New to me 1983 wagoneer limited

[daryl2cb]

Not sure this qualifies as a build thread, more of a repair/restoration build, but I purchased an 83 wagoneer limited about two weeks ago to work on. It’s had a lot done to it, much the wrong way, so I will be working on those areas along the way. Working on getting some pics up, but I briefly acquired some needed items for it including a complete air cleaner, some fenders, and working on the fuel system. So far I have the following done,
Cleaned fuel tank, tested the sender, cleaned the carb, did a quick vac line run through. I got a new battery and cleaned the inside out. Chasing the following issues currently, and trying figure out what I got. I appear to have a 208 case given the tag and the extra detents when pulling the flag selector, but I have a high/low Flag shifter and the dash switch. I noticed there is a yellow and green vac line loose in the engine bay and I am not seeing the actuator so someone must have swapped this at some point.

I have no working temp or fuel gauge and a random black connector under dash hanging. Passenger side doors do not function nor rear gate window and defroster. Drivers door switch doesn’t work either. Working on these areas. I will get some pics up but thanks in advance for all the help. The site has been great so far.

[daryl2cb]

Dash connector?

[daryl2cb]

The flag shifter inside
Shifter

[daryl2cb]

Rig coming home

[devildog80]

Very nice start. Keep us posted on progress.

[will e]

Welcome.
My 83 Cherokee came with a Np219 but I swapped in a NP208. I was able to use the same flag shifter on both so only so much can be relied upon looking at the positions.
The rig looks slightly modified so it's possible the previous owners swapped out parts.

[Srdayflyer]

regarding the woer window/defrost check the wiring at the lower corner drivers side of the tail gate and body the harnass
passes thru a slot in the body there, and wire breakage is the most common thing because of the date opening and closing for 40+ years, i yanled mine out and spliced in 12 inches of ne wires if i remember it was either 5 or 7 wires its a very simple wiring system, also you will probably find the lifting pins about halfway worn thru as the window clip and regulator pins required periodical lubricating and like that never got done and its metal to metal contact thats what i found, but i took everythig out and cleaned and lubed everything , hope this helps

[daryl2cb]

Awesome thanks I will check that out. Anyone have any ideas on the mystery connector under the dash? What goes in there a relay or defrost timer?

[Srdayflyer]

did you check the rear window/defrost switches? i dont recall seeing that connector under the dash i may be for and option not ordered at purchase, i found the clock connector but no clock was ever installed, check he wiring diagram in the manual

[daryl2cb]

I am in the process of testing the switch wiring in that area, from what I can see, the defrost and tailgate switch appeared to have plugs on them, I haven't gotten into testing the wires yet but working on that. Interestingly this harness seems to be a y-harness, one side has a relay on it, and the other this connector in the photo above, it plugs into a black connector under the dash. I got some better pics of it and will post these for additional help. I printed the tsm wiring, but I am not seeing it according to the color codes.

[daryl2cb]

After having about 4 hours of wiring trouble shooting, I found a few things out and took care of some things as well. My amp meter is now bypassed. I just placed both wires on on lug towards the driver side. Hopefully that works, please let me know if you guys suggest anything else, was looking for a quick fix eventually I will address this by eliminating the wires eventually.

Tracking down my not working tailgate switch and windows not working, I have several light bulbs out so I have to get back into the cluster again but it will be good practice. I found one ground splice I addressed properly, it was easy to pick out as the previous owner used duct tape, great job,lol. So I was hoping this was my issue, but it wasn’t.

I did find out the mystery plug under the dash is for a fog light switch as it powers up when lights of toggled into low beam. So hope that helps someone in the future.

Finally using the tailgate trouble shooting guide, I found I have no power at the front switch. I checked the fuse block diagram and started running down the wire. It comes from ignition to fuse box lower 30 amp breaker and then to switch. I grabbed the 30 amp fuse/breaker out to test the box connector and it was screaming hot. So after opening it, it looks like the case was grounding on the post. Auto parts store closed so done till tomorrow. I am guesssing this is my issue and hopefully will restore the windows as well as they seem to be on the same circuit. Fingers crossed

[SJTD]

Be not so quick to blame the previous owner for duct taped splices. The factory did it on many crimped connections in the harness, both ground and hot wires.

[devildog80]

After having about 4 hours of wiring trouble shooting, I found a few things out and took care of some things as well. My amp meter is now bypassed. I just placed both wires on on lug towards the driver side. Hopefully that works, please let me know if you guys suggest anything else, was looking for a quick fix eventually I will address this by eliminating the wires eventually.

Did the same on my '84 GW, and the feed of these 2 wires I found not able to eliminate. They feed into the ignition system for power, so had to keep them. Just joined together with small screw/nut, taped, and isolated them behind the dash inside an old length of heater hose. Would have been best to trim connectors off and solder, but wanted to keep workable in future, until I know these will not need more working on for something.

From this with AMP gauge
20220515_161005 by Scott Weckerly, on Flickr
20221112_133748 by Scott Weckerly, on Flickr

To this with VOLT meter
20221218_120238 by Scott Weckerly, on Flickr
20221218_120306 by Scott Weckerly, on Flickr
20221120_134525 by Scott Weckerly, on Flickr

[devildog80]

"Tracking down my not working tailgate switch and windows not working, I have several light bulbs out so I have to get back into the cluster again but it will be good practice. I found one ground splice I addressed properly, it was easy to pick out as the previous owner used duct tape, great job,lol. So I was hoping this was my issue, but it wasn’t."

Cluster & interior bulbs.....had the same issue thinking I needed to get in and replace burnt bulbs. When I had the cluster out they tested good, but when installed, found they were not all working. Added multiple grounds in & around about on the truck, and when I added a main ground under the truck to the body direct from battery ground post, a bunch of the lights now work. Cluster, dash, and other interior lights now working.
I have a parasitic drain that I have been chasing and unable to find, so installed a cutoff switch to cut all power, when truck not running. Doubles as anti theft too, so not all bad, and someday will find the parasite and kill it!
The black cable with red tag on it comes direct from battery negative post, and shiny black cable from the switch "hot side" then to the left attaches to the body. This connection brought a lot of my non working bulbs back to life. Large gray looking cable off "hot side" grounds to the engine block on drivers side. PO had some 12 ft cables loose in my truck when it came home, and found a use for one of them for this task.

20230820_121242 by Scott Weckerly, on Flickr

[daryl2cb]

Good idea on the grounds.. as far as your draw, I suggest hooking up the battery, and taking voltage using a meter. Then start pulling fuses one by one waiting for a little to see if you see any voltage drop, depending on how bad, might be an hour or overnight. It takes time this way, but you can narrow down the draw to a circuit. If you have very old 30 amp breakers replace them, mine was grounding to the case and not tripping out it was getting hot and drawing power.

Limited time today working on the rig, had to jack hammer out some concrete as the house so that took much of the weekend. I did find some things out, I replaced my bulbs and everything works there. I was able to get drivers door switch working as well, so tail gate and defrost as well as power mirrors remain. I lowered the gate and powered the window out a little via battery to access the wires. I tested the front switch and had power on both sides so switch is good there. I bypassed the safety switch and tested that it also works. Found power on the orange wire in the gate and tried the gates switch, it worked both ways. Turned on ignition and tried front switch it worked as well. Awesome. Rolled the window down using rear switch so I could close the gate. Closed the gate and then nothing, neither switch would operate. So it appears I had a bad wire guessing from the bend at the gate. So I will have to cut and splice the harness and re try again to get running. It finally wasn’t raining here so a spent the remaining time sanding my other tail gate to prep for paint. This one has to many dents to repair but at least I know it works before investing more time.

[Srdayflyer]

i installed a 90amp wireless relay which i hooked up to the battery ground which acts as my remote kill switch and battery disconnect as the radio memory circuit ran all the time, and draining the battery, besides mounting a switch as illustrated is well no buenu as moisture and dirt WILL effect the power should have mounted it in a less environmentally prone area, IMO

[tgreese]

Good idea on the grounds.. as far as your draw, I suggest hooking up the battery, and taking voltage using a meter. Then start pulling fuses one by one waiting for a little to see if you see any voltage drop, depending on how bad, might be an hour or overnight. It takes time this way, but you can narrow down the draw to a circuit. If you have very old 30 amp breakers replace them, mine was grounding to the case and not tripping out it was getting hot and drawing power.
...

Seems like this is the right idea, but the wrong measurement. If I were looking for a drain/draw, I'd use the current setting on my multimeter, not voltage. The voltage measurement will stay high, regardless of the load (aka drain/draw), but the current (amps) will change.

Disconnect the battery at the negative cable and put your meter between the battery and the cable. Start on the 10A (ten amps) scale, then move to the finer amps scale if the reading is low enough. The meter should have a separate socket for the high current (10A) scale - just move the red cable from the high amps (10A) socket to the low amps (something like 250 mA) socket once you are in range.

Lots of info about using your multimeter online - https://www.bing.com/search?q=measuring ... multimeter

[daryl2cb]

Thanks for catching that. Half asleep posting is never a good thing.

Usually your meter should have a fused post for this

[tgreese]

Glad if it helped.

Yep, it's fused but you don't want to blow the fuse. At best that's inconvenient (there may be a spare stored in the meter) and at worst you may not find the right fuse or it may be soldered to the meter circuit board or both. Repair then may be difficult or impractical.

If I saw a spark at the negative cable, I'd start pulling fuses until the spark went away. That's indication enough and won't risk killing your meter. If no spark, I'd go ahead and start testing with the meter by removing fuses with the meter set to the 10A setting. Or use a test light to start.

For those with interest, a multimeter set to amps senses the voltage drop across a small internal resistance called a shunt. Basically converts current to a tiny voltage, and reads the voltage. This shorts one lead to the other, and the fuse is in there to protect the meter from fire or overload if you try to test something out of range.

[daryl2cb]

Well super good day in the shop today, I was able to get my tailgate window working with both switches!!! So even though I am going to change gates out, I pullled the glass and redid the bottom track and seal as well as installed new track guides and the upper seal. I also won a replacement switch and lock on eBay so now I have a working key as well back there.

I did run into issues with the defrost as I found one wire hanging and the second missing. I was able to solder on side on, but wasn’t able to get the second one to take. I really thought the glass was going to break with the heat, but all good. I had a separate glass but it’s missing the connections as well. I get continuity across the field so it appears to work if I can get the other lead on. But I figure I will mess with that later once I swap gates.

I did have some questions, anyone know where this random orange wires goes? Is this for the passenger side of the glass? Is there something that connects to the open post on the defrost relay box? What does the black wire on the driver side of the window plus to?





Oh and I found this hiding under the seat, plugged right in to the mystery connector under the dash