Big_Mark Posted May 30, 2020 Share Posted May 30, 2020 Hi folks, I'm Mark and I'm a long time wheeler. I had an 80's something Scrambler that went from daily driver to full on trailer queen. Eventually I didn't have time or energy to maintain it, a tow rig and trailer and keep wheeling it so I ended up sending it on to a new owner who did. Fast forward 10 years and I move in to my in laws home and lo and behold what did I see? A white, lifted MJ. After a year of seeing it I was talking to my neighbor and finally asked him about it. He said it was his sons , I made him a low ball offer and he took me up on it. So now I'm a Jeeper once again, and have something to tinker on. And boy howdy is this thing going to take some tinkering. From what the kid told me he swapped out the axles for 1999 axles, installed a 5" rough country lift and spring over in the rear. It has an Aisin AX-15, Manual 5-speed, and NP242J transfer case. I am not sure if these were stock in my rig or if a PO put the transmission in. It starts and runs, headlights work and the rest is sort of a sh*tshow. There is air-conditioning in the floor on the driver side (rusted hole) and the rocker panels look like a sharks grin. My goal is to go one by one through the list of issues and eventually get this thing safe and legal to drive on the road. Here's a glamour shot for you Anyways I found this site on the google and since the old forums I used to go to are now gone I figured this one seemed on topic and here I am. I look forward to getting to know you all and hope you can help me sort through the list. The List: 1. Get Transfer case shifter linkage installed (done) 2. Get fuel gauge working 3. Get speedometer gauge working 4. Get Tachometer working 5. Get tail and side marker lights working (Brake lights and turn signals too) 6. Replace valve cover gasket seal 7. and more.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_Mark Posted May 30, 2020 Author Share Posted May 30, 2020 I'm still in the get to know you phase of this project and have been pulling out random wiring addins from POs. Now I am down to a few what are these under the dash. Does anyone have any idea of what these are supposed to connect to? Above, these are under the steering wheel, whats that big long white connector and what is the white clip in my hand? Random wiring from under the dash, what are these connections for? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted June 10, 2020 Share Posted June 10, 2020 you should post those pics in the Tech forum so more eyes will see 'em. not everyone checks in with the projects, but everyone see Tech. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMO413 Posted June 11, 2020 Share Posted June 11, 2020 http://cruiser54.com 1-6 are a must. #18 helps with your exact issue. mj1988electricalmanual_(1).pdfpdf This is helpful also. Sorry I only have 88 it's very similar. There are connector views at the end. I believe there is only one it two dash harnesses so you will have multiple connectors that go to nothing. There are connector for virtually all the options so these would go no where with that option. Hopefully this will help. Welcome to the club. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_Mark Posted July 3, 2020 Author Share Posted July 3, 2020 Thanks for the tips guys, After taking a closer look at the fuse "box" I noticed some kooky fuse behind it coming out of the back, along with the burnt out and missing fuse connections I figured the Jeep came with a "new" fuse box for a reason. Sure enough, somebody rewired this, why? and seemingly wherever looked good? In the process And finished! After the swap my heater blower, AC pump (no coolant so it's not cold), bed light, hazards, wipers, tach, all work as expected. Glad I did this early, I'd have been chasing my tail otherwise. Next up keep on keepin on the electrical tasks, once those are ironed out I'll deal with the mechanical issues since those, to me, are easier. I may skip to remove the heater box because when I turned on the fan a dust cloud of mouse nest filled the cab.. guess I know where that smell is coming from :-D ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_Mark Posted July 17, 2020 Author Share Posted July 17, 2020 I made some progress today. Had to take a break from trying to get the turn signals working, decided to eliminate the cruise control. I started at the throttle control on the manifold and worked my way back to the vacuum, then the wiring. Ultimately I discovered the big white connector: Is supposed to attache to my non-existant cruise control module, so out came the wiring, pass through hose et al. Removing that system made it easier to see the base system of the brake wiring, and got rid of a few more what does this wire do/go to. Super awesome. I also cleaned up the vacuum axle actuator lines that are no longer in use since the PO did an axle swap, so no vacuum, actuated front axle for me. More discoveries: The wiring to the reverse switch on the transmission isn't connected to the correct sensor/sending unit (I think. More research needed) need to sort tyhis out to get my reverse lights working. The transfer case position sensor has no wire leading to it (as far as I can tell) not sure that I really care I know where 4 low is. Overall this has been a productive a.m. I'm going to eat lunch, read up on the reverse sending unit and see what more I can do! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eaglescout526 Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 Need a CC module? I got a few as I'm trying to get kits together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 your old wiring is going to give me nightmares! glad you were able to sort it all out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
watchamakalit Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 If your removing cruise there are some parts I would like to have. If you would be willing to sell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_Mark Posted July 17, 2020 Author Share Posted July 17, 2020 Awwright I got my reverse lights working! Woot The sending unit was fine but the crimp-spliced harness wires were wet with oil so I cut em, soldered them and heat shrinked them, now I'm up and running. Still no running lights though oh well more things to check out, light switch, fusable links etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_Mark Posted July 17, 2020 Author Share Posted July 17, 2020 5 hours ago, eaglescout526 said: Need a CC module? I got a few as I'm trying to get kits together. No thanks I don't intend to use it, ever. Thanks for the offer though it's appreciated! Watchamakalit PM me with your list of wants, as I said I don't plan to reuse any of the CC stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_Mark Posted August 8, 2020 Author Share Posted August 8, 2020 Well after reading the wiring diagram (Thanks JMO413, that guide has been super useful!) I figured out my "dark Blue" wire was shorting somewhere, after pulling connectors I was able to to narrow it down to the rear part of the harness. The PO had run some extra lights and wiring down the harness so I pulled it all out (the harness too) and did some inspection. I found one of the two 2xDK B and 1x B connectors for the license plate ligts were connected! Since I had the harness out I solders up the ground and DK B bundles, plugged it all back together and now I have marker lights...and nop brake, turn signals hazards or the once working reverse lights. UGH... lectrical man it's a pain in tha ***! Oh well we had some yard work to do and I needed to drive the Jeep so I threw the steering wheel back on and loaded up some blackberry bundles we made last week (we have A LOT of blackberry bushes) to get them out of sight! As for the wiring I think I had a bad ground in the rear all along, I'm going to buy new hazard and turn signal flashers and hope I get my brake lights back. I am so deep into this I think I should cut to the chase and replace the turn signal/hazard switch/harness in the steering column just for peace of mind. I really want to get the lighting to work properly so I can start digging into other stuff like brakes, valve cover and cooling system < STUFF I KNOW HOW TO DO! Lol living on the learning curve is how you learn ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_Mark Posted August 29, 2020 Author Share Posted August 29, 2020 O.k. some progress has been made, Still working out my turn signals and hazards, which let to the steering column and removing the guage cluster. Since I was in so deep and the weather is nice I decided to pull out the dash and get on the de-mouse-pee smell task. Here's what I found in oder (ha ha pun intended) The initial find from behind the blower motor: Then I pulled the whole heater box assemble out and found more evidence (this is where the mouse nest dust cloud came from when I turned on the blower..ugh) After pulling the top off of the case I saw the full monty notice on the right half of the last photo the "dirt" that's my actual smell, it was a brick of mouse poop and pee baked into the heater core and is why the smell started about 2-5 minutes after running the truck. So I rinsed all the crap out, pulled the AC exchanger out (I eliminated my AC as well since is was already discharged and BEAT UP), then I washed all of the heater box compnents with "Rocco and Roxie" Pet stain eliminator, it's and enzyme spray we use to clean up after our cats, it works great and after washing these part twice with it I didn't rise the soap from the foam %100 to help continue breaking down any residual odors. Now the heater box is back in, with a new heater core (I don't want to pull that box again) and this afternoon I hope to have my steering wheel put back together and possibly get the dash back in the truck. MY goal is to be able to drive the truck around the yard by Sunday, we've got more black berries to move! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted August 29, 2020 Share Posted August 29, 2020 eww... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_Mark Posted September 15, 2020 Author Share Posted September 15, 2020 Well i now have all 4 hazards, brake and running lights as well as turn signals! The reverse lights were working but stopped for some reason, that's up next. What I've learned with this electrical system is, GROUND EVERYTHING, THEN GROUND THE GROUNDS WITH ANOTHER GROUND THAT IS GROUNDED My guess on the reverse lights is a ... (wait for it) GROUND ha ha ha ha!! I am losing my mind over here in smoke city. Glad I have Jeep to keep me grounded... O.k. enough jokes, seriously it's been a fun thing to work on in these crazy times and I'm making progress! A few odd things to iron out before I start on the drivetrain, brakes, cooling etc are: 1. Do gauges "go bad" or is it typically just a bad connection somewhere? a. My Oil pressure gauge just sticks around 15 psi, even if I disconnect the sending unit wire, where my temp gauge moves then goes to zero when it's unplugged (sending unit it broken off in block) b. Can I replace the gauges with after market ones or from other model Jeeps of the same vintage? if so anyone have tips there seems to be lots of discussion but Ihaven't found any answers that relate to my problems. 2. The lights in the B pillar, are they supposed to turn on with the under dash lights (turning the headlight switch all the way to the right, or left, can't remember the direction, remember I'm losing my mind) That's all for now I think I'll go dig into the reverse lights some more Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eaglescout526 Posted September 15, 2020 Share Posted September 15, 2020 1 hour ago, Big_Mark said: 1. Do gauges "go bad" or is it typically just a bad connection somewhere? a. My Oil pressure gauge just sticks around 15 psi, even if I disconnect the sending unit wire, where my temp gauge moves then goes to zero when it's unplugged (sending unit it broken off in block) Well these were serviced back in the day by a tech at your local AMC|Jeep dealer so yes they can go back. Take the mask off the cluster and see if you can move the needle on the gauge around and see if it returns to its 15PSI location. B. Depends on which cluster you have. The black and red clusters has the same gauges(minus the speedo) until 96 and so those are still readily available. The blue ones though might be tough. 2. Left. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted September 15, 2020 Share Posted September 15, 2020 tech questions from the OP should really go in to Tech because more eyes will see them and you'll usually get a faster answer. the reverse lights are usually a bad switch on the trans, but if you've got a swapped-in trans it could be most anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiNi Beast Posted September 16, 2020 Share Posted September 16, 2020 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_Mark Posted September 16, 2020 Author Share Posted September 16, 2020 Thanks guys, I'll try posting up tech questions in the tech zone. As for the reverse lights I found the disconnected wire, it was the black and yellow one hanging out of the harness near the ECU. Once I plugged it in the reverse lights came back on. Regarding the oil pressure gauge, when I had the cluster out I moved the indicator to zero and it moved back to it's current position, even out of the truck. So perhaps it's broken. EagleScout you got any of these laying around? (do you want more of my $ ? haw haw haw...) I have a blue cluster, with all the gauges. When it was out I cleaned up all the contacts, unscrewed each gauge screw, cleaned and replaced it and it's contacts, then replaced all the bulbs in an attempt to not have to take the cluster out again anytime soon. I'f I can't get new gauges or get these ones to work I may opt for some mechanical after market ones since I like to know what my oil pressure and engine temperatures are! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eaglescout526 Posted September 16, 2020 Share Posted September 16, 2020 12 minutes ago, Big_Mark said: EagleScout you got any of these laying around? (do you want more of my $ ? haw haw haw...) Lol, I don't have one laying around. I could probably get an HO cluster from AMC salvage and take it apart and send you the gauge. Orrrr I can get you a NOS one from vintage for $60. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_Mark Posted September 16, 2020 Author Share Posted September 16, 2020 1 hour ago, eaglescout526 said: Lol, I don't have one laying around. I could probably get an HO cluster from AMC salvage and take it apart and send you the gauge. Orrrr I can get you a NOS one from vintage for $60. So which cluster do I appear to have here? I think if I knew that it might help me figure out how to fix it, if I can't fix it then I'll be sending you some $$ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eaglescout526 Posted September 16, 2020 Share Posted September 16, 2020 You have the Renix black style which is the one that has a few left as NOS. That cluster style you have continued until 96. Cleaning the contacts is all you can do without tearing into the gauge itself too much. let me know what you want to do. Edit, see if you can move the needle around and test it to see if it wants to return to its final resting position. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted September 16, 2020 Share Posted September 16, 2020 don't the needles pop off? can it be put back on at the 0 mark? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eaglescout526 Posted September 16, 2020 Share Posted September 16, 2020 The needles can come off but I thought it was tough to re-center the needles once ready to reinstall onto the gauge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdog Posted September 16, 2020 Share Posted September 16, 2020 All the ones on a black cluster that I tried to remove the needles broke off Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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