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Bouncing/Crazy Gauges and flashing dash lights only with radio plugged in

9K views 4 replies 3 participants last post by  DavidtheCommand 
#1 · (Edited)
Hi all,

2005 WK. Hemi. 113k miles.

This issue appears to be similar to some of the other bouncing gauges and flashing light issues I've seen out there, but none of the solutions seem to work and I think it's a little different anyways. Long story short, whenever I have my radio plugged in*, I get the bouncing gauges and flashing dash lights. Car runs just fine (no power loss). Unplug the wire harness and the problem instantly goes away.

The issue has been sporadic for over a year. It seems as though it gradually got worse over the last few months. Usually I could simply unplug and plug back in my stereo (I'm quite good at installing stereos now) and the issue would go away for weeks/months. For the past week now it has been a constant problem. I've just been driving with my stereo out and unplugged.

Things I've tried:

- Ignition switch replacement. I did this several months ago in an attempt to fix the same issue. No dice.
- Replaced both IOD fuses. No dice.
- Replaced fuse 1 in the interior panel. No dice.
- Replaced PAC wire harness. No dice.

Other observations:
- The PAC harness has a little red light in it. When it is plugged in that light flashes erratically. I don't know for sure, but I'm assuming that's not normal.
- My jeep also suffers from a bad case of electrolysis as I have replaced 2 heater cores in the past 7 months. I have not identified the root of that problem. Possibly related?


* Actually, I don't even need to have the full radio plugged in. I have an aftermarket head unit, and all I need to have plugged in to the jeep wiring harness to cause this issue is my PAC wire harness.

Any suggestions/ideas?

Thanks!

Alex
 
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#2 ·
Tried another round of would-be solutions today and yesterday. All to no avail.

  • Replaced ignition switch (again)
  • Replaced multi-function stick/stalk
  • Removed remote start
  • Tried running without the dash cluster plugged in
  • Tried grounding the stereo directly to a ground rather than through the wire harness (really thought this one would work)

I almost replaced the alternator too (thinking maybe it's something with voltage regulation), but I don't think that's the issue because even when I try to have the stereo plugged in without the engine running (with the key on accessory or on), I can hear what I assume is the same issue occurring in the dash cluster. There is a clicking sound and the vehicle mileage flashes on and off with the clicking.

Are there any replaceable electrical components that, if they failed, would affect both the audio system and the dash cluster but nothing else?
 
#3 ·
Its the PAC adapter. They are junk and don't play well with our Jeeps sometimes. I had the same problems. Tore mine out and wired my radio to a relay and installed aftermarket amps for everything.
 
#4 ·
Thanks for the reply! I decided to press on with the PAC adapter to see if I could get it to work. I finally ended up discovering that there is some issue with the heated seats circuit.

So, I simply removed circuit breaker 2 (CB2) from the interior fuse panel, which I believe only controls the heated seats and the power seats. Now, everything works fine except for the seat heaters and power seats. I guess I didn't really fix anything, I more just moved the problem from the radio circuit to the heated seat circuit.

While I am happy with this solution for now, I'll eventually tear everything apart again to try to figure out what the underlying problem is.

Bizarre issue.
 
#5 ·
Fixed jumping gauges

Hey guys, Here show I fixed it. new commander owner here. I tried both ignition and stem switch. Wasn't that, blower resister new, wasn't that. It turned out to be the main computer plug located directly under the battery. I noticed it got worse when it rained. So I removed the battery and the battery holder. I opened up the connector and it was filled with water. Cleaned, wrapped in a plastic bag, and now all my gauges, turn signals works perfect
 
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