I have a 98 jeep cherokee classic.
So today my cluster gauges stopped working?? The only thing on is my odometer, airbag light, and turn signal light work as well. My speedometer, oil pressure gauge, fuel, battery, and everything else doesn't work... Any clues on what it could be?? I need to fix this ASAP!!

 

Give the dash a good firm slap above the cluster if they start working again. Then you either have a loose connection in the back of the cluster or dirty connection. It is a very common problem with the XJ's.

 

Did that and didn't work..

 

Have you looked for burned out fuses in the kick panel? and the PDC fuses under the hood?

 

Yes I have

 

Hey guys just thought I'd let you know that I figured out the problem! After some research and hard work. I spent have of today figuring out what it was and tried everything. My dad got home and he spent 10 minutes and fixed it.. Bs right?!? So it was the remote entry circuit board above the headliner. We unplugged that and the gauges started working again! I think the circuit board was fried and couldn't complete the circuit. I hope I helped some people out there with the same problem! Thanks for your help guys!!

 

Cool, good job. Thanks for letting us know.

 

If you plug it back in, do the gauges mess up again? Just being through. Actually knowing that might be interesting. Wondering if it could be grounding/shorting a shared feed from the puter'.

My "New" 90 has one of those and different problems. I didn't get the key that would work it, so I wouldn't miss it. Anyway glad you got it, and knowing if plugging it back in caused the problem again would be sweet!

 

Good work.

Classic case of a module on the CCD Bus corrupting the Bus.

 

Thank your dad for all of us

 

Haha Ya I would have never thought of that it's an entirely different thing. But I'm glad it fixed it! And no I haven't put it back in to see if my gauges wouldn't work because I ran out of light last night and didn't wanna stay out there in the could sorry!

 

No problem...Easy enough for me to just unplug mine!

 

Our modern OBD II XJ's have a Chrysler Crash Detection (CCD) Bus with a bunch of modules on it, all trying to communicate with the PCM. If any one of the modules goes nuts it will shut down the CCD Bus. Usually the first sign is the instrument cluster going dead, but if it's bad enough you'll get a NO BUS and the motor won't start.

The protocal for troubleshooting this is to start removing the modules from the Bus one at a time to see if the problem goes away.

The OP's Dad must know this CCD Bus pretty good if he went right to the RKE Module (easiest to get at).

Here's a schematic of the modules on the CCD Bus.

 

Much thanks for that Ken. I was so in the dark, I about PM'd you on the issue. In any case I unplugged my key-less, and my Bendix 9 ABS didn't magically come to life!

 

Darn glad here to stay not "modern!" ^(that sounds like a pain)^