Hazards, interior lights, and left turn signal all not working

Iron Sky

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I know there’s a few of these threads out there but mines a bit different.

Put in a new license plate light and went to start the Jeep one night. Everything’s fine until I turn the headlights on, then I hear a pop (sounded like from the fuse box) and lost all interior lights and tail/running lights. Next day looked for a blown fuse but all were fine. Noticed only right turn signal worked, when I tried hazards and left turn signal got a loud buzz from the relay.

Replaced relay with the right one for LED’s (was going to do this eventually but fast flashers isn’t a big deal to me) - fixed the fast flash on the right side but all other symptoms persist.

Checked the grounds for the rear lights as suggested, checked the wiring, checked all fuses both under dash and under hood - all 100% intact. What the heck do I check next? Could it be the headlight switch or the turn signal switch? Not sure what could be selectively killing things. And why did I hear a pop if no fuse went?
 
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Did you check the fuses by looking at them or with a multimeter to see if there is voltage on both sides?
 
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You blew the tail lamp fuse. The manufacturer feeds the illumination lamps from the tail lamp circuit so if you loose tail lamps you have an indicator (no dash lights) I would pull the tail light lenses and inspect the bulbs and sockets. Sounds like the issue is in the left side. Pay close attention to the contacts in the bulb socket for any way the electrical contact could touch the metal socket housing. Check the bulb it should have two Filaments make sure they are not melted or touching each other.
 
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Thanks for the ideas. I swapped to LED tails so I don’t have the dual filament bulbs anymore or “can” grounded wires. I ran them directly to the body when I rewired.

Regarding the fuses, I just pulled them and visually checked. I’ll have to pull the entire box and check both sides. Any specific fuses I should check?
 
You don't have to pull them. Take a volt meter or test light touch the little opening and see of there's power on both sides
 
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Thanks for the ideas. I swapped to LED tails so I don’t have the dual filament bulbs anymore or “can” grounded wires. I ran them directly to the body when I rewired.

Regarding the fuses, I just pulled them and visually checked. I’ll have to pull the entire box and check both sides. Any specific fuses I should check?

You do not need to pull the whole box to test. Check with a test lamp without removing the fuse. The fuses have an exposed metal terminal on each side for testing. The pull the left led that sounds like where the problem is.
 
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Thanks for the ideas. I swapped to LED tails so I don’t have the dual filament bulbs anymore or “can” grounded wires. I ran them directly to the body when I rewired.

Regarding the fuses, I just pulled them and visually checked. I’ll have to pull the entire box and check both sides. Any specific fuses I should check?

When did the problem start?
 
When did the problem start?

A few days ago. I had a different LED license plate light and upgraded to a better one, and prior to that everything worked just fine (aside from fast flashers). Hadn’t tested it yet, but all I did was use the already working ground/power I had so did not expect anything to go wrong. Hopped in one night, started it up, turned on the headlights, heard a pop on the passenger side and then my interior lights flickered and completely failed. It wasn’t until the next day I realized tail lights were gone, front running lights gone and left turn/hazards yielded a loud buzzing from the relay and zero light.
 
Well I figured it might have been due to the license plate light so I disconnected it completely. Last night I properly rewired the tail lights since I was already there and cleaned up a lot of splices etc but totally disconnected all wiring to the license plate at the harness.

Then went in with my circuit tester and ran every fuse I had under there (found a couple I don’t even need anymore lol) but, what I did find was this: all fuses were cold on each end without the key in the ignition except for #2 which was hot on both ends (stop lights). With ACC power on, all were hot except for 12 and 4. However, #1 was only hot on the right side. Pulled that fuse and it was blown, not obviously but I must have missed it the first time.

Thought this was my answer and replaced it with another 20, put the new relay in and when I attempted to use the hazards promptly blew the fuse. Replaced it with another, put in the old relay, and nothing - no blown fuse (that I noticed) but also no turn signals, no hazards, nothing on either side.

Ran out of time today so I’ll have to start again tomorrow. Any other ideas I can check before I start running through all the wiring for a short? I know all wiring from at least the drivers seat to the tail lights is good.
 
Well I figured it might have been due to the license plate light so I disconnected it completely. Last night I properly rewired the tail lights since I was already there and cleaned up a lot of splices etc but totally disconnected all wiring to the license plate at the harness.

Then went in with my circuit tester and ran every fuse I had under there (found a couple I don’t even need anymore lol) but, what I did find was this: all fuses were cold on each end without the key in the ignition except for #2 which was hot on both ends (stop lights). With ACC power on, all were hot except for 12 and 4. However, #1 was only hot on the right side. Pulled that fuse and it was blown, not obviously but I must have missed it the first time.

Thought this was my answer and replaced it with another 20, put the new relay in and when I attempted to use the hazards promptly blew the fuse. Replaced it with another, put in the old relay, and nothing - no blown fuse (that I noticed) but also no turn signals, no hazards, nothing on either side.

Ran out of time today so I’ll have to start again tomorrow. Any other ideas I can check before I start running through all the wiring for a short? I know all wiring from at least the drivers seat to the tail lights is good.
Your fuse 1 that was blow controls your running lamps, license plate lamp and feeds the fuse that controls your illumination lamps (dash).
I would start by pressing the brakes and checking both brake lamps with the key off
Then I would turn the key on and activate the left turn signal . Does the fuse blow? Does the rear tail lamp light up? Does it flash? Fast or slow? Check the light and fuse if it blew the left side has an issue.
Then do this with the right turn signal.
Then turn on the running lamps and check all the lamps front and back.
I can walk you through the wiring diagram, we need to know what is working and what is not working to start now that the fuses are replaced.
 
Found one of the problems in the drivers side turn signal harness - two wires were pinched together shorting out. Fixed the harness, got back hazards and such, but no turn signals. Took the turn signal switch out and the connector basically crumbled in my hand (the 14 pin or whatever the big one). Might be a problem? Took the switch apart and there was a loose contact just floating around in it. My guess is that was part of the issue. My problem now is, I can’t find an exact replacement for the connector, and those I have found seem kinda “universal” (which is fine) but they’re like $80 for a piece of plastic. Anyone know where I can find one of these?
 
do you think it matters what year as long as it’s a TJ? I heard some Cherokees used the same multi function switch.

Thinking outside the box here, but couldn’t I just individually wire them? Find slim enough female connectors and use heat shrink to completely cover each connector so they don’t touch? I wonder too if I could use some kind of potting compound to “create” a new plug?

I’ve had historically horrible luck at junk yards around me, and if I was to find a connector it’s going to be just as old and brittle probably as the one I’m replacing right?
 
do you think it matters what year as long as it’s a TJ? I heard some Cherokees used the same multi function switch.

Thinking outside the box here, but couldn’t I just individually wire them? Find slim enough female connectors and use heat shrink to completely cover each connector so they don’t touch? I wonder too if I could use some kind of potting compound to “create” a new plug?

I’ve had historically horrible luck at junk yards around me, and if I was to find a connector it’s going to be just as old and brittle probably as the one I’m replacing right?
Is this the connector that is bad?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XPPQZ6Y/?tag=wranglerorg-20
 
That’s the right connector, but I’m not sure if it would work. They say it’s for 2001 up TJ’s and looks slightly different. While it might work, I’m shocked at how much people want for just a simple piece of plastic…

I may try and just pull the individual wires out and cover the bare terminals with shrink tube to keep them from touching for now. I’ve got the entire dash and column cover taken off right now anyway so easy access.
 
They sell ones for 97 model year. It’s a little more than a simple piece of plastic. Connector, locking piece. Terminals with wire pre attached, shrink tubing.
 
They sell ones for 97 model year. It’s a little more than a simple piece of plastic. Connector, locking piece. Terminals with wire pre attached, shrink tubing.

Maybe I’m missing it (highly possible, been a long week). Do you have a link to that you might be able to share please?
 
That’s the right connector, but I’m not sure if it would work. They say it’s for 2001 up TJ’s and looks slightly different. While it might work, I’m shocked at how much people want for just a simple piece of plastic…

I may try and just pull the individual wires out and cover the bare terminals with shrink tube to keep them from touching for now. I’ve got the entire dash and column cover taken off right now anyway so easy access.

This one shows for 97 but I would verify
https://www.extremeterrain.com/crow...wo6Yh4GKhHDp8kLqXCcaAg91EALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds