BeaglesXJ

ok so i just bought a 1998 jeep cherokee limited with 143,000 miles on it from a guy and i was driving it home when the airbag light came on and all my guages stopped working. i was on the highway doing about 70-75 when this happened. it was wierd. i had no tach no mph, gas, oil pressure. everything went dead. 5 miles down the road it all turned back on and it started working fine again. during the winter the same thing happens when i get up to go to school every morning. ive come to find out that it only does this when it is really cold out or there is alot of snow on the ground. can someone tell me what the problem is or something because i cant seem to figure it out?

cj's99xjsport

if your horn also does not work it might be your clock spring....but i don't know why a clock spring would make you gauges not work

BeaglesXJ

no i have never tried honking my horn when it happens. next time it happens ill try it. could it be because of a recall that the previous owner had fixed and it went bad? there was something about a frontal sensor and control module that was replaced and put in a different spot.

JeepingDan

it's the Chrysler curse your experiencing..

tetongravity

Ok my 99 did this...all the guages would turn off sparatically, usually going over a bump would turn them back on etc...

pull the guages, you will see there are stupid holders which attach the connectors to the dash itself, so when the guages are removed the connecters are still held in the dash by some tabs etc...what you need to do is break off the tabs that hold the wiring harnesses on the dash support (only break tabs on the dash support not on the connectors themselves), so that effectively when everything is installed the dash, the supports behind your guages do not make contact with the connectors. what is happening is as your dash flexes it is pulling the connectors out of the back of the guages...

this is a really stupid design, by breaking off the tabs your harness will only be attached to your guages, therefore the dash support wont pull the harness from the back of the guages anymore...

since I have done this my guages worked consistantly..

hope that works for you...

BeaglesXJ

cool thank you so much

chris4x4

great info, thanks