue? Note: I still haven't recieved the new door jam switches and installed them, but the temp & oil pressure gauges worked before...Would it help to just run a ground wire from the battery into the cab and connect to the body like the grounds on the floor harness if grounds are touchy on MJs? So last night I went through both fuse boxes to rule them out. The fuses and relays were tight and didn't want to come out, so every one was pulled, cleaned, checked and reinstalled with a tiny skim of grease on the blades. The only fuse blown was in the interior fuse box, a regular (not mini or maxi) 25amp fuse second down in the top middle of the fuse box. I haven't looked up what this it too yet?

Emmisions / Evap Canister box installed: I installed the Evap box directly in front of the gas tank & cut down the XJ vent lines to connect to it. It's mounting now shares a bolt with the drivers seat. Starting to look much tighter underneth with everything installed. The box is red (below). Doors: I then switched gears and aligned the doors as best I could and installed the latches. The doors are now working ok but when pushing the outside button to open the doors, I have to depress it way in & sometimes push it twice. It seems tight or bound? It kind of pops when opening the latch. I tried adjusting the latch & even tried adding a shim but nothing seems to improve it? Any advice on what would help? I'm not a auto body guy. Adjusting the doors myself was interesting, especially moving them up. I ended up having to hold them open, push up from the bottom with a jack, and tap the bottom with a deadblow hammer to get them to move up. Here's a picture of my technical door alignment tools! :laughin: But in the end it worked out ok...

I'm a Cummins guy as well, running a 5.9 12 valve in my 96 5-1/4 ton truck. You can add fuel and air to the engine and gain power & fuel economy to a point, then you get to a point where you start loosing fuel ecomomy. I saw someone put a early Dodge Sprinter CDI engine ( 6 cyl Mercedes) in a Jeep Scrambler online. I think the 5 or 6 banger sprinter engines might be a good candidate for a MJ or TJ swap. Not sure how tall it is, that's where the 4BT is a issue (need to lift a CJ 4 inches to fit one). But I hear Sprinters can get 30MPG & haul quite a bit.... Might be great mileage in a Jeep. After you get used to the Torq of a diesel, you just don't get that feel from a gasser... especially with the mileage. You roll into the power slower, but boy the power!!! My wifes Mercedes E320 CDI ( 3.2L I-6) puts down 369 ft pds of torq & still gets 34MPG when were going 70+ on the highway in no-where Missouri. EPA milage says 37 highway if your nice to it... It's a cousin to the bigger sprinter engine I believe. Expensive technology yes, but awsome driving performance and feel. I'd love a diesel Jeep !

Ok, for $3.66 a peice I just bought two new ones. When I got the XJ the dome light stayed on with the doors closed so one or both may be bad.... I think the XJ ones have three wires going to them....

Fuel Tank Time! I recieved the ordered fuel filler tube and got a compression fitting for the hard fuel line so decided to install the dakota tank. I decided to do some mild heat warping / clearancing of the tank for the frame member. I figured this will be a daily driver so getting the tank another inch away from the driveshaft would be acceptable to me. I used a heat gun, compressed air gun, and a small sledgehammer to try pushing the heated tank in some. It worked but didn't give me the depth I wanted.. So then I decided to use one of the old rear shackles to uniformly push in the tank (at the same time). I put the shackle above the spot I was heating (seen above) so it would get heated some too. Then I circled the whole area, and pushed the rounded end in & blew compressed air on it for awhile. I think this will give me the wanted clearance. The rear driveshaft has not arrived so I can't check yet... I installed the tank & the Comanche breather hose was not long enough. I used the XJ hose & gained two inches (about 12 total) after cutting off the flaired end. Installed the tank and plumbing & tested. The fuel tank would prime, but we didn't get good pressure at the fuel rail? I did a visual of the whole line & found when installing the tank the fuel line got pushed forward. There is a short plastic section by the firewall that pushed forward and put two kinks in the plastic line closing it off. I flexed it back round with pliers and shortened the line to prevent that & the problem was solved. Jeep starts & runs now! Another related & weird issue is the jeep does not prime the fuel pump/run, if the drivers door is closed. (works fine opened). & if the door is closed while running- the engine runs poorly or dies.... I'm assuming the door switch must be bad & creating a short or ground to something..???? Ever heard of this?

Thanks guys! I learned something about my MJ today! Adjustable Caster.... If the two studs / nuts are rusted and don't move well... Is that what "Caster Oil" is for? :doh:

Did you ever resolve your wobble issue? Who be interesting to know what it was.