Does this look like ground wire?

Last Thursday, my A/C, turn signals, radio and wipers all quit working. I checked all the related fuses, but they’re good.

So now I’m hoping it’s a loose ground wire but I have to admit, I wouldn’t know one if I saw it. So I thought I’d post this picture of a loose wire dangling near the fuse box (just at the edge of the carpet) with four questions.

Is that a ground wire?
If it is, where should I reconnect it?
If not, where should I look for loose ground?
Am I wasting my time – do I have a bigger problem?

1990 Wrangler 4.2L 6Cyl. 135Kmi nicknamed Howard as in “how’ard could it be ta fix that?”

Help appreciated, derisive laughter tolerated.

[LEVE]

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5. That wire goes onto the emergency brake ground post.
6. It turns on the brake light when the E-brake is activated.

[joeycj5]

I may be wrong, but doesnt that wire plug onto the E-brake pedal. It lights up the dash light when e-brake is set.
[img]images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

[LEVE]

1. Nope, you're not wrong.
2. That's what the picutre I posted above shows,
3. The post that it plugs onto...
4. When the pedal's pushed,
5. The ground is made,
6. Turning on the Brake light on Insturument Panel

[Drury]

I would start testing to see where the short has occurred. Start with the fuse box to see if the power is there.

This is where having a voltmeter comes in handy. Well worth the money, takes the guess work out of troubleshooting. If you don't have one, go buy one. Radio Shack and Sears are good places to go. You should be able to get a good digital for about $50.

Next...even though the fuses are good, you need to make sure you are getting power to them. As for grounds, about the only ground that could cause this problem would be the one that runs from the engine or battery to the body. To confirm this, turn on your ignition and then measure the voltage from the negative terminal of the battery to a bare metal spot on the body. If you measure more than 1/2 volt, you have a problem. In your case, if it is a body ground problem, you will most likely measure about 6 volts.

Let us know what you find.

[jeeperjohn]

Several years ago I had an intermitent (SP?) problem with A/C (would loose power for a second and come back on), radio (same as AC) and wipers (I have delay wipers and they would come on, go off, delay acting funny). I spent 3 days looking for a power supply problem that turned out to be a ground problem between the body and frame. Check the grounds. Make sure the body, frame and engine all have good grounds.