Electrical gremlins

[jevans001]

This is about a 1990 Jeep Cherokee 4.0 L Automatic.
A few weeks ago I noticed that the keylock was getting hard to turn, so I changed out the keylock assembly. No improvement to speak of.
Last weekend when I was pulling into the driveway, the A/C started cutting out and then died completely. Looked at the ammeter and it was in a fully discharging position. Took a wild guess and changed out the alternator since it was the original. Cheap thing only lasted 17 years lol. Went to start the monster, and nothing. Through the process of deduction and elimination (as well as haunting this site for answers and Thank you all btw) I decided it was the electrical portion of the ignition switch. Played contortionist and got that changed today and everything works, but now there is a new problem...no brakelights. Fuse is good...bulbs are good. I'm thinking the brakelight switch ate it.
My question is: Did the alternator possibly going into an overcharge condition before it died cause the switches to fry (I took the ignition switch apart and it was totally cooked ), or was this a result of the bad ignition switch?
It's that chicken and egg, and which came first thing. All of the systems are functional except the braklights (hazards work).
Any opinions/theories/conjecture/Ouija board advice appreciated. I'm wondering now if I'm going to be fighting electrical gremlins for the never ending future.
Thanks for any input.

JE

[citizen@large]

ALOHA! Yer new electrical problem buddy is here asking really good questions that I haven't got a clue about... Can ya come back to the forum for a few???
Hold on my good man, help is on the way! Shortly enough, at least. I'm useless with wiring/diagrams (it's on my to-do list ) The egg! No, the chicken. Arghhghghghhhh!




~Good Luck!

[jevans001]

Originally Posted by citizen@large

ALOHA! Yer new electrical problem buddy is here asking really good questions that I haven't got a clue about... Can ya come back to the forum for a few???
Hold on my good man, help is on the way! Shortly enough, at least. I'm useless with wiring/diagrams (it's on my to-do list ) The egg! No, the chicken. Arghhghghghhhh!




~Good Luck!

LMAO! Well...you made me laugh...HARD.
You owe me a keyboard and 1 drink with Makers Mark in it.
LOL

[AlohaBra]

Citizen...I apprecitate the respect...

Really though...electrical is easy to fix...electronics is much harder.

On to "jevans", you did good by changing the alternator. You might change the positive and negative battery cables as well. Just a tip. Otherwise, get a voltmeter and find out where the voltage is going and or not going.

The normal voltage when the engine is not runnng is 12.6 volts. When the alternator is charging, it is 14.5 volts, not to exceed 15 volts.

Anywhere in the vehicle, when you check for voltage, it should be near the 12.6 volt mark. Anthing less means you are loosing voltage due to a problem.

The automotive electrical systems in the US use the negative side of the battery for a ground. It is important that all connections to ground are good. It is how the circuit of electricty is completed. In household wiring they use two wires to make a complete circuit.

[jevans001]

Originally Posted by AlohaBra

Citizen...I apprecitate the respect...

Really though...electrical is easy to fix...electronics is much harder.

On to "jevans", you did good by changing the alternator. You might change the positive and negative battery cables as well. Just a tip. Otherwise, get a voltmeter and find out where the voltage is going and or not going.

The normal voltage when the engine is not runnng is 12.6 volts. When the alternator is charging, it is 14.5 volts, not to exceed 15 volts.

Anywhere in the vehicle, when you check for voltage, it should be near the 12.6 volt mark. Anthing less means you are loosing voltage due to a problem.

The automotive electrical systems in the US use the negative side of the battery for a ground. It is important that all connections to ground are good. It is how the circuit of electricty is completed. In household wiring they use two wires to make a complete circuit.

Thanks for the input. All connections are good and the Alternator is putting out 14.3-14.6 volts. Positive and negative cables are 3 months old and tight, and no voltage drain/loss in the system. I've been turning wrenches on this beast since it was new. I guess I'm asking whether or not this is just a coincidence of 3 electrical parts failing within a short time, or whether or not I'm chasing my tail on something yet unseen that I haven't thought of yet.
Again, thanks for the input. I appreciate it.

[wwwildman]

according to the wiring diagram, the circuit runs from the CLK HAZ STOP fuse to the stop lamp switch to the stop lamps. The wire is pink to the brake switch, light blue leaving the switch to a connector, and then pink to the lamps.

I would check the fuse, then the brake lamps, then the brake switch.
Other than that I can find no connection from the ignition switch or alternator.

[jevans001]

Originally Posted by wwwildman

according to the wiring diagram, the circuit runs from the CLK HAZ STOP fuse to the stop lamp switch to the stop lamps. The wire is pink to the brake switch, light blue leaving the switch to a connector, and then pink to the lamps.

I would check the fuse, then the brake lamps, then the brake switch.
Other than that I can find no connection from the ignition switch or alternator.

Thanks. I went under the dash again (My chiropractor loves me) and found that the pink wire had pulled out of the connector..probably from my dropping the steering column to change out the ignition switch. Put that back in place and secured it, and problem solved. Thanks to everyone that viewed/answered. The really good news is that the computer is back in "training mode", and it's running like it did a few years ago. Smooth as a babys behind. Just for the heck of it I changed out the battery (5 years old) as well.

Thanks again everyone. I surely do appreciate the help.

[citizen@large]

SWEET! I learned stuff... Thanks.