Hey Y’all! I have a 97 TJ, just bought it. I am running into some issues here & not sure what to do. When I bought my jeep, my horn did not work. At this point in my state, you have to have a horn in order for you to pass inspection. I ended up completely replacing the horn & now my horn works. BUT, my radio shut off(aftermarket), my blinkers will come on at random times(mainly the left one)& my windshield wipers come on at random times. I’m not even sure where to start, i need help! I checked all the fuses, good. i took apart my dash and played with the wires and then my radio worked just for it to not work the next day!! HELP
97 TJ electrical issues
- Thread starter NatalieR
- Start date
Welcome to the wonderful world of owning a TJ! You have no idea what you've gotten yourself into 
From what you're describing, it sounds like you have the following:
If you don't own one already, get a good multimeter. It is 100% one of the most useful tools you can own and you will need one to work through this issue.
A few things to remember:
Advice from @Jerry Bransford and @mrblaine is to be adhered to 99.9999% of the time.
@Zorba is a cool dude.
Watch out for @TheBoogieman
And, as always, we're here to help.
From what you're describing, it sounds like you have the following:
- Grounding issues
- Intermittent shorting
- Loose connections
- All of the above
If you don't own one already, get a good multimeter. It is 100% one of the most useful tools you can own and you will need one to work through this issue.
A few things to remember:
Advice from @Jerry Bransford and @mrblaine is to be adhered to 99.9999% of the time.
@Zorba is a cool dude.
Watch out for @TheBoogieman
And, as always, we're here to help.
Last edited:
Ugh. I understand that all jeeps come with their flaws but damn!
i appreciate you. i will begin researching grounds & look into this!
i appreciate you. i will begin researching grounds & look into this!
Honestly, i don’t know. Before i hooked up my horn, my radio worked & my light signal didn’t blink really fast like it does now! but then again, when it was raining the one day my radio shut off while i was sitting in the car!
Unplug the horn and start there.
I'd clean your grounds. Start with your battery terminals...send pictures of those... doesn't take much to mess those up.
Second place to clean a ground is your firewall ground...should be just above the valve cover on the passenger side. Big thick wire...think it's a 13 mm wrench.
Third thing to check is open your doors and you'll see a couple of small torx screws on both ends of the dash...that'll remove the speaker covers. You'll see a couple of ground wires there.
Clean everything with a wire brush and reassemble.
How much rust and corrosion do you have?
How old is the battery?
-Mac
There is a lot of rust on my battery terminals! the other ones.. i need to wait for it to stop raining in order to get my hands in there. i don’t have a garage or anything.. it sits in the rain!
I have the same problem in Oregon!
Spent some time today working on electrical conduit for the future shop.
I've swapped engines, transmissions, axles etc in the rain and on gravel...mud...so looking forward to a shop and lift.
-Mac
Stick with it. It took me almost three years to work through all the nickel-and-dime stuff from electrical gremlins, to keeping fluids in where they belonged and keeping water out of where it doesn't, to fasteners randomly selected from the finest collection of rusty wood screws and lag bolts.
Remove the speaker grills on the drivers and passengers side at the base of the dash panel; one of the screws that retains the speaker in the dash panel has several ground wires attached.
Beneath the dash panel on the D & P sides there are a couple of ground wires attached along with one ground wire behind the radio bezel bolted to the dash panel support bracing.
On the side of the engine block near the oil filter and oil pressure sensor there are a bundle of ground wires including the battery ground; ensure the connections are clean and tight on the stud.
As posted above; remove and clean the battery cable clamps, clean both the terminal and inside of the clamp and ensure they are tight on the terminal and the fire wall ground wire is clean and the retaining bolt is snug.
Once you have verified the condition of these grounds; remove on to removing the plastic clam shells surrounding the steering column (3 screws) and inspect the wiring harness and connectors going to the ignition switch; you will be looking for signs of over heating (melted wiring or harness connector).
There are more areas to check, but these should keep you busy for a while.
Beneath the dash panel on the D & P sides there are a couple of ground wires attached along with one ground wire behind the radio bezel bolted to the dash panel support bracing.
On the side of the engine block near the oil filter and oil pressure sensor there are a bundle of ground wires including the battery ground; ensure the connections are clean and tight on the stud.
As posted above; remove and clean the battery cable clamps, clean both the terminal and inside of the clamp and ensure they are tight on the terminal and the fire wall ground wire is clean and the retaining bolt is snug.
Once you have verified the condition of these grounds; remove on to removing the plastic clam shells surrounding the steering column (3 screws) and inspect the wiring harness and connectors going to the ignition switch; you will be looking for signs of over heating (melted wiring or harness connector).
There are more areas to check, but these should keep you busy for a while.
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