JerseyJeeper

To the OP....I've got one from a 99. $40 if you want it.

David Hopper

does the temp sensor in thermastat housing also control temp gauge in dash through the ecm

RoyalXJ

Pretty sure it depends on the year. I know my 96 had the gauge sensor in the rear top of the head. The one in the water neck sends signal to the ecu.

John Landreth

Hi. I also have a 96 and I have some serious issues with my cluster. Runs out of gas at 1/2 tank and reads full if you put over $10 in. Oil pressure reads 80 and speedometer dosen't work. Where should I begin with attempting to fix these problems?

SteveMongr

Suspect a ground wire issue. Not sure where the dash ground is however.

Paul Bramscher

A few years ago I had this crazy gauge problem on my 1998 Jeep Cherokee Sport. I learned that if I physically pushed the front of the cluster inward, the gauges came back -- for awhile. One day I removed the cluster to replace all the burned out bulbs, put it back, and didn't notice the problem for a couple years. But it came back with a vengeance last year or so. This spring I literally had to push the cluster inward every 5 minutes, and it became ridiculous. I did buy a replacement car, and put the Jeep up for sale. I didn't really get any interested buyers, and to be honest I didn't want to sell it. This Jeep has over 291K original miles, and has driven all over the US on camping roadtrips. Also Canada from BC to Nova Scotia (including PEI and an ocean ferry ride). Have no interest in selling it.

So I took your advice and popped out the dash and cluster. I went to Home Depot and described my problem to an old guy in hardware. He suggested trying metal strap ties, since they're easily cut and filed into the shape you want. I resisted duct tape (apologies to Red Green) and splurged on a tube of 100% silicone. I cut and filed sections of the straps as shown, and "glued" them into position with silicone. Whole project took only about 2 hours and $8. There's a community near me with poorly maintained roads, so I went right over there and drove over several miles of them. It's been over a week now, and the problem is gone. Thanks again from Minnesota, and keep your stick on the ice.

Julia Stavenhagen

Sorry - i am new at this - did it require any special tools to take off the steering wheel/dash?

PatHenry

You don't have to remove the steering wheel to get at the instrument cluster. Everything should be either standard Phillip's head screwdriver or standard Torx (the star shape) bit screws to remove.

99XJ93YJ

How weird. I just glanced at this old thread 2 days ago because I had issues with my cluster after disconnecting the battery for a few days while I changed out O2 sensors. From everything I've gathered its not related to anything I've done. Not sure I feel like driving it until I can fix the cluster.

Paul Bramscher

As Pat mentioned, no special tools needed and you don't have to remove the steering wheel. I basically just snapped out the fascia over the radio and AC controls (no tools at all), then used a screwdriver to remove a number of screws. When you pull out the dash piece, you need to position it past the shifter and carefully thread the headlight control **** through its small hole, but it's all doable with a little patience.

I see I did that job 2 months ago. Happy to report that the crazy cluster gauge problem has remain solved, not a single issue with it since. Been putting the kayak on the old Jeep and paddling some nearby waterways.

DneprDave

I was given a 1998 Jeep Cherokee Sport, 2 wheel drive. It had been stored for two years, I have had to change out the ignition switch, the turn signal switch and the headlight switch. The interior must have been in high humidity causing corrosion in those switches.
The car runs well and everything works now except the speedometer, oil pressure gauge and temperature gauge. The tach, fuel gage and voltmeter work fine as does the odometer.

I have run the instrument self diagnostic and everything worked except the speedometer, oil pressure and temperature gages. I've seen a lot of posts where the instrument pod works intermittently or not at all, this is not the problem I am having. has anyone seen this problem? Could I just need a new instrument pod?

PatHenry

I think you have your answer - the self diagnostic should have shown the the gauges themselves to be functional - since they were not, you know for a fact that the gauges themselves are bad. You can replace the entire cluster pretty easily, and if you're careful you can try to disassemble yours and see if you can find a problem with the gauges. It's likely corrosion on the printed circuit board or something like that causing the gauges to not respond, but you know it's not a problem with the vehicle communicating to the cluster (which is the more common seeming problem).

DneprDave

Thanks, I'll take the instrument cluster apart and see what I can see.

Paul Bramscher

Yeah, I should mention that when I ran the self-diagnostic in my case the gauges all cycled normally -- even when I was experiencing issues. So I had a strong suspicion that the cluster itself was probably fine, but it was the connectors that were the culprit. Would be bummer to have to replace the whole cluster, since (I believe) it stores your odometer reading. I still basically consider my old Jeep as my "tractor" now. Take loads to the county compost site, which is often muddy, haul a kayak on top, etc. I don't plan on any more cross-country road trips with it, but in terms of what I use it for now it seems like it'll continue for a long time. My fix has held -- no more issues with the gauges.

Chris Polk

Thanks for this! Just got a 1998 Cherokee for my daughter, and after I had to install a new head and head gasket, the gauges stopped working. I decided to clean the connections and everything worked great! Saved me tons of cash at the shop I'm sure!