gauges quit in the rain

sorry to post this again but I didn't get a response so I was wondering if anyone could advise why all my gauges quit working when driving in the rain. A few days later they start working again. What's underneath that gets wet and shuts them down. I've had dielectric grease applied to the cluster pins and have a new wiring harness. It's a 97.
HT

I have relooked at your case.. and I have one question.. does the CE light come on when the gauges die?

esrasmu2001 said:

I have relooked at your case.. and I have one question.. does the CE light come on when the gauges die?

Click to expand...

sometimes yes and sometimes no. When it does come on it usually goes out after a restart but the gauges continue to read zero.
HT

I had the similar problem with my 99.. I don't know if it is exactly the same cause. I had just bought it used from a dealer, and I made them aware of the problem and they wanted me to take it to the Jeep dealer to have it diagnosed and fixed on them. I went to the dealer and they couldn't do anything to check it since the gauges were working fine and wasn't getting any codes. They told me to bring it in when it did it again..

About three weeks later my wife was close enough to the dealer when it happened and they came out and checked the codes or whatever they did. (I was in Korea at the time) In my case it was the dash harness was corroded and needed replacing. They also performed the airbag module recall at the same time.

HTH

This may sound stupid, but do you have any rust or any way water can get into the drivers side kick panel? If you think there might be or a deffinit yes, pull the kick panel off and pull up the carpet and check the wires. I had the same problem and it was a bad wire in that area.

was the airbag module replaced, moved?. Mine is under the console. Would you know if it was there originally or moved after the recall? I've owned this Jeep for just under 2 years and have no previous history. Bought it from a dealer.

I'll pull off the kick panel and check the wires. I have no rust that I'm aware of and no water on the carpet.

I've had this problem since day one and at one point the dealer replaced the cluster and harness for me at no cost. I thought it was fixed but the problem resurfaced. Of course my warranty has run out now. I've had it to 4 different shops and no one can find the problem or fix it...very frustrating.

If you don't know if the recall has been performed, the simplest and best form of action would be to take it to the dealer and see if it has been performed. If not.. they will do the recall and it should be no cost to you.

Down by your left foot, driverside, is a big grey box with a single bolt thru the middle, that box is where the harness comes in from the engine compartment, it's acutally a big plug and the center bolt holds it together. On my 98 I had the pro9blem with dead gauges, CE, Airbag, odometer stops, etc. When I was wiring my fogs in with the factory kit I noticed that this 'plug' was only held together by friction, the bolt had backed all the way out. I remember it was a SOB to get a socket on and used up every 1/4" extension and two universals I had in 3 tool boxes. In my case that pretty well fixed it. I did take it apart and sprayed it out with some cleaner then put it back together.
Also make sure your brake master cylinder is not leaking or if it has been replaced check the bundle of wires underneath it, if brake fluid leaked on the wires it might have eaten them up and that part of the harness is a real PIA to fix..