So i just bought a 96 Cherokee and the gas, rpm, and speedometer doesn't work. Does anyone have ideas what could be wrong?

 

Check and clean the ground connection on the block behind the oil dipstick tube.

 

Does that not ground near the driver's side on the firewall? That ground is a strap of metal from the firewall to the cylinder head at the back of the valve cover. The main ground is from the battery negative terminal to a point along the engine block toward the rear on the passenger's side. Unscrew, then spray with brake cleaner and possibly brush them before rescrewing them.

 

You guys are talking about the same location. Engine block, passenger side near the oil dipstick tube.

Breanna - after you clean the engine grounds (another way to look at it is to follow the negative battery cables to everywhere that they contact the engine or body of the Jeep.), and the battery cables themselves, I would next remove the instrument cluster. It's not that difficult and there are many "how-to"'s if you google it. The 96 instrument cluster is the same as most of the prior years. You need to check and clean-up the connections at the cluster (there are 2 harnesses that plug into it) and make sure none of the wires are corroded or loose or damaged. Also inspect the printed "circuit board" stuff on the back of the cluster for breaks or thinned out connections. At that point, if one or more of the gauges are still not working then you likely have a wiring issue (damaged/chaffed or broken wire). Probably separate issues for each. The fuel gauge wiring runs all the way to the gas tank, the speedometer is wired into the transfer case and the tachometer (RPM) is wired to the PCM/Computer.

 

Be gentle with those printed circuit boards.