Electrical Fire

UncleSpuddy

UncleSpuddy

New Member
Joined
Sep 1, 2023
Messages
5
Location
Usa
New here, wasn't able to find what I was looking for, hope I don't come across as an idiot.
I'll get the the fire after in a minute.
I'll start from the beginning.
I have a 98 TJ Sahara, 4.0, stickshift.
The key would come out when running and you could start it with anything that fit in the hole, and it only had the off, run, and start positions.
So I got a new cylinder and it didn't fix the issue, so I got a new switch and actuator.
Figured I might as well put all new crap in it. I got almost completely done but when I plugged the ignition switch into the harness after a few seconds the horn went off and smoke started pouring out the the dash and harness in rivers.
Now I know I forgot to disconnect the battery but I've never seen or even heard of this before.
The Jeep ran and drove great, anybody have a clue what might have caused the issue?
One more peace of info, when I got the Jeep last October it had this odd anti theft gizmo that required inserting a chip like fob into a slot on the dash to start it. I removed this as it only worked 1/8 times tried.
That's the random wires/taps you see in the one pic

20230901_093010.jpg


20230901_093103.jpg


20230901_093015.jpg
 
  • Wow
  • Sad
Reactions: Mikee024, Claybirdd and BlueC
That harness that is charred and missing its insulation needs to be addressed immediately. You are likely to have shorts in various circuits with the exposed copper strands

If it wasnt near something that could draw the heat exposure then its possible a wrong size fuse (or defective) was used on a circuit and too much load caused it to melt the power wire, or a dead short to ground

Any aftermarket alarm, remote start, anti-theft is always goona be a HUUUUGE no no when buyin a vehicle. Even Best Buy hacks fry things, so imagine what Joe Bob who thinks “I got this” can end up ruining. Eliminate any of that if u have it

Avoid using T-taps also. Splice thiings in properly
 
  • Like
Reactions: BlueC
The one charred wire there try to get the color of the insulation and trace it back to find the short. Looks like that harness goes to the rear of the vehicle.
 
Naturally the wiring wasn't cooked like that beforehand.
That happened while I popped the hood and pulled the battery terminal off.

As for chasing wire.
I believe the bare copper wire was once the gray wire that goes from somewhere under the dash to roughly
halfway past the seat before the harness splits and the gray and green wires go under the seat while the rest continue to the rear.

The rear doesn't seem to show signs of burning, the wiring under the seat is cooked extra crispy.

Someone better with wiring knowledge could make better sense of it, wiring is something I avoid like the plague.

Anybody have an idiot proof wiring diagram for one of these?

20230901_134604.jpg


20230901_134625.jpg


20230901_135602.jpg


20230901_135604.jpg


20230901_135700.jpg


20230901_135639.jpg
 
You need to take that to someone who knows what there doing in electrical wiring dept.
I see alot of after market alarm stuff in there. All that needs to come out and find what's shorted out and repair correctly all the burnt wiring.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ChasUGC, Mikee024 and CreepinDeth
JSpike said:
You need to take that to someone who knows what there doing in electrical wiring dept.
I see alot of after market alarm stuff in there. All that needs to come out and find what's shorted out and repair correctly all the burnt wiring.
Click to expand...

I don’t see any aftermarket alarm it the Jeep. I see evidence of an alarm being removed. The t-taps for the battery power and the ignition power. Then I see the start wire was reconnected from where it was cut to install the start kill relay.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Mikee024
LONGJP2 said:
Is that black box part of the anti-theft gizmo?
If so, remove it and any associated wiring.
Click to expand...

Not sure what black box you're referring to, it has none that I can see.
The anti theft deal I removed almost a year ago, it was as far as I could tell an ignition kill switch that had a coded fob to activate.

Also, NskLj is correct, that's the exact way it was wired, no alarm aftermarket or factory.

I'm going to have to take this thing somewhere as the damaged wiring is too extensive for someone with my wiring skill to attempt to fix.
I can't help but feel that burnt wire was a victim of backfeeding from another source but I can't find it without taking the whole interior apart and I'm not up to that while fighting covid.

Thanks for the help though guys, hopefully next time I'm here it will be less crispy.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Rickyd
UncleSpuddy said:
Not sure what black box you're referring to, it has none that I can see.
The anti theft deal I removed almost a year ago, it was as far as I could tell an ignition kill switch that had a coded fob to activate.

Also, NskLj is correct, that's the exact way it was wired, no alarm aftermarket or factory.

I'm going to have to take this thing somewhere as the damaged wiring is too extensive for someone with my wiring skill to attempt to fix.
I can't help but feel that burnt wire was a victim of backfeeding from another source but I can't find it without taking the whole interior apart and I'm not up to that while fighting covid.

Thanks for the help though guys, hopefully next time I'm here it will be less crispy.
Click to expand...

I would suggest looking for a factory harness. Removing the seats center counsel and carpet isn’t an issue. If you have to pull the dash that is more involved. I would pull he seat to see where the wire goes to.
I looked in the wiring diagram, I saw a gray wire with black stripe that went to the park brake switch but that shouldn’t short and melt like you experienced.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Claybirdd
LONGJP2 said:
I was asking about (what looks like) a black box in this picture.
Click to expand...

I think I see what you are referring to now, that picture did not come through when I replied. Are you talking about the picture looking down beside the seat? I think that may be the raised floor with the vin tag attached.
 
I have a 99 2.5 dash harness the junkyard cut off the instrument cluster connector.

I can send it to you if you need it.

Looks like you just need to work through the wiring diagrams with a multimeter and verify everything in that dash and ignition circuit. It's slow going and requires a lot of patience but it's completely doable.

I went down the WABDR recently after rebuilding my 97 in 8 days...type my name into YouTube if you want...check engine light came on and I discovered I had no voltage to the ODB port. Used the FSM wiring diagrams and checked circuits and splice points a little bit at a time. Got home and put some readers on and quickly discovered the power plug on the ODB port was nothing but copper dust.

You can fix it! Be patient and don't get discouraged.

And you might want to invest in a battery disconnect switch while you're troubleshooting!

-Mac
 
  • Like
Reactions: CreepinDeth
NskLJ said:
I don’t see any aftermarket alarm it the Jeep. I see evidence of an alarm being removed. The t-taps for the battery power and the ignition power. Then I see the start wire was reconnected from where it was cut to install the start kill relay.
Click to expand...

I'm glad you looked twice before you replied to my post.
It's kind of obvious he's not big on wiring
You either.
He needs to take it to someone who knows what there doing
 
  • Like
Reactions: ChasUGC
UncleSpuddy said:
Not sure what black box you're referring to, it has none that I can see.
The anti theft deal I removed almost a year ago, it was as far as I could tell an ignition kill switch that had a coded fob to activate.

Also, NskLj is correct, that's the exact way it was wired, no alarm aftermarket or factory.

I'm going to have to take this thing somewhere as the damaged wiring is too extensive for someone with my wiring skill to attempt to fix.
I can't help but feel that burnt wire was a victim of backfeeding from another source but I can't find it without taking the whole interior apart and I'm not up to that while fighting covid.

Thanks for the help though guys, hopefully next time I'm here it will be less crispy.
Click to expand...
JSpike said:
I'm glad you looked twice before you replied to my post.
It's kind of obvious he's not big on wiring
You either.
He needs to take it to someone who knows what there doing
Click to expand...

That doesn’t look like an alarm box at all it’s the seat riser of the floor. I know a bit about automotive wiring. I can easily guide him through this repair. I wold hate to have him take it somewhere and end up with more issues. For clarification there is no visible alarm in the photos posted. What people are referring is the seat riser. Notice the two dimples where the plate is attached and the hole where the wire harness retainer is pushed through. Maybe you should have taken a little time before replying to my post.
IMG_0588.jpeg
 
Last edited:
*edit: will update when problem is located, it might help someone else from experiencing the same issue*


Sorry for not replying,
been busy trucking.

Found a place in town that specializes in repairing and building wiring harnesses that's going to diagnose and quote a price to fix.
At the very least an expert can tell me what went wrong and how much is damaged.
I appreciate people offering to help me fix it but I don't trust my wire skills plus I'm driving trucks, putting a trans in my pickup, and lining up a new job so I'm swamped currently.

Having Jeep withdrawals though

Btw, here's the rig
20230510_094525.jpg


20221028_094208.jpg

Bumper is a cheapo but I dig the retro vibe, I'd like to build a similar style bumper with heavy wall tubing so it won't crumple if it hits something.
And the ancient "anti theft" deal that used to be on it, look nearly as old as the Jeep itself.


20221102_183533.jpg


20221102_183543.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: JC123
Top Bottom
Back