[bmlawless]

My wife and I looked at a TJ tonight that we liked, but there were some interesting electrical anomalies that I would like to ask the board about. The vehicle in question is a 1997 TJ SE, 4-cyl, 5-spd, 71,000 miles. Here is the Craigslist ad: http://boise.craigslist.org/cto/873254368.html

1) The left turn signal indicator light on the dash was always on (not flashing). I noticed that the bulb socket was dangling in the fender well with the bulb missing and the socket full of mud. The turn signals did work. Would cleaning out the socket and replacing the bulb make the light on the dash go out?

2) The shift light never came on. We have driven a YJ and another TJ and both had those idiot shift lights, but this one didn't. Should I have seen a shift indicator light?

3) The "Check Gauges" light on the dash would come on periodically along with a rather pleasant "ding" tone. After about 30 seconds, it would go off. In the 15 minutes that we had the vehicle, I think we saw it twice. What is the significance of the Check Gauges light?

I am leery of electrical gremlins. I don't mind mechanical issues, but I hate trouble-shooting electrical issues. I even have 10 years of experience as a field technician. Is there one issue that ties these three things together or do these misbehaving dash lights indicate a potential lifetime of buggy electronics?

P.S. Why don't all of these come with tilt wheels? It makes it so much easier for me to drive when they do. (This one doesn't have it )

[purpose-built]

issue 1
yes. that issue may just be as simple as repairing that signal
issue 2
I've heard of people removing the idiot light bulb because "it annoyed them"
issue 3
2 of my inlaws 4 97 TJs have or have had that problum (however they are 4.0s) it's an issue with a hyper sensitive oil pressure guage and main bearings that are starting to get loose. the enging will need to be rebuilt soon.

[87warrior]

Originally Posted by bmlawless

1) The left turn signal indicator light on the dash was always on (not flashing). I noticed that the bulb socket was dangling in the fender well with the bulb missing and the socket full of mud. The turn signals did work. Would cleaning out the socket and replacing the bulb make the light on the dash go out?

When I was in a front end collision the front turn signal broke. The indicator stayed on and after a few minutes of driving the warning 'beep' would chime on. If I bumped the signal stalk to the side which the turn indicator was illuminated, the beep would stop.

Originally Posted by bmlawless

2) The shift light never came on. We have driven a YJ and another TJ and both had those idiot shift lights, but this one didn't. Should I have seen a shift indicator light?

My YJ did not have a shift light, but my rubicon does. I would not worry about it. Several folks try to find a way to make the light go away!

Originally Posted by bmlawless

3) The "Check Gauges" light on the dash would come on periodically along with a rather pleasant "ding" tone. After about 30 seconds, it would go off. In the 15 minutes that we had the vehicle, I think we saw it twice. What is the significance of the Check Gauges light?

I would bet this had to do with the exterior blinker not being properly connected as described in #1.

Bring a bulb and some cleaner to the jeep and that should fix all issues you are worried about less the shift light

$4500 seems like a steep price for a 11 year old 4 banger Jeep. Although, it does have about 17K miles less than my '03 Rubi

[jackbauersmom]

agree that $4500 sounds steep for a '97 4 cylinder.

[bmlawless]

Originally Posted by jackbauersmom

agree that $4500 sounds steep for a '97 4 cylinder.

I think I need to move to another part of the country to save some money on our Jeep. The current asking price for a 97/98 TJ SE seems to be about $6,000. When we went to look at this one, we had an ad we printed last week which actually had a price of $5,500. He needs it sold so he dropped it to $4,500. We still have more to look at including a 95 YJ 4.0 with 83,000 for $5,700 and and two more 97's for about $6,000 with 85,000 and 104,000 miles.

It might sound like we are looking at too many jeeps, but we looked at a lot of vehicles before we bought our QX4 and we ended up with one that is mechanically flawless and beautiful.