swanson

Hey folks,

So I've got a 98 Cherokee Sport. For the past couple years, I've had problems with my gauges randomly turning off. I've searched this forum before and done some of the common fixes, mainly taking the cluster off and cleaning the contacts. But the problem still persists. There's a couple things I've noticed with it however; if I set the cruise control while I'm driving, and the gauges turn off, if I tap the brake to turn off the cruise, the gauges will spring back on. The same thing will happen if I flick the signal lights sometimes. So now I'm wondering if it's not an actual wiring problem somewhere, instead of just dirty contacts.

If you got any ideas, I'd like to hear them. I don't want to replace anything if I can, I'm already in the hole to replace the leaf springs on the back.

oldirtycharles

Is it all gauges or just a few?

swanson

Everything. The speedo and tach drop to zero, the oil psi, temp, fuel, and alt gauges all freeze in place.

oldirtycharles

Have you checked all the grounds to the engine block?

My 96 had an issue with the speedometer and a few other gauges not working last year and it ended up being a small ground wire on the passenger side of the engine block had worn through. Not sure since your issue might possibly be related to your cruise control but mine also had some of your similar symptoms. Can't hurt to check the grounds first, easiest to check right off the bat. If you need a picture of the one that was bad on my cherokee I can get you one tomorrow morning.

swanson

That'd be awesome. I'm pulling it into the shop tomorrow to switch out the leaf springs, so maybe I'll be able to kill two birds with one stone.

oldirtycharles

This is my view on the passenger side of the engine block where the ground was at.



Enhance a little further and the nut in this photo is the ground.

swanson

Ah man thanks. I'll update when I've looked more into it.

Sidenote, anybody know how to get a front leaf spring bolt out of the spring sleeve?

swanson

Ok, so it's taken me awhile, mainly cause I spent way too much time fixing my leaf springs. And then I started a new job.

Anyways, I checked that ground; it seemed fine as far as I could tell, but I cleaned it and wrapped in in electrical tape just to be sure. Tried finding as many other grounds as I could, but they all looked good to me.
Fast forward to yesterday, my gauges just up and plain stopped working. Everything froze. Odometer won't register klicks, tach and speedo don't work, oil, temp, battery, and everything else froze. The idiot lights will still come on when I turn the key, but that's it. And now, the usual fix of setting the cruise then bumping it off won't turn them back on.

One other thing that I think might be related, my passenger side driver lights have been blowing the fuse in the cab for a long time now. They'd work for a week, blow the fuse, I'd change the fuse, it'd work for another week or so, then blow it again. However, I've never thought that this fuse had anything to do with my gauges. But now I'm at a loss.

Because everything still lights up when I turn the key, I don't think it's a fuse. I checked the fuses in the cab, they all seemed fine (except the passenger side drivers lights again). I was already running late for work so I didn't check the ones inside the engine bay, I'm gonna check those over lunch.

CCKen

What are "passenger side driver lights"?


Check fuse #9 in the junction Block (JB). It's the in the sixth fuse slot up from the bottom in the front row of fuses. This powers the instrument cluster.


Does your transmission shift okay?


Does your radio work with the ignition switch in the ACC position? IOD fuse in the PDC (Also powers the Instrument cluster).


Here's a symptoms checklist for inop instruments - fuse related.

swanson

The left side running lights. If that fuse is blown, when I turn on my lights, only the right side will turn on. The transmission is a manual 5 speed, it's worked fine. Haven't checked the radio in ACC position. The door chime works if the key's in the ignition, the interior lights turn on when I open. I'll let you know more once I've checked out the fuses inside the block.

swanson

Ok, so I checked that fuse. From your checklist, that seemed to be the most likely culprit-radio worked, chime worked, interior lights worked. But the fuse was fine. I changed it anyways, and no dice.

So then I looked in the fusebox that's under the hood. I looked through every fuse, and all of them seemed fine. For ****s and giggles, I pulled the 40 amp fuse that controls the ignition ACC. Looked fine. Cleaned the contacts, put it back in, and tried it. Gauges worked.

But I honestly have no clue if it was just that fuse not making contact or what. Every time I do a fix for this, it comes back. Is there any other checks I can do?

swanson

I should also mention that this has gotten progressively worse over the time I've had it. First year I owned it, the gauges stopped once. Pulled it out, cleaned the contacts and put some dielectric grease in the contacts, and it worked fine for the next year or so. But it came back more and more. The first couple times I repeated the original fix, and that'd work for a bit. Now it's happening probably every few days. And this last time it's happened is the longest I've gone without gauges - 3 days, and nothing I've done fixed it until now.

So I don't think it's the contacts at the back, and the fuses all seem ok, and the grounds to the block aren't bare or rubbing anywhere. The only thing I can think of that might be related is the running lights on the passenger side blowing their fuse every couple days, which to me means there's a crossed wire somewhere. But I have no clue where to start with that.

CCKen

When the gauges go out have you tried hitting the top of the dash to see if they start working?

swanson

Ha, that fix has never ever worked for me. You wouldn't believe how many times I've smacked the top of the dash trying to get them to work, nothing ever happened. Pushing in the cluster has never worked either.

swanson

Ok so now I've taken a good look at it.

Gauges worked for about 20 minutes into my drive home, then they died again.

Checked all the fuses. Checked the grounds to the block. Cleaned the ground that goes from the firewall to the block. Still nothing.

I got curious, and turned on the lights, and discovered something. The passenger running lights weren't working, even though the fuse for it wasn't burnt out. Anybody have any ideas? The vehicles starts and works fine. Just no gauges and no passenger running lights now.