A lot of folks think that the Gauges on your Jeep YJ are problematic because they just are, or that they don't, won't or should not work. Well - that's not the case. With a little time and care, everything can and should work. I'll add comments in a bit.
STEP 1: DISCONNECT YOUR BATTERY NOW SO YOU DON'T SHORT YOUR BOARD
Below: Stock cluster has 4 screws below and 2 on the side. The 4 below also hold in place a plastic trim piece.
Remove these and CAREFULLY unseat the plastic cover - the clear plastic cover contains the mechanism to wind the clock - they are designed to come apart. They WILL crack at the hole for the clock if you are not VERY careful.
now that you have it in your lap - you can see what it looks like - left to right:
Backlight
Temp Gauge
Backlight
Fuel Gauge
Backlight
Square box is where the wiring harness attaches into the circuit board. Not shown: Clock - it is right off the shot in the center.
Close up on the square box - be gentle in here, but understand that they need to be clean - emery paper, Pencil Eraser (Good tip from the comments after I posted) Dremel with stainless wire wheel at LOW speeds - all will clean this up, bright and shiny.
Each Gauge sits in a sink like this - one positive, one negative and the receiver. All the connection points need to be bright and shiny.
This is the connector which is secured through the cluster and the circuit board that provides power into the individual gauges. These also should be clean and shiny. You'll notice here that this is not the case and was causing my Fuel Gauge to need periodic "tapping" in order to register. Not cool - plus, the increased resistance was causing incorrect measurements on the gauge.. In my Jeep - EVERYTHING works - Period.
After a little bit of work - you'll get them nice and shiny again! This is ready to get plugged back into the gauge cluster. You can put a thin coat of dielectric grease or white lithium grease on the copper to keep it conductive longer.
In order to clean up the plug on the Wiring Harness side YOU MUST DISCONNECT THE BATTERY - failure to do so will likely cause a short on your wiring harness, fire, nuclear disaster, famine, the seventh seal on the gates of wrath to break, etc. etc. etc... Well - maybe not, but you get the idea...
Since you have it out - clean up the receiver from the Wiring Harness - this will pay big dividends over time!
Both sides need to be cleaned - I used a Dremel with a stainless wire wheel.
Be gentle - again - bright and shiny!
Reassemble the cluster and turn the engine over - make sure that you've been cleaning everything as you went in and out - this is a great time to clean off all the dust and grime that may be in there!
Wanted to add these pictures of the Tach/Speedometer as well.
Backside of the speedometer - popping the cable loose by squeezing the white plastic lever on the left will give you more room to work.
Two lights on that on the left and right.
Back side of the Tach - two lights on left and right as well:
Pop those loose and when you replace the lights just check to make sure they work before you button everything up.
Just for Giggles - I put Blue LED's in - this is what they look like:
Sorry they are a bit blurry - 1 second shutter time without a flash...
Questions or comments? Feel free to ask! Link to this post often and please give it a thumbs up!!
STEP 1: DISCONNECT YOUR BATTERY NOW SO YOU DON'T SHORT YOUR BOARD
Below: Stock cluster has 4 screws below and 2 on the side. The 4 below also hold in place a plastic trim piece.
Remove these and CAREFULLY unseat the plastic cover - the clear plastic cover contains the mechanism to wind the clock - they are designed to come apart. They WILL crack at the hole for the clock if you are not VERY careful.
now that you have it in your lap - you can see what it looks like - left to right:
Backlight
Temp Gauge
Backlight
Fuel Gauge
Backlight
Square box is where the wiring harness attaches into the circuit board. Not shown: Clock - it is right off the shot in the center.
Close up on the square box - be gentle in here, but understand that they need to be clean - emery paper, Pencil Eraser (Good tip from the comments after I posted) Dremel with stainless wire wheel at LOW speeds - all will clean this up, bright and shiny.
Each Gauge sits in a sink like this - one positive, one negative and the receiver. All the connection points need to be bright and shiny.
This is the connector which is secured through the cluster and the circuit board that provides power into the individual gauges. These also should be clean and shiny. You'll notice here that this is not the case and was causing my Fuel Gauge to need periodic "tapping" in order to register. Not cool - plus, the increased resistance was causing incorrect measurements on the gauge.. In my Jeep - EVERYTHING works - Period.
After a little bit of work - you'll get them nice and shiny again! This is ready to get plugged back into the gauge cluster. You can put a thin coat of dielectric grease or white lithium grease on the copper to keep it conductive longer.
In order to clean up the plug on the Wiring Harness side YOU MUST DISCONNECT THE BATTERY - failure to do so will likely cause a short on your wiring harness, fire, nuclear disaster, famine, the seventh seal on the gates of wrath to break, etc. etc. etc... Well - maybe not, but you get the idea...
Since you have it out - clean up the receiver from the Wiring Harness - this will pay big dividends over time!
Both sides need to be cleaned - I used a Dremel with a stainless wire wheel.
Be gentle - again - bright and shiny!
Reassemble the cluster and turn the engine over - make sure that you've been cleaning everything as you went in and out - this is a great time to clean off all the dust and grime that may be in there!
Wanted to add these pictures of the Tach/Speedometer as well.
Backside of the speedometer - popping the cable loose by squeezing the white plastic lever on the left will give you more room to work.
Two lights on that on the left and right.
Back side of the Tach - two lights on left and right as well:
Pop those loose and when you replace the lights just check to make sure they work before you button everything up.
Just for Giggles - I put Blue LED's in - this is what they look like:
Sorry they are a bit blurry - 1 second shutter time without a flash...
Questions or comments? Feel free to ask! Link to this post often and please give it a thumbs up!!