schardein

Hello, I'm really sorry for not responding sooner and to report that the trim piece is gone. I had a house fire back in January. It's been a challenging year, and I've been slowly working on putting my life back together.

I agree the rule of thumb is the front track width is usually equal to or wider than the rear. Use and priorities definitely plays a role: daily driver- reliability just want to make it drivable- ease of swap/installation max effort off road- strength and ground clearance Pumpkin clearance might not be a concern for a daily driver, but 1/4" difference on a off-roader can be the difference between stuck and not stuck.

I make over 100 sales per month. I figure at that volume, I'm bound to deal with one or two bad apples. Although it is frustrating when it happens. As for eBay's policies, I think they do a really good job of being fair to both the buyer and seller. I would say they have actually improved in that area over the years. Yes, they do have a return policy that even if a seller says no returns, the buyer can still return it, if the item is "not as advertised". Which of course opens the door to abusing the policy. In this case, I gave the seller a 50% refund, giving my reason as the opened and damaged module. I can't prove he switched the internals. He then complained to eBay, claiming I did the damage myself. Which really, how do I prove I didn't? Ebay refunded him the other 50%, but at no cost to me. In other words, eBay ate the difference. Good on them. I blocked the customer from seeing/purchasing my listings, I have a one strike policy in that regard.

Wow. Great info and superb work diagnosing it.

I have a setup for testing these. A steering column with delay switch on a bench, and wiring adapters to also test the 3 different XJ wiper motors, as well as CJ and YJ wiper motors. And a bench 12v power supply. I've got boxes of modules that don't work. Seems like about one of ten works. And even if you find a good one, there's no guarantee they will last. I converted my CJ to a YJ column, gaining the wiper switch with delay on the column. I put a tested delay module in and less than two years later it's stopped working. Whoever figures out how to repair these will have all the business they can handle. I recently sold a good (tested) module on eBay. Then the buyer contacted me claiming it was bad. Knowing that it was a possibility, I accepted the return. Turns out he had opened the case (damaging it)(and he admitted opening it in a message) and switched out the circuit board with his bad original, and then returned the junk to me. I'll no longer be selling them on eBay, but if I find good ones, I'll offer them to members here. I charged a high price, because finding a good one is difficult, and mine are tested. But I'm starting to think they might not be worth that much given the failure rate. I've tested modules from XJs and YJs (marked XJ/YJ), and ZJ modules marked "ZJ only". The couple ZJ modules I've had worked and tested fine in my bench test setup. I figure there must be a reason they had two different part numbers, but in my limited experience they are compatible with XJ/MJ/YJ.

Just about any product advertised as chrome polish will work. Then it's a matter of masking off the painted area and repainting it, if desired. I've seen the painted area be a metallic gray color, or also black. Then if the center sticker is missing, you could order a replacement from https://3dcarstickers.com. They might not be an exact copy, but close enough for a daily driver.

I have these photos of RHD XJs. Sorry these aren't great pictures, I was really only interested in the alternator mount. I do have a RHD alternator mount, if you need more pictures of that. EDIT: Deleted pictures

Thank you!

I have a non-tilt, non-delay column in my truck. Wanted to add delay wipers. This was maybe 10 years ago, the switches were listed on Rockauto, but very expensive. I’m not surprised if they are hard to find now. And they aren’t exactly easy to remove/replace. It might actually be easier to get a column from an XJ that already has delay wipers. You’ll probably end up with tilt as well, since that is a common feature in XJs. As is console (floor) shift automatics.

For the headlight connector, go on Rockauto and search for Standard Motor Products HP3950 ($1.97). Relay, Standard Motor Products RY116 ($5.10). Although you might search around and find a relay with a mounting tab. That might be useful depending on how you make your harness and where/how you intend to mount your relays. Although you could just tape them to the harness. As for a terminal block, lots of ways to go. One thing to keep in mind, Amps x Volts = Watts. So if you have a 20 amp circuit, multiply that by 12 volts, that's 240watts! Another example, a light rated at 100 watts, divide by 12, equals a draw of 8.3 amps. A 20 amp rated circuit is enough to handle a pair of most halogen headlights, which are commonly rated at 35 watts low beam and 65 watts high beam.

Let us know how it goes. The battery going dead after doing some work is suspicious, but maybe it is unrelated and its time was up.

Sorry to bring this up again, I'm nearing my limit on photos again. I deleted a video and replaced it with a picture to get the same info across. Some of my photos are from old for sale ads, and I can't delete them because the they are archived.

I am running out of picture storage, but this is the key in sense switch for a tilt column.

What color is your warning buzzer? Black or blue? The blue warning buzzer has the headlights on warning, the black does not. It's located just to the driver side of the fuse box. The key in-door open warning could be a bad buzzer or a bad switch in the column. That switch is often damaged, left out, or installed incorrectly when the steering column is serviced. If you want to bench test the buzzer, you need a 12v power source and I can tell you the procedure. For the sentinel system/ headlight delay box, check your fuse box. Do you have a 25a fuse in the spot marked HDLPDLY? That fuse has to be in place for the sentinel relay to work. Is the cab wiring harness original for the 87, or is it from the 90? The courtesy lights under the dash use a different connector. 84-89 early version connector, 90-96 later version. Unplug the driver side courtesy light and use a voltmeter to check the two wires in the vehicle side connector. One should be hot all the time (key on or key off, doesn't matter, B+ all the time). The other should have a ground ONLY when the door is opened or when the headlight switch knob is turned full counterclockwise until it clicks. If you have something different, note the wire colors coming out of the connector and post the results here.

To me, the clicking sounds like a relay or solenoid cycling. If the battery is completely removed, no way a relay/solenoid could be clicking. It would have to be metal expanding/contracting from heat, as ohm said. Do you have an aftermarket stereo? Maybe a big capacitor to run a subwoofer? If it does the clicking again, try grabbing and holding the various relays and starter solenoid on the pass inner fender. That click is loud enough, I think you will know if you are touching the relay when it happens.

Are you saying you completely disconnected and removed the battery from the truck and it is still clicking like in the videos?

I had death wobble on a low mileage, completely stock 2000 Cherokee. I inspected everything, and nothing looked bad. I threw a new track bar on it. All that did was change the speed at which death wobble most commonly happened. Then I put new tires on it. That solved the DW permanently. If you are driving 70+ mph on 12 year old tires, I really recommend getting new tires. There are lots of variables to determining tire life, but 12 years old is pushing it for a rig driven at interstate speeds. You could rotate your tires (swap front to rear) and see if that makes a difference, a free test you could probably do yourself.

Cool, I replied to your PM. I'll start looking for a box!

I don't think the dash lights circuit is the real issue. Dimming down the light probably does create more heat in the coil on the headlight switch, but not enough to cause problems with longevity. Maybe others can chime in if they've had problems. The real issue is the power for the headlights. Here is the power flow- power comes from the battery, into the cab, through the headlight switch, through the high/low beam switch, back out of the cab into the engine compartment, and finally to the headlights. All of the power for the headlights is going through the switch. With the relay harness, power goes from the battery into the cab, to the headlight switch, to the high/low beam switch, back out into the engine compartment where it triggers the relays. The relays draw maybe one amp. That is a tiny load for the headlight switch. Once the relay is triggered, power flows from the battery, to the relay, to the headlights. That is a much shorter circuit to follow and results in less voltage drop as it reaches the headlights. You get two great outcomes- less load on the headlight switch, and higher voltage at the headlights.

No impact at all.

And to answer your question about that unused terminal- That terminal is power out for the parking lights circuit. It is OFF when the light switch is off, ON when the parking lights are on, but OFF when the headlights are on. Some older vehicles had front parking lights ON when parking lights were on, but OFF when the headlights were on. My 1967 CJ5 was this way, stock. I'm not sure the reasoning behind this, but my guess is it was to save a couple amps of power draw. This was back when generators were still used, and even alternators were commonly rated at ~37 amps output. Saving 1 to 1.5 amps from the front parking lights was probably worth it.

First picture is engine control computers. Second picture is ignition coil and control module.

You mention the year of each headlight switch you got from the junkyard. But you don't mention the year of your Comanche. Put your vehicle information in your signature line, you can look at everyone's replies for examples. This helps other forum members to help you. Headlight switches are different for different years. 1984-1991 are different than 1992-2001. That "extra" terminal on the bottom picture isn't used in Cherokees/Comanches. If you look at the connector, there is no wire in that location. The top switch is likely an original. The bottom switch is probably a replacement. The extra terminal serves a purpose in other applications that use the same switch, but not in the XJ/MJ. The factory pillar lights will work the same as the under dash courtesy lights. They come on when you open the doors. Or by using the headlight switch (turn knob full CCW). Or they can be switched on or off at the lights themselves. When you replaced the headlight switch, hopefully you inspected the connector. It's not uncommon to find the plastic melted and terminals burnt. A new headlight switch might get things working, but is only half a fix if the connector/terminals are damaged as well.

I can see to schools of thought here. Get rid of the extra parts, or hoard them. One thing most will agree on, old ORIGINAL sensors are likely better quality than new *aftermarket* replacements. My general rule of them is never throw away original Jeep parts. You may end up looking for it in the future, but even if you don't, someone else is looking for it.