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May have found a solution.... time will tell. Looks like by rear tailight ground had corroded a touch, despite the coating I put on it a few years ago. Willing to bet the one I added as per Cruiser54's tips has done the same. 

 

Cleaned with the key in the on position when I had a non-start condition (only time it has happened with the temp over 60!) and could hear the pump prime when I reconnected it 

 

I'll wait for the next cold snap and if there's no issues I'll declare it fixed (and redo the ground on the pump itself).

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Ever seen this?

 

IMPROVING THE FUEL PUMP GROUND

The fuel pump and fuel tank sending unit ground at a sheet metal screw up behind the spare tire on an XJ, XJ-Body-Ground.jpg?resize=300%2C162&ssl=and behind the driver’s taillamp on an MJ.

Not only is a sheet metal screw a lousy way to ground things, this ground path is long and travels through some connectors that are prone to corrosion and moisture.

Locate the black wire on  the HARNESS side of the fuel pump/sender 3 wire connector. Remove a 6″ length of the split loom covering. Strip back about 1/2″ of insulation from the BLACK wire.1-fuel pump ground MJ

Take your new ground wire, preferably at least 14 gauge and 12 to 18 inches long as needed, strip it about 3/4″, and wrap it around the exposed part of the harness plug wire.1-fuel pump ground mj-002Solder the connection. Tape it up and reinstall the split loom covering.1-fuel pump ground mj-003

At the other end of your new ground wire, add a crimp on eyelet. Attach the eyelet under a bolt that goes directly into the chassis. Be sure to clean the attaching point til shiny and apply OxGard to the contact surfaces.1-fuel pump ground mj-004

 

 

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On 1/1/2024 at 1:46 PM, cruiser54 said:

Ever seen this?

 

IMPROVING THE FUEL PUMP GROUND

The fuel pump and fuel tank sending unit ground at a sheet metal screw up behind the spare tire on an XJ, XJ-Body-Ground.jpg?resize=300%2C162&ssl=and behind the driver’s taillamp on an MJ.

Not only is a sheet metal screw a lousy way to ground things, this ground path is long and travels through some connectors that are prone to corrosion and moisture.

Locate the black wire on  the HARNESS side of the fuel pump/sender 3 wire connector. Remove a 6″ length of the split loom covering. Strip back about 1/2″ of insulation from the BLACK wire.1-fuel pump ground MJ

Take your new ground wire, preferably at least 14 gauge and 12 to 18 inches long as needed, strip it about 3/4″, and wrap it around the exposed part of the harness plug wire.1-fuel pump ground mj-002Solder the connection. Tape it up and reinstall the split loom covering.1-fuel pump ground mj-003

At the other end of your new ground wire, add a crimp on eyelet. Attach the eyelet under a bolt that goes directly into the chassis. Be sure to clean the attaching point til shiny and apply OxGard to the contact surfaces.1-fuel pump ground mj-004

 

 

Yup. Did it back in 2016. Re-cleaning the grounds hasn't solved the problem. Still getting no fuel somedays. Isn't fixing it now. 

 

Have I mentioned that I hate intermittent electrical issues? Next step is checking my other grounds, I'm starting to wonder if maybe my body isn't grounded well, although that should give me a lot of other issues too.

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Forgot to plug in my block heater last night, my MJ cranked a touch slower than normal but fired right up at -28°C. Been a weird winter, this is the coldest morning we’ve had so far. 

 

I “fixed” a buddy’s alternator once at the side of the road by adding a 10awg ground wire between the battery and body.
Have you noticed if any of your fuses or fusible links might have an issue? I’ve seen fuses fail from vibration or something that causes them to crack, sometimes they connect sometimes not. 
I feel you though on intermittent issues. Sometimes just poking around will be enough to “correct” a fault, push a loose connection back together or something, and then you don’t really know what happened. Definitely frustrating, makes you want to rip it all out and replace everything. 

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On 1/9/2024 at 12:44 PM, gogmorgo said:

Forgot to plug in my block heater last night, my MJ cranked a touch slower than normal but fired right up at -28°C. Been a weird winter, this is the coldest morning we’ve had so far. 

 

I “fixed” a buddy’s alternator once at the side of the road by adding a 10awg ground wire between the battery and body.
Have you noticed if any of your fuses or fusible links might have an issue? I’ve seen fuses fail from vibration or something that causes them to crack, sometimes they connect sometimes not. 
I feel you though on intermittent issues. Sometimes just poking around will be enough to “correct” a fault, push a loose connection back together or something, and then you don’t really know what happened. Definitely frustrating, makes you want to rip it all out and replace everything. 

No, I've checked fuses and swapped them when having issues without any success. 

 

28F today and won't start. Drove it last night to the gym right before the temp dropped (was ~60F). 

 

Tried cleaning both grounds (taillight one and the one I added to the fuel pump) with no success. Guess I'll pull the tank and replace the pump at this point.... I'm not sure what else I can do. I might try bypassing the resistor again just for the heck of it. 

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Before dropping the tank, run some preliminary voltage checks first.

 

Using a voltmeter or 12vdc testlight (preferred) check for Battery_Voltage_(B+) on the following pins (use battery_negative terminal for ground):
D1_5:  B+ (Hot at all times)
D1_6:  At KEY ON only (B+ (Hot for 2-3 seconds)). During CRANK Hot at all times.
D2_4:  B+ (Hot during KEY ON and Hot during CRANK).

 

D1_D2.jpg.6a80c3f7836373dcaeefc968569a8d65.jpg

 

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On 1/16/2024 at 1:04 PM, Ωhm said:

Before dropping the tank, run some preliminary voltage checks first.

 

Using a voltmeter or 12vdc testlight (preferred) check for Battery_Voltage_(B+) on the following pins (use battery_negative terminal for ground):
D1_5:  B+ (Hot at all times)
D1_6:  At KEY ON only (B+ (Hot for 2-3 seconds)). During CRANK Hot at all times.
D2_4:  B+ (Hot during KEY ON and Hot during CRANK).

 

D1_D2.jpg.6a80c3f7836373dcaeefc968569a8d65.jpg

 

Ohm, where are these located? I'm not a Renix year,  just fyi.

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