xj dies in water

[mailtruck]

My 89 cherokee has gotten so bad where as now it will no longer start if it rains out. I have already replaced the distributor cap and rotor along with the plug wires, but that did not help. I dug into the wiring a little bit today and found that whoever owned it before did a pretty hackjob on it. I fixed up any bare wires i saw, but it still has the same problem

This morning i sprayed the front part of the engine bay from underneath lightly with a hose while the truck was running. It cut out after a few seconds of light mist. Any help on what could be causing the problem would be greatly appreciated since i have little experience on electrical systems.

[XJNick]

Hi,

Can you pinpoint the area which causes it to die when sprayed with water?

Does it cut off instantly (like something electrical dropping out) or does it sort of sputter and/or die out slowly?

I'd guess if water was shorting something electrical out, you'd be tripping a fuse or breaker which would at least indicate which circuit is the problem.

-Nick

[mailtruck]

not positive on the exact area that causes it to cut out. It is on the underneath front section of the engine bay. Will do more investigating tomorrow when i have the time

Also when it got wet it would die immediately with no sputtering at all

[mingez]

Painless wiring!

[pinaplebob]

My two cents here is basically, check all your wires in the ignition system. Kinda sounds like to me you are grounding it out with water. I've got a old quad, that the kill switch grounds out the spark rather then letting it get to the spark plug. But that is a stab in the dark.

[TwistedCopper]

Get a big tube of Di-Electric grease and fill every plug, connector, and electrical contact with it. It will seal out water and prevent corrosion.

That would be the first thing to try, as it is the cheapest.

While you are going over the entire engine compartment filling plugs and connectors, keep an eye out for frayed or burnt (hardenend) wires.

[jeepmaster]

dude that sucks, mine used to do the exact same thing. if it rained it was out a car. fixed my problem by swtiching what key i used. i know thats impossible but i swear thats all i did and now it works no sweat. i can drive that baby in a typhoon. never tried to go back to the old key to see if it would start dying. too scared

P.S. you say they hacked the wiring, mine was in an accident(prior to my owning it), do you think some of my wiring got hacked and thats why we have the same problem?

[mailtruck]

Went back under this morning with the hose to try to pinpoint the problem. When i sprayed lightly near the coil the engine immediately cut out. Going to go to the local junkyard later today to get a new one, then hopefully im going out mudding since it has been raining for the last two days.

Also i don't believe the jeep has been in any major accident. Someone tried to wire in an aftermarket cruise control and did a really terrible job. That is partly why the wiring is so bad.

[XJNick]

Hi,

Well it sounds like you found the problem. If you don't use the cruise control, i'd look into taking all that wiring out if it was not done correctly in the first place -- you'll be alot safer that way.

-Nick

[mailtruck]

the cruise control never even worked since i bought the jeep. Already took out the wiring after i wrapped some of it around my front driveshaft while wheeling the first day after the lift got put on.

Went to the junkyard today and got a new coil and some other small miscellaneous parts i needed. I went out and tested it by putting on a few coats of fresh mud and to my enjoyment it did not stall once. Hopefully the problem has been fixed.

Thanks

[TwistedCopper]

Ah- ya gotta love a success story!