electric problem please help

I have an 88 yj with a 4.2. Recently my battery slid forward and the metal bracket that was supposed to keep it in place bumped the positive side of the battery. It hit right on the terminal and now it is melted a little bit and deformed. Now all my electric components are acting up. At times the windshield wipers go on by themselves, the radio will shut off, the dashboard lights up the two green arrows(not blinking) and the blue high beams light. At times everything will be working right, although most of the time something is wrong. Sometimes the lights on the dash will stay on after i turn the ignition off, sometimes they will turn off but all light up when i hit the brakes. The lights will not work during this, brake lights, headlights, turn signal, fourway, nothing will work. sometimes when i turn the ignition off the parking brake light will light up but will then turn off after i turn the key to on. engine wise the car is running like normal.

im lost on this so any help is appreciated

Reply to
88yj
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You've lost a ground. Most likely one of your ground straps simply melted. Everything that's working oddly is backfeeding through something else.

Find the bad ground and fix it, then replace the battery as you can't count on it if it's been dead-shorted. It may work for a year or two or a week.

Reply to
Gary L. Burnore

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i only know of two ground straps under the hood. one right next to the battery and one at the same height on the opposite side of the engine. Both of them look ok though. are their other ground wires that i should check?

Reply to
88yj

I suppose it could be the neg bat cable itself. You'd need a wiring diagram to know for sure that you've looked at all the places. Or you could use a voltmeter or test light to find the open.

When things are working "Wierdly", power is flowing in a direction it doesn't usually flow so you really need to get it fixed. If it flows backwards through bulbs and motors, no big deal. If it flows backwards through your radio or other touchy electronic device, you could lose said device. (Did 88 have a transmission control computer?)

You could also run a "new ground" from the neg bat post to a point under your dash that should be a ground. Behind the instrument cluster for example or the radio neg post or even the antenna wire.

It doesn't hurt to put an extra ground wire as long as you hook it only from the neg side of the battery to ground.

Reply to
Gary L. Burnore

Ouch!

You could be describing a harness melt. When a short melts the main post and cable, it also can melt other lines with ground tags. It sounds like you have a melt at a point in the harness that moves a bit so it is shorting intermittently.

Unfortunately unless you can look very carefully at the harness covering looking for any deformity that could be melt or heat damage, that kind of a short is pretty hard to track down.

Last melted YJ harness from a dead short I saw had a melt at the corner where the harness curves to go to the steering and dash up close to the firewall on the inside. It also had a melt in the harness near the solenoid on the firewall next to the battery and one in the loom to the center side of the brake booster in the engine bay.

The fuse link wires that come off the starter relay on the firewall near the battery are also suspect for heat damage and may fail easily because of this.

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 'New' frame in the works for '08. Some Canadian Bush Trip and Build Photos:
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88yj wrote:

Reply to
Mike Romain

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