Worked on my jeep today - unfortunately not one of the original 4 cy utility vehicles we all know and love, but the Rambler/Mopar mess called a Cherokee wagon.

My starter would not spin - worked fine and would start the engine if you shorted out the starter solenoid. Problem was in the ignition switch/underdash wiring. What an impossible mess.

The shop manual simply said to remove the bottom trim from the dash. They forgot to mention the intermittent wiper control box, the air conditioning ducts, the engine controller, radio speaker, and various lights that were mounted on the damn thing.

And, after I got it off, I found the plastic ignition switch was bolted to the top of the steering column with the brake rod on one side, and the instrument cluster embedded around it. I could see maybe one corner of the connector, and feel one of the two bolts that hold it on.

It sure looked to me like the only way to see it, much less to get enough room to work on it, was to remove the instrument cluster. I gave it up, went and took a nap, trying to decide if I should tow the wagon to the repair shop, or just burn it in the driveway.

You have to realize that there is about 10,000 wires back there - I counted 11 on the intermittent wiper control box and another dozen or more from the cruse control.

I even considered just mounting a push starter button like the old fords have, but was afraid that there were other problems with the switch that would bite me later.

After my nap I looked again - and found an aftermarket theft deterrent device somebody had installed. It was totally ridiculous - had 5 wires running to a edge card connector glued to the bottom of the dash. There was a separate "key" that was no more than a circuit board shorting different traces together. The idea being that if you removed the key no one could start the car.

3 of the 5 wires were just shoved into the different wire harnesses and connected to nothing, while the 2 outside wires were spliced into one of the original wires to the ignition switch. They were not soldered in, just twisted together and taped over. Somebody got rolled real well when they paid to have that installed.

Needless to say, removing the device and soldering the original wire back together solved my starter problem. That was a quick fix - it only took another 2 hours to get the dash back together.

Well, that is it for me - I love the economy and comfort of the new vehicles, but only as long as they are covered with a warrantee. They are just too complex, and too cramped for me to work on them myself.

I can not wait until I get one of my simple old fords back on the road so I can dump these new cars - - -