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Cluster gages not working Tachometer Speedometer 95' XJ

R

RubiconXJ90

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Tacoma, WA
I just bought a 95' Xj that has been nothing more than a pain, I bought it for only $1000, only problem was that it wasnt getting spark. Well I finally got it running today.

But now the problem I'm facing is the Cluster; Speedometer, Tachometer and gas gauges arnt working. The gas gauge needle is all the way up passed the full mark with the low fuel light indicator on and the Speedo and tach arnt doing a thing. I tried replacing the cluster, didnt make any difference, checked all the fuses, all are good. Is there a common problem with the wiring or a particular sensor that I should look into next?

The Temperature and oil pressure gauges are working fine.

This jeep only has 72k miles on it, but the last owners that I bought it from said that they drove it on a rare occasion, letting it it outside for long periods at a time.
 
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Check the ground for the cluster. I don't know which line that would be*, but it sounds to me like a bad ground. The temp and oil pressure gauges are the only ones in the set, as far as I know, which get their positive signal from within the cluster and ground through the sensors, hence they will work with a bad ground when none of the others will.

FSM diagram shows terminal A3 as going to ground via the telltale connector (the big vertical one on the panel) and B2 going straight to ground via the other connector. I would guess that one of these is not finishing its path to ground. The first of those wires is black, and follows a tortuous path through a harness splice somewhere. The second is black/light green, and should go pretty much straight to ground. If you can't trace these, you might be able simply to add a ground, or splice into that second wire and ground it somewhere.
 
Better wait for someone that REALLY knows, but I think I read somewhere that there is a multi-wire connector behind the cluster that corrodes.
 
Check the braided ground strap that goes from the firewall to the engine. I believe that this is the ground for the cluster. The braided strap deteriorates over time.

And like Matthew said, the oil pressure sensor is self-grounding, so it will still work. Didn't know about the temp sensor.
 
Matthew Currie said:
Check the ground for the cluster. I don't know which line that would be*, but it sounds to me like a bad ground. The temp and oil pressure gauges are the only ones in the set, as far as I know, which get their positive signal from within the cluster and ground through the sensors, hence they will work with a bad ground when none of the others will.

FSM diagram shows terminal A3 as going to ground via the telltale connector (the big vertical one on the panel) and B2 going straight to ground via the other connector. I would guess that one of these is not finishing its path to ground. The first of those wires is black, and follows a tortuous path through a harness splice somewhere. The second is black/light green, and should go pretty much straight to ground. If you can't trace these, you might be able simply to add a ground, or splice into that second wire and ground it somewhere.
Click to expand...

Thanks allot guys, I will check this out and post the update.

When I bought this Jeep, I bought it non-running. It wasnt getting spark, all the sensnors CPS, relays, fuses ect. were good. Some how 2 volts was running through the ground, So I had to take it to a mechanic friend who knew WAY more about electrical problems, he too was stumped for 3 days, he finaly bypassed a buch of things, he wouldnt tell me exactly what because of how pissed off he was at the thing lol.
I think what ever was hitting the ground messed up quite a few things.

I plan on trying to make my own grounds for the cluster.
 
RubiconXJ90 said:
Thanks allot guys, I will check this out and post the update.

When I bought this Jeep, I bought it non-running. It wasnt getting spark, all the sensnors CPS, relays, fuses ect. were good. Some how 2 volts was running through the ground, So I had to take it to a mechanic friend who knew WAY more about electrical problems, he too was stumped for 3 days, he finaly bypassed a buch of things, he wouldnt tell me exactly what because of how pissed off he was at the thing lol.
I think what ever was hitting the ground messed up quite a few things.

I plan on trying to make my own grounds for the cluster.
Click to expand...

Good idea. While you're at it make sure that the ground strap that runs from the rear of the valve cover to the firewall is good. It's a braided strap, and can turn to dust without being visibly bad until you disturb it.
 
I have a '96. Had the same problem intermittently. There are two ground lines on the "A" connector (the one with 16 pins that connects to the gauge circuit board). Terminal A3 is the ground for the illumination, temp gauge, oil pressure, and voltmeter. The tach, speedo, gas gauge and low fuel light have their own ground line on B2. (A8 is plus 12 for the problem gauges.) If you look at the circuit board there are terminals labeled "GND" - this is not the problem one, it goes to A3. There is one labeled "LGD" - that uis the problem one, it goes to B2. Both go to ground, but are for separate circuits. I ran a wire from one of the LGD screws to the chassis, and have not had a problem since. (BTW, I also replaced the engine to firewall strap and it made no difference.)
 
Yep, it worked, I hooked up a new ground wire to one of the 3 "LG" circuits and that solved the situation with the speedometer, fuel gauge and the rpm gauge.

Heres a couple pictures:



 
I was so stked to find this. I had worked the problem through the FSM and had disassembled the dash to confirm the loss of ground at B2. I took the JEEP to the stelership for the E22 Catalytic retrofit and they had the JEEP for four days and couldn't fix it. I don't think that they even tried really. It took me a total of two hours to fix (electric screw gun). This one really saved me.
 
I've got the same problem on an 89. Any advice on which ribbon to ground to be sure that isn't the problem? Ground to firewall is good. Guages intermittently work. Usually works at startup and then quits shortly thereafter.
 
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