My dash guages on the '98 seem to malfunction from time to time. This summer, I hit a couple of street bumps (yeah, I know, hard on a XJ), and they went flat, only to return with the next bump. We're not talking off road here. Windows and locks don't seem to like humidity/temp changes; sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. Mostly, they are okay. Latest glich is oil pressure guage, currently pegged at zero. When it wants to, it read a quarter despite the fact that the dipstick says the oil is fine, and there are no leaks or tappet noice. Truck starts fine and runs like a raped ape with no problem. Before I take the beast to the shop and deal with our local incompetents, I'd like to get an idea of what I'm getting into before I get disembowelled financially. Obviously guestimates, based on info provided. Unfortunately, I lost my trusted wrench (retired), and I have no faith in any of the local shops not to rip me a new one. As one can tell from the problem description, it could be any number of things. Any help or sense of direction would be appreciated. Anybody run into this before? I obviously don't want to be out running if I think I'm going to lunch the engine.Thanks!

 

First thing to do before you spend any money is to take the time to clean every electrical connector you can find, even the one for the gauge cluster, and refresh all your ground connections. Take out the screws or bolts and sand the metal bright before you put them back together. The connectors can be cleaned with a spray cleaner if not actually corroded, then a small bit of dielectric grease applied. It's time consuming, but won't cost you anything.

It sounds like you have an intermittent ground connection for the gauge cluster. It may be just in the connector, but it might be under the dash at the firewall.