Little Foot

Well my 96 ZJ has been great until this little problem. Its more of annoyance but I'd like to fix it. Sometimes the dash lights flicker, it seems more likely to happen accelerating up a hill or on a bumpy road and it is very intermittent. I originally thought maybe the alternator was going out because it was only pumping out 13 volts. So I put in a rebuilt 130V bosch and it pumps out about 13.75 now according to a volt meter on the battery terminals when running.

My battery terminals are very corroded and the negative one has a crack in it and the cable going to it don't look too great but I've definetly seen worse. So the problem could be there assuming it rattle enough on bumpy roads to lose connection somehow...but the headlights and everything dont flicker when the dash lights do and the radio stays constant....so I'm ruling that out. (**edit** I replaced ther terminals, read down the thread a little further, and the flickering is still going on)

My best guess is its something to do with a loose connection in that circuit or something similar? Anyone have the same problem and can point me in the right direction? If I had a service manual I'd just look at a wiring diagram...

BTW this is my second post :P

Pic for clicks:

dave1123

Okay, I believe your problem is dirty contacts on your instrument cluster lighting connector. The same problem appeared in my 97 ZJ and I cured it by pulling out the whole cluster and cleaning the contact strip with a plastic safe electrical spray cleaner and a small brush for cleaning my electric razor. It seems the lighting is "Electroluminesence", that is it's powered by an AC current. AC circuits don't tolerate as much dirt and corrosion as DC. I did the hammering on the dash and all that good stuff for about 6 months before I broke down and took it apart. Believe me, it's a PITA job to do but well worth the effort. It also helped my blood pressure. Mine was dimming and brightening and sometimes going out entirely. Not very good when you see cops everywhere trying to give you tickets for just a couple excess MPH.

It got worse in the cold weather also, so do it soon!

BTW, Welcome to the group! Just remember this is an opinion group. Answers may or may not be usefull. There are a lot of veteran jeepers in the group that are VERY helpful. I don't want to take fingers or point names, but just be aware. I'll be the first to admit I'm not always right, but I'll always try to be.

Old Retired Fart.

ol"blue

Great advice Dave.

Little Foot

Thanks Dave! I assumed it was something like that. I just wanted to see if someone else had a similar problem before I pull the dash apart and clean everything only to find out "hey its a common problem just clean this ground" or something haha.
I probably wont be able to get to it for a couple weeks but when I do I'll let you know if it fixed the problem. Gotta finish the suspension on my mr2 this weekend O.o

Justin W

My 98 had the same problem. When the dash lights would dim, I could put pressure on the headlight switch just between the headlight **** and the dome light switch. I pulled out the headlight switch, removed the circuit board, and re-soldered the nodes. You can tell which joints need it because the solder will look more like dull pewter than shiny solder. This fixed mine. It would flicker on bumps and pushing in on the switch would put just enough pressure on the circuit board to re-establish the connection. The fix took about 45 minutes and the only cost was the solder used. I hope this might help.

Gary Mullens

I had the same problem with my 96 gc. I did the solder as well. No more problems.

Little Foot

oh nice. next time it happens I'll be sure to put the pressure on the switch so I can "properly" diagnose it. It hasn't happened in a few weeks but my Jeep isn't my DD normally and lately I've been trying to save money on gas. But as I'm finishing the suspension on my MR2 I'll be driving this a lot more so I'm sure it will happen eventually.

ill let you know once I figure it out

dave1123

Hey Little Foot, check that headlight switch first. Mine looked pretty good, but a previous owner may have replaced it. It could save you pulling the dash apart.

fabricationman

My wife's 98 Grand Cherokee also has had the "blink-sterment" panel lights... for the entire time we've had it (3 years now). Now, she says it doesn't really bother her (to all you single guys out there, this is NOT what she REALLY means! ... old married guys know the real truth!).

My first thought was buy a new switch from the dealer! "And you want a hundred and HOW MANY dollars for that???"

Second thought was junkyard! Apparently some clown went to every junkyard around here and bought them all so I can't have one!

Third thought? Why Ebay, of course! Where every available switch is for automatic headlights only. Guess what option her GC doesn't have?

So I was replacing the hinge pins on the driver's door all freaking day yesterday... or so it seemed... and had part of the dash apart to get to the top hinge bolt. Since I was that close to removing the headlight switch at that point, I decided I was going to tear the switch apart and tighten the contacts on the dimmer because I was sure that was the issue. And I promptly discovered that you can take a lot of the switch assembly apart, but that slider was another story entirely. So I sadly put the switch all back together and was about to resign myself to paying $185 for a new switch...

Being a new member to this forum, I was surfing away enjoying the funny stuff, when I got the brilliant idea to see if anyone had solved my problem already. Low and behold, here is this thread! I believe that Justin and Gary have steered me in the right direction to fixing my honey's ride!

Next stop: soldering iron!

Jim
Melrose, Florida
97 XJ 4x4
98 ZJ 4x4
93 XJ 2wd
95 Dodge Ram 1500 4x4 (well, it is Mopar!)

dave1123

Hey Guy! That's the whole reason for this website! Spread the word to guys who love jeeps and are tearing they're hair out trying to keep them going and have fun doing it.

Remember "THE DAY YOU HAVEN'T LEARNED SOMETHING IS A DAY LOST!!"

KEEP ON JEEPIN'

KEEP THE FAITH---SPREAD THE WORD

Little Foot

Ironically I still havnt fixed the flickering dash lights problem because the care now has no power at all! Drove home for lunch. Go to start it....and nothing, no door chime, no nothing.

So I check the cables if theyre loose. Nope. Ugh

Voltage at the battery is 12.5 and it holds a load at 11 just fine....but.with.the cables.on and the leads.on the.terminal clamps, it.reads.9-10 volts and drops.to zero.when.i.load.it...

Im assuming I can get away with replacing the terminal clamps right now, the ground on the fender gor.the.nagtive terminal looks ok

Little Foot

Sorry my phone is not the easiest to type on haha

fabricationman

My XJ did the same thing to me when I put the motor back in it last week. I had already fully primed the oil system when it was on the stand a few days before, but just wanted to spin it a few times with my remote starter before firing it off. When I hit the button, a couple of sparks popped off the positive terminal and nothing else.

I have replacement terminal ends on my cables, and both looked fine. But the positive one had just enough corrosion where the cable clamps on to not make contact. I took it apart, cleaned it up, put it back together, and all was well.

dave1123

I had this happen on my 97 ZJ several times. The problem is the + battery post is smaller than - (ground) and the lead composite cable terminals loose clamping power as they stretch. If you don't see a gape between the ends where the bolt is, either replace the terminal or file the end until you have a gape when the bolt is tight. I've been looking for the old tin plated brass terminals, but nobody seems to make them anymore, unless you find marine ones and they only have a threaded stud to connect the cable. There are terminals designed for heavy equiptment with disconnect switches on them, but them are expensive and unnessesary. What I did was use a Dremel and cut an 1/8 groove thru the split, coated the terminal with copper anticease, and haven't had a problem again!

Hope this cures your problem.

Little Foot

Well you guys were on the right track! I ended up running to NAPA after work, buying a box of 6gauge ring terminals and new battery terminals (the kind that you bolt the cables to the back of, thus the rings). Gave it a good 15 or so starts and not a problem

And returning to the flickering lights subject, it happened again! But by the time I noticed it stopped. Did a high idle switch in my friends f250 last night also so I was a little reluctant to do yet another electrical job. I'll get to it one day! Haha