Need help working on radio in 1996 Cherokee

[short version for those who don't want to read all the junk below: I need help getting my radio working again, the circuit blew]

Recently something let loose in my Jeep and these 3 items don't work:

- radio

- dome light

- power locks

I can live without the last two, but the first one is paramount. The three are supplied by the same circuit/fuse (10A), and when I replace it, it blows immediately. I'm presuming there's a closure/short somewhere that overloads the 10A. If any of you has experience with this, I'd like to hear the input. My immediate choices are (and I'd appreciate any other suggestions):

1) just removing the "unnecessary" components from the circuit (cutting the lines to the dome light and power locks) and hoping that the radio isn't the item that's producing the short)

2) disconnecting the hot line from the radio and running it to another compatible supply on the power distribution/fusebox.

My problems now are:

- I am doing this by inferring things based on behavior that I see when I switch fuses - can someone provide me with a diagram of the fuse panel for a 1996 Jeep Cherokee, 4.0L? The only manual I have is the PDF of the 2000, and the fusebox is completely redesigned - I'd like to see what is supplied by the fuse in question -

- getting to the back of the radio is a real mess, not sure whether I should remove a panel and go in from the front or what - the ducting, etc. on the underside makes easy access impossible.

Any simpler solutions to this? For example, can someone point me to the hot wire for the radio that happens to run by some more accessible area?

Of course, once I dig in there and find that the radio is the offending device, this is all moot -

As a footnote, I'm the guy who was trying to remove doors from a neighbor's junked vehicle - after getting some good advice from you guys, this joker sneaks off and tows the thing away while I had to be out of town for the weekend weekend, so my dream of a red Cherokee with black doors and hatch is on hold.

Thanks -

- Bill

Reply to
Bill Sands
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I would suspect other things that are probably causing the short such as a pinched wiring harness (work on anything lately that when buttoned back up, could have pinched some wiring?) or, and I've seen this happen, a bad bulb in the dome light. I've seen the elements internally shorted after a brake light bulb blew, that kept the cruise control from working properly.

First easiest things to check:

  1. Remove dome light bulb, retest. Also, I've seen the wiring/connectors/leads on the BACK of the dome light fixture short out against the chassis after someone had bumped it. If you can pull the whole lamp assembly, do so and retest.
  2. Visually inspect underhood and underdash, examining for chafed/pinched wiring shorting against chassis ground and retest.
  3. Pull the power connector from the back of the radio and retest.
  4. Pull the power leads from the door locks and retest. (Usually requires only removing kick panels and unplugging.)

If you can isolate individual components and retest, you'll narrow it down quickly. If you isolate all 3 and the fuse still blows, the problems is with the wiring between the fuse box and the components listed.

I once did a no-no to trace a wiring short that you MIGHT want to consider: I directly shorted the fuse contacts with heavy-gauge copper wire, sat back and watched for smoke elsewhere in the interior. (In this case, headlights/turn signals, parking lamps and dome lamps were all in the same circuit and I isolated all and still had a short.) The resulting smoke came from underneath the hood: a wire loom running beside the battery had chafed for years, shorting out against a sharp bend in the chassis causing the short.

Reply to
Outatime

Thanks for your suggestions - as a secondary question, in case the radio is the offending item contributing the short - can anyone supply me with the pinouts for the radio so I can install a new one and attach the correct wires to the speakers?

Thanks -

BTW:

This is outSTANDing

BS

Reply to
Bill Sands

Reply to
L.W.(ßill)Hughes III

Heres a site with pictures.

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Mark

Reply to
mark diegel

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