joshzilla

Hey guys, I need some help, I'm an XJ owner but my Mother has a 99 TJ and she called me in a panic...(in her words this is what happened) today while driving home from work her check engine light came on follwed by airbag light follwed by odometer blacking out followed by all gauges dropping to zero, speedo, tach ect.
She also said that a few times when she would hit a bump, everything would return to normal.
My first thought was ECU crapping out or loose plug, but she said that it was still driving fine...she made it all the way home.
Has anybody seen this? Is it just the instrument cluster going out? I havent gone over to look yet....will do in the morning but just want to get any info i can first. I had to offer her my XJ just to keep her from calling a "friend"...yeah right...of hers that is a mechanic. This guy is very capable but he will charge her litterally thousands of dollars, if it was a loose plug connection she might get off cheap for $500 or so. Dont even get me started.
Thanks for any ideas

snaftcat

I had a TJ b4 and I would check first of all, your battery and cables then, your cables for interior cluster..maybe connections are dirty..GATO

bluedragon436

I would def. check the battery cables (did she loose the radio or any headlights or anything during this time??? if not then prob. not batt...) and if they seem secure I would prob check the connections for the gauge cluster... I have heard of them coming loose sometimes... not just on TJ's... but something easy to check none the less...

tannerp89

my XJ did this for awhile, my check engine light is always on (dont get me started) but my airbag light would come on, then all my gauges would just drop, id hit a bump and they would all come back on. when i replaced my heater core i cleaned and used dielectric grease on all the gauge cluster connections and it hasnt done it since.

joshzilla

Werd up guys, I love how eager to help everyone is on this forum, I'm also on some tuner car forums for my......well, uh...tuner car and most of those guys are so snobby! Hate asking for help on those pages and thats what they are there for.
So thanks for the help guys, Tanner I actually did what you said before you posted but after pulling the cluster I can see how some rattling around could separate those stationary plugs and make for poor connections. Well I'm sure I'll be asking for more help on the XJ, got some plans to put a few bucks into it soon and will be needing some advice from guys that have done it wrong once already! Ha.