Burnt wire insulation smell

[GeekFisher]

Hi,

I've had that Jeep for a few weeks now and every so often, it smells like burnt wire insulation.

Seems like it comes from underhood, driver side. but can't spot it clearly.

Jeep is a Liberty '03 3.7L 4x4.

Do you guys have ever experienced this or having an idea about what would cause this (intermittently ?)

I feel like a wire not being hold where it's supposed to be and touching hot part but I am not sure.

The Jeep is actually running great, no codes even if I had a P0725 that disappeared when I cleaned sensors connectors. Was smelling before the cleaning though.

EDIT: dang, wrong section, can a mod move it :blah: ?

Thanks,

 

[uss2defiant]

touch every wire you can get your fingers on and feel which one is super hot.

 

[GeekFisher]

touch every wire you can get your fingers on and feel which one is super hot.

Already tried that under hood but wasn't able to get from under the Jeep yet.

Nothing was that hot.

 

[uss2defiant]

by any chance does it smell like burnt oil instead?

 

[GeekFisher]

by any chance does it smell like burnt oil instead?

No, it's really burnt plastic insulation smell. It won't smell at "On" position without the engine running (been that way for a while when testing new headunit and never smelled) that's why I was more leaning toward a wire harness touching hot part.

 

[renegade 04]

Check the wires that are near the catalytic converter that attach to the transmission, I have a harness that is very close to the cat On the drivers side that attaches to the transmission and the wires are melted together.

 

[GeekFisher]

Check the wires that are near the catalytic converter that attach to the transmission, I have a harness that is very close to the cat On the drivers side that attaches to the transmission and the wires are melted together.

I will need to jack it and maybe remove the skid plate right ?

Also, how did you fix it ? I will get what it takes before tearing it apart

 

[renegade 04]

I still have not fixed it, my temporary solution was to put some wire loom on it. You will only need to remove the transmission skid plate to look at it. If you can get under your jeep without jacking it up you should be able to see it. Keep in mind I have the 42RLE transmission and NOT the 45RFE.

 

[GeekFisher]

I still have not fixed it, my temporary solution was to put some wire loom on it. You will only need to remove the transmission skid plate to look at it. If you can get under your jeep without jacking it up you should be able to see it. Keep in mind I have the 42RLE transmission and NOT the 45RFE.

I don't know which one I have but I recall seing it on the custhelp factory sheet so it's easy to find it. is there any possibilité to reroute this harness ?

Wire loom is not a permanent fix as it must be ending up melting as well ?

 

[renegade 04]

Not from what I can tell, but I have not really looked into the problem much. I figure that once I have some time to look at it I will be able to see if it is possible.

 

[GeekFisher]

Not from what I can tell, but I have not really looked into the problem much. I figure that once I have some time to look at it I will be able to see if it is possible.

I'll look into that next week, in the meantime the truck is at the paintshop for rockers and touchups.

 

[GeekFisher]

renegade04, I have the same transmission than yours.

 

[GeekFisher]

I still have not fixed it, my temporary solution was to put some wire loom on it. You will only need to remove the transmission skid plate to look at it. If you can get under your jeep without jacking it up you should be able to see it. Keep in mind I have the 42RLE transmission and NOT the 45RFE.

Which kind of wireloom did you put there ?

I supposed it was braided as the plastic one would melt as well but just want to be sure.

 

[renegade 04]

I just put the cheap plastic stuff on it for now and I am planning on wrapping some high temperature steam turbine insulation on it for a permanent fix.

 

[GeekFisher]

I an very interested about your permanent fix as I'll probably need ton do the same

Thanks,

 

[GeekFisher]

This is what I'll probably take (or something very similar) if this is effectively the problem:

Insultherm Ultraflexx Braided Fiberglass Sleeving

 

[renegade 04]

That stuff looks great and will work but I am not sure if you will be able to get the wiring to go throw it with out cutting the sleeving or the wiring.

 

[GeekFisher]

That stuff looks great and will work but I am not sure if you will be able to get the wiring to go throw it with out cutting the sleeving or the wiring.

There are cut along models that kinda "velcro" on as well.

I first need to check if that's the problem but I am pretty confident it is as your statement makes sense and I did not experience a sent when Ignition switch is at On but engine not running (so no hot engine-related parts) but electrical is on so if it's a short, it should be smelling.

Is there any way(s) to disconnect that wire from the transmission and run the sleeve from there ? Other I might end up with normal split wireloom associated with aluminum tape or split sleeve secured with a mix of tie-wraps and alu tape depending on if it can touch something hot or not.

 

[GeekFisher]

Look at this:
Nylon Split Wire Loom

Do you know which diameter the harness has (approx...) ?

 

[renegade 04]

I know you can disconnect the wires from the sensors but, it most likely will be a lot of work and very hard to do because of the lack of space to work in that area.