Lost half my lights and i'm stumped... Advice appreciated!

Drove to work today in my 99' and all was well. Got nasty thunderstorms with pouring rain but I thought nothing more than a free car wash as the jeep sat.

Jumped in to go home and noticed my interior lights did not go on. Jeep started perfect yet ZERO gauge function, and the radio is black. Now everything else works as it should, the gauges illuminate, hvac, rear wiper dials, signals and brights work and light up on the dash.

So I have a few things that dont work, but most do. This gives me an inkling that a relay may be the culprit and not just random fuses. Mind you I DID NOT drive in the rain or through any puddles, the jeep just sat through them. Oh and the keyless entry remote wont work either.

Things that do not function:

1)gauges all read zero yet are illuminated and the dimmer works
2) Odometer
3) Interior lights
4) radio
5) keyfob for lock and unlock


:dunno:

any help is very much appreciated !

popping the number 17 fuse on the distribution underhood block



maybe aftermarket stereo?

Can anyone just give me one pointer..... Since I lost the above mentioned accessories( keyless entry, radio, gauge function, interior lights) Should I start testing those first and go from there or can the tripping of that number 17 fuse, the I.O.D really be ANYTHING electrical in the jeep?


Just to reiterate, I drove the truck to work and everything was a ok. I opened all four doors and the hatch through out the day, in mild rain. When I returned to the jeep hrs later is when the short made itself present with the interior lights not coming on.


pulled the stereo and its 100% disconnected so thats not the issue

Check the fuses. Replace any blown fuses. If you fix it, it's fixed. If you experience a re-occurrence, you need to identify and solve the issue.

It would be logical to suppose that you have a water leak near the fuse box.

warming up the garage for this now... ya everytime I put a new 15 amp fuse in the number 17 spot ( Ignition off draw) it pops it. Something is grounding out or pinched

Ok guys here is what went down. Buddy and I went thoroughly through testing all the culprits, ohms tests from both the PDC and the junction box, etc. Pulled the problem fuses out of the junction box, numbers 6,9,16,17 and put a fresh 15 amp back in the I.O.D spot in the PDC. Success. It finally didn't pop. Now retesting those aforementioned fuses, the only one that gave resistance issue was the number 9 fuse that had the instrument cluster listed on it.

Slowly we started adding the pulled fuses back into the junction box and regained interior lights, keyless entry, AND radio. I was feeling great and decided to try just one side of the cluster to see what would happen.... weird, no PDC pop......felt real gutsy and tried the other... NO POP and full gauge function! So at this point I am both elated and kinda afraid because I have no idea what could have caused the whole circuit to fail.


Powered the jeep on and off a few times, and drove it home 1o miles away and no issues. The only thing we could slightly come up with is that the gauge cluster wiring may have had some humidity/ water build up because the jeep took on a bit of water three days prior on the floor pan.

Any water (rain) leakage on the driver's floor?

I had a leak as water left the gutter, down the door jamb, to the rubber on the door. The rubber was warped and separating from the dor, allowing water in. The water was diverted by the warped rubber and was running on the plastic part of the dash and not only dripping on the floor but when it was parked downhill and REALLY rainy it would drip all around UNDER the dash...not from the firewall, but from the door.

after popping the 15 amp I.O.D fuse a handful more times, I finally have it traced down to the interior dome/cargo light, OR a slightly corroded circuit board on my keyless entry that was up in the dome.... Day three and I have not popped a fuse since (knock on wood) and was VERY snowy here in chicago

This happened to my wife while she drove the jeep in a horrible storm except she lost wipers too! I checked fuses and connections when she got home and found nothing. The next day I went to try again and everything worked. I think water gets in somewhere and then dries out, who knows...