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gauges stop working and start again?

E

EVILLT1

NAXJA Forum User
Location
SO CAL
ok... this is starting to get irritating...

My gauge cluster will at random times stop working and then start up again after a few seconds to a few min. usually the air bag light will go on if the gauges stop functioning...

any ideas?

99 xj 4.ol auto


- Robert
 
Check the cluster connections. They are notorious for being loose.
HTH
 
Normal for 97+'s, it's the self docking connectors behind the gauge pod, two of them. Disconnect the battery, remove the center bezel, all the trim around the panel and remove the gauge panel. Clean out the connectors with a good cleaner, put some dielectric grease on them and plug it back in. I go one step futher and 'tweak' the pins a hair, just a hair, too much and they will bend when reseating them, tweaking them makes them fit tighter in the socket when you put it back together. And no, you don't have to remove the steering wheel, it will all come out...
 
Rich,

I have had this same problem in my 98 since a year after purchase. The Jeep has visited the dealer three times trying to cure the problem. The harness bus connectors were replaced once under a TSB and the bus connectors & cluster pins were cleaned twice... Personally I have removed the instrument cluster twice and cleaned the connections along with having a local friend that is a Jeep Technician try HIS patented fix.... All to no avail...
The problem continues to resurface....
I have learned to live with this problem...

When the yellow Airbag indicator illuminates... and the gauges will either freeze or drop to nothing... I have found a temporary fix that WILL work everytime.
I place the directionals in the right turn position momentarily and the instrument cluster gauges return to normal....

Charles
 
if the connector is replaced the wires need to be soldered. i have redone many connectors that were just twisted together by other people. i have never seen one come back that has been soldered.
 
I still would install the updated connector (5016261AA) and as jneary said solder the wires (along with heat shrink for the best). You will also have to carefully scrape the the oxidation off the cluster terminals. There is a possibility you may yet again have the problem down the road (I have seen some come back) and then I'd just clean the terminals again.


Mike R
 
thanks Guys,

I took it apart and cleaned and "tweaked" and put back together and its all good and we will see if it still works after Calico next weekend.

- Rob
 
you have air bags!?!?! lucky...

my speed-o-meter does that but i dont really care becasue i dont go the speed limit anyways... i just stay at an idle with 33's and stock gears.
 
My 97 has been doing that for a year and a half. I've tried a used cluster and once ordered and installed a new cluster. Didn't solve the problem so I sent the new one back. Problem continues. Seems to lose everthing when it rains...coincidence or not. My pins have been tweaked, dielectric grease has been used,grounds checked,updated connector installed. Last time I took it to a shop they could not find the problem but all the gauges have been working since they put it back together. Then again I haven't driven in the rain yet...Very frustrating.
HT
 
I had this problem with my 99 a few years ago after I bought it. It was still under the used car warranty so I took it to the dealer to be looked at. They determined it was a recall that hadn't been performed for that vehicle.

The recall was for the Airbag control module and associated wire harness would get corroded and cause the gauges to stop working, the airbag light to come on, and potentially could cause the airbags to deploy. The dealership replaced the wire harness and the control module. The recall also warrants moving the control module to lessen the likelyhood of corrosion.

Some information if this helps:

NHTSA Campaign ID Number: 00V105000

Recall Date: APR 11, 2000

Component: AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:SENSOR/CONTROL MODULE

Potential Units Affected: 395000
 
I disconected the airbag module and immediately everything started working. I don't want airbags so I was fine with this. I drove it for a week or so with no problem then the gauges quit working again with the module unplugged. (was driving in the rain again) Maybe my Jeep is a fair weather machine and doesn't like the rain.
HT
 
There was one other thing, when I was putting in the factory fog light kit for my 98 I was down on the floor getting ready to run the wire thru the firewall. I picked the area where all the wires come in to the cab down near your left foot. There is a big connector box there, it's kind of like a big flat plug that has a bolt thru the middle, my bolt was all the way out and the plug was being held in by friction and the bundles if wires around it. I pulled it apart, sprayed it out with some cleaner and put it back together, tightening the bolt down. That solved alot of little problems like the radio loosing memory and clock resetting. The only thing that did not get fixed was the gas gauge but I already know it's the sender unit on the pump, not going to do that till the pump goes..
 
Rich,

You have that problem too.... The gas gauge works and then occasionally drifts from Empty back up to where it should be or not indicating at all....
Mine has been doing that for YEARS. Of course it started about the 3rd year so it wasnt covered under the new car warranty. I was told that even though my XJ was built in Aug 97; it was not included in the recall for the gas gauge and fuel level sending unit replacement for the 97 XJs.

Charles
 
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