Jerry.....….I know you da man when it comes to Jeeps!!! When ever I have an issue and look to the Sites/Posts/Threads to find answers, I always try to catch your advise........I've only had success doing so and I've done a lot of stuff over the years on my Jeep. So thank you for all the time and effort you make Posting etc....
And thank you all for responding. Let me just say this;
Since I wanted to find something that would allow me to confirm that disconnecting the clock spring, while it was still in place and since there's no straight forward answer on the internet...…"anywhere" to the question;
Can I disconnect the Clock Spring Harness and is it "safe" to do so (airbag won't deploy) and if doing so, will confirm a bad clock spring, (eliminate the rough idle, stalling, bucking, lurching at 2k rpm).
The answer is; you can disconnect the Clock Spring Electrical Harness and by doing so, you can confirm that the Clock Spring is the cause of your problems. Here's what I did;
FIRST I DISCONNECTED MY BATTERY AND WAITED 10 MINUTES.
I PULLED OFF THE CLOCK SPRING CONNECTION IN BACK OF THE CLOCK SPRING.
RECONNECTED MY BATTERY.
THE JEEP STARTED......NO PROBLEM.
MY ISSUE WITH THE ROUGH IDLE.....STALLING, BUCKING, LURCHING, GONE!!!
THIS IS ONE WAY TO TEST FOR A BAD CLOCK SPRING.
Now, in one of Jerry's Posts......probably going back years.....he mentioned that the TPS (Throttle Position Sensor) can be effected if the Clock Spring shorts, is broken (gets wet because it rains into your Jeep).
Let me tell you...…..he was absolutely right!!!
My deal was finding a way to confirm what he said and to make sure I was pinpoint the cause, before purchasing a damn
$ 150.00 part. Keeping in mind, lots of guys go for a new TPS before confirming if it's the Clock Spring that's bad. Again, to some other posts I've read;
NEVER BUY A USED CLOCK SPRING.
Now, final question/thought; I read a lot about trying to dry out the clock spring, (again, I was an ass and left the top down and it rained heavily into my Jeep, which I'm certain, now, was the reason my issue occurred in the first place),
I've tried, removing the upper and lower shroud on the steering column and I put a small fan, both underneath and above the steering column so that air would blow onto the clock spring.....in an attempt to "dry out" the clock spring.
How long, is long enough, to confirm that trying to dry it out...….isn't going to work and that I should just order and replace the Clock Spring?
Again, thanks to everyone for all their help!!!!
You guys are great!!!