Electrical Nightmare!!!

So i have a 98 XJ. i just got it 5 days ago. so what did i do, what any one would do. payed for it drove it with my other jeeps plates down the road 5 miles and climed the biggest hill in the valley. so i was at the top. it was a bit steep so on my way down put in 4lo and started down the hill. to conserve brakes i shifted it into 1,2 and as soon as i did, my dash lights went out, along with the shifter lights. i checked the fuses and nothing.

the manual i have is trash, so other than the fuse i dont know what. everything connected to that system works but thoes 2 bulbs.

less importantly throughout the day everything on the dash works good (minus lights) my gas gauge will just loose power then pop back on??? checked the harness seems good. then my airbag light will pop on. then all gauges loose power. it will stay like that all day untill you use the turn signal. then its all good.

my wife has a 93 grand cherokee and it does a lot of the same things. this stuff common?

thanks. i love this site by the way. ::

Lost the dash lights after shifting to 1,2? Look under the shifter bezel and see if the wire to the shift indicator light wire got shorted/caught up in the linkage. Probably have a blown dash lamp fuse, too.

cruiser54 said:

Lost the dash lights after shifting to 1,2? Look under the shifter bezel and see if the wire to the shift indicator light wire got shorted/caught up in the linkage. Probably have a blown dash lamp fuse, too.

Click to expand...

Yep, agree. And the 97+ are famous (infamous?) for losing the gauges. There is a TSB for a new instrument panel connector. Most just pull the IP, clean the contacts, treat with dielectric grease, and I like to TUG on the harness to get a little strain relief on the connector.

Good luck.

X2 on the TSB, my 98 had the same issues.