Electrical burning??

japerry · **Posted:** Mon Nov 27, 2006 1:43 pm

I have a '05 Liberty I was taking out wheelin' yesterday in the snow, and about 3-4 hours into the ride we started smelling what was like a 'Plastic burning smell' It appeared to be coming from somewhere between the battery and driver instrument cluster. I just installed my frankenlift the day before, but I don't think this would have anything to do with it, unless we did something wrong with the brakes? I should also mention that the ABS light is on now (however, it didn't come on until about an hour into the trip)
we noticed the battery bolts got loose, so we let the car 'cool down' and re-tightened the bolts to the battery down. However, about a half-hour later we smelled it again, usually in idle.

Anyone else smell this issue before?

Jeepjeepster · **Posted:** Mon Nov 27, 2006 3:50 pm

I usually noticed a strange smell like that when driving in the snow. Dont know if it has something to do with snow getting on the brakes or what?

Since the ABS light is on, you may have a problem with the brakes? :wink:

KJ04 · **Posted:** Mon Nov 27, 2006 4:17 pm

You might be smelling brake pad if the caliper is stuck.

japerry · **Posted:** Mon Nov 27, 2006 8:17 pm

cool, went snow-wheelin' again today after letting it sit overnight. No burning smell. however ABS Light is still on, so hopefully that'll fix itself when then snow melts.

Se7enLC · **Posted:** Mon Nov 27, 2006 9:16 pm

japerry wrote:

cool, went snow-wheelin' again today after letting it sit overnight. No burning smell. however ABS Light is still on, so hopefully that'll fix itself when then snow melts.

If there's a light on in an 05, I'd make the dealer take care of that lickity split.

fast1 · **Posted:** Mon Nov 27, 2006 10:32 pm

i just had mine in for an abs issue it seams the wheel sensor rusted to the wheel bearing and when i got my ball joins changed they broke the pick up which caused my abs light to come on and my check motor light to come on when i activeted my cruise controli think the code was p0572 all of this was covered under warrenty

japerry · **Posted:** Wed Nov 29, 2006 8:39 pm

hmm interesting, perhaps it is covered.. although I sorta think its my fault. I forgot to mention earlier that I went in the snow without sway bars on them, which I think might have caused them to stretch too far, breaking off the speed sensor? I found out that my odometer stopped responding on sunday as well.

**Edit**
so last night we were up in the snow and I lost power to my brakes. Looked under the drivers side and the brake line is now severed. I think I flexed a little too much. Driving without brakes is not fun, but doable.

Called up the local jeep dealership. its $95 in parts. I'm going to look up that campaign code and see if this might be related, but I'm guessing it has to do with no sway bars and too much ice jammed up in there.

uvalax236 · **Posted:** Wed Nov 29, 2006 8:43 pm

Replace them with SS brake lines. Wont happen again.

Jeepjeepster · **Posted:** Wed Nov 29, 2006 11:25 pm

Alot of people go offroading with the sway bar off and have 0 problems?

japerry · **Posted:** Fri Dec 01, 2006 2:35 am

Well I got a chance to put the KJ under the lift. It looks like disconnecting the swaybar partially was a really bad idea. I'll post pictures when I get them tomorrow, but basically:

1) The odo/speed sensor on the passenger side was severed
- ABS light came on
- computer odo read 0, avg speed 0, trip 0
- Speedometer worked fine
2) The brake line on the drivers side was severed
- Front brakes worked barely, only when pressed to the floor
- Brake light comes on
- E-brake required to really stop
They broke I believe because the Swaybar washer acted like a knife when I got L.O.S.T. in the snowy terrain and flexed the front too far, cutting these lines. I fixed the issue by buying a new brake line (oem: cost $30) and crimping butt-connectors to the severed wire, and wrapping it with 10ml Cristie tape. Pumped the brakes to bleed them (worked because there was still fluid left in the car), and bought some DOT4 brake fluid to top it off.

Wow, what a lesson to learn.

Electrical burning??

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