New to forum, have some questions on 96 ZJ

[JasonJ]

I bought a 96 Grand Cherokee Limited this last weekend. It has the usual 5.2, power everything, leather this and that, the total package. I bought it to replace the 93 ZJ my wife totaled a few weeks ago (her vehicle). One thing I grew used to on the 93 was that I could not rely on the Information Center as it would just randomly display messages about problems that did not exist. That vehicle, other than the PCM dying, always ran great, but was not very resistant to telephone poles mixed with ice.

Well, since bringing the 96 home, the Information Display has displayed a Bad Coolant Sensor, and it shows the tail lights not working, despite the fact that the tail lights and parking/marker lights are fine. The Bad Coolant Sensor display popping up is more troubling, although it runs great, no Check Engine lights, and no other symptoms of a bad coolant sensor (high idle, bad fuel economy). It does not show the Bad Coolant sensor all the time, just once in a awhile.

Another wierd thing that happened was when I took it through the car wash the other day. It is a brushless automatic carwash that has the underbody spray as you drive in. I thought I would be slick and drive in real slow. The jeep immediatly stalled and would not start. Once the spray, which was blowing up into the engine compartment, stopped, the jeep immediatly started and ran fine. The only thing I could think of was maybe the spray was somehow cutting off the flow of air into the intake that is next to the radiator. Who knows, I just won't go slow into that carwash (I only use it in the winter, I wash my own rigs in the summer)

My next step is to locate and clean the connection for that coolant sensor, and replace it if the display continues. My question is, is this typical for the 5.2 ZJs, or is it just the usual ZJ electrical issues? Is there more than one coolant sensor (I assume one for the gauge and one for the PCM)? Any info is appreciated...

I do like the speed sensative steering and the memory seats (the wife is short, you know the deal). The rig looks new and runs fantastic, it was well cared for in its life, so I am not too stressed over an erratic display, but I don't want my wife driving around in a rig with issues either, because she always calls me on the cell to tell me what the dumb display is saying. She got used to the 93 doing the dumb stuff...

And yes, I thought of keeping the 93 and building an off-road rig, but I am a boat guy so all my money goes to boating, so I let the insurance company keep it...