Jeep Cherokee's

[Joe]

Being I inherited my wife's 98 Jeep Cherokee, (my Ranger died, damn what a great buggy it was) one thing that was a pain was it not starting all the time. Down not even turn over. NOW, with more knowledge I now know this happens to most Cherokees sooner or later. I think Rags being one of them.
The natural safety switch fails. This will cause the Jeep to think its in drive and not start. In my case the backup lights also, contained in the switch, do not work.
NOW, for my model the switch is not the usual 20 buck switch but, $250. So getting tired crawling under the car and banging it, I took Jess's advice and jumped it with a toggle switch. So, when the Jeep is feeling temperamental and the switch is stuck, flick the switch, start her up and switch the switch back off.
Still no BU lights but, now I don't get stranded.
If anyone else is experiencing this, shoot me a PM and I will get into more details.

[Wildbob]

Backup lights. One less set of lights on the beach won't bother a soul.

[Joe]

Originally Posted by Wildbob

Backup lights. One less set of lights on the beach won't bother a soul.

LOL, That's exactly how I see it....

[Wildbob]

Maybe we can talk Jess into writing a "how to" on how to wire a switch to kill headlights that are on automatically when the engine is running.

[Jess]

From what I'm hearing some of them can be shut down if you apply your parking brake too the first click. That shouldn't be enough to do any damage as the first click is really only taking the slack out of the cables but not enough movement to apply the brake shoes to the drum.

If that doesn't work for ya let me know. We can figure out something with a switch that you can install.

[blazin420]

i know in some GM modles if you push the dome light overide on /off 2 times it turns the automatic headlights off sweet new forum btw

[ragman]

Yeah, mine does the same thing... Shift to neutral and start works for me, but I can see I'm going to have to do something with the switch soon.

[Joe]

Originally Posted by ragman

Yeah, mine does the same thing... Shift to neutral and start works for me, but I can see I'm going to have to do something with the switch soon.

As you and I discussed, that worked for me for awhile too...

[riverfisher]

Hi Joe
I had the same problem with my jeep. $250 wow, thats what I said. I took the switch out dimantled it . It was full of crud. I used carb cleaner . After a good cleaning I tested it and it works fine never had any prblems with it after that.Buy a repair manual for your jeep. I t tells you how to remove and install the switch and the electric diagram shows how to test it.
GOOD LUCK

Steve

[SAOSIN]

I worked for a shop in Harrison during highschool and I've actually turned off a lot of DRL's, including my own when I had a Jetta. It's actually pretty easy to do

There are two SAFE options, but it all depends on the make of you car.

1. Most cars have a separate fuse for the DRL's which are either located on the main board OR in the light switch itself. Check your manual or fuse listing.

2. With others, you have to buy an aftermarket relay and or a modified switch which is fairly easy to install.

Don't make the mistake of cutting and splicing wires when it comes to your headlights. You don't ever want to risk your headlights shorting out when you're driving on a dark road at night. Trust me, all it takes is one bump in the road to cause a short on modified wiring.

[rockrat]

i KNOW THE PRICE FOR A NEW SWITCH IS CRAZY,BUT,IF YOU REMOVE AND CLEAN THE SWITCH WITH CARB CLEANER AND A BRUSH,IT WILL PROBABLY WORK AS GOOD AS NEW! GIVE IT A TRY!

[RobS]

here's some info on disabling daytime running lights: http://www.lightsout.org/disable.html