Ignition Is Hotwired

[AW-100]

I cannot turn off the Ignition on my MJ. When I shut down the engine all electrical components keep running, like fan, wipers, flashers, headlights etc. No change between on, acc or off. The battery is new, but gets depleted after a couple of days if I don't unhook the battery when parked.

 

I've looked over all wiring harness around the steering column and Ignition, and changed Ignition switch but no better. Any pointers?

 

1986/7 MJ wit a 2,5l AMC 150 and manual transmission.

[skidoo_j]

If you replaced the ignition switch that's on the steering column under the dash try disconnecting your radio. Maybe you've got a short there that's back feeding your accessory circuit. If that doesn't work I'd start pulling relays one at a time to see if any of them have caused a cross in circuits.

[shelbyluvv]

When I bought my truck I had the same issue. A prior owner wired the radio wrong abd it would not shut off.

[AW-100]

Thanx. My radio is hooked directly to the battery, not through the original wiring at all. And the problem was there also without radio. I'll start pulling relays in the morning! :)

[Eagle]

Thanx. My radio is hooked directly to the battery, not through the original wiring at all. And the problem was there also without radio. I'll start pulling relays in the morning! :)

 

Don't pull relays, use a VOM and check fuses. See what's pulling current with the ignition off.

[skidoo_j]

Thanx. My radio is hooked directly to the battery, not through the original wiring at all. And the problem was there also without radio. I'll start pulling relays in the morning! :)

 

Do you know for sure that the factory wiring to the stereo isn't crossed? It's a very very common area to cause a back feed into the acc circuit.

[HOrnbrod]

Don't pull relays, use a VOM and check fuses. See what's pulling current with the ignition off.

 

To make this clearer, disconnect the neg battery terminal. Use the 10A jacks on your multimeter, and observing polarity, connect the leads in series between the disconnected neg battery cable and the battery neg terminal. You will show an amp reading. Then start pulling the fuses one by one until the amp draw decreases to zero (or near) on the meter. This will put you in the ballpark to see which circuit(s) are causing the amp draw.

[AW-100]

Thanks guys, feel like an idiot here... Pulled the cb for the radio, and all went silent... :) Shoud've asked here half a year ago... :D