TJ Gauges Won't Move

1757 Views 11 Replies 6 Participants Last post by biffgnar, Mar 26, 2013

cptkarla

Discussion Starter · Mar 26, 2013

Hi! I'm having trouble with my '98 Wrangler.
It's 4cyl, 2.5L, manual engine.
A couple of weeks ago, the tachometer and speedometer would randomly drop (when the car was running) and come back on once the car came to a full stop, was put into neutral, or in some cases, when the car was turned off and turned back on. It continued for a few days then went away on its own. Sometimes, the airbag light would stay on.
Today, I turned my car on (after it running fine earlier) and the temperature gauge, oil gauge, gas gauge, and battery gauge did not move at all, but the tachometer and speedometer worked fine.
Any solutions? I've read some posts where cleaning/replacing the F10 and F17 fuses fix the problem, others where wiring was the issue.

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NotURMailman

· #2 · Mar 26, 2013

Hmm...

Could this be a clock spring issue?

I'm not sure.

Do all of the gauges ground to the same spot?

I know on older 4.0 Jeeps (Cherokees specifically) there was a ground strap attached to the back side of the engine that would break and cause inoperative gauges.

I'm sure someone around here has had a problme like yours. Did you do a good search?

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wwch99tj

· #3 · Mar 26, 2013

Try cleaning your battery cable connections really well

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S3 using JeepForum

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cptkarla

Discussion Starter · #4 · Mar 26, 2013

I don't think it's a clock spring issue, it must be electrical.
The oil gauge moves up a little.
After banging on the dashboard some, the gauges finally began operating and the airbag light turned off.

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NotURMailman

· #5 · Mar 26, 2013

cptkarla said:
I don't think it's a clock spring issue, it must be electrical.
The oil gauge moves up a little.
After banging on the dashboard some, the gauges finally began operating and the airbag light turned off.

A clockspring or clock spring is a special rotary electrical connector which allows a vehicle's steering wheel to turn while still making an electrical connection between the steering wheel airbag and/or the vehicle's horn and other devices and the vehicle's electrical systems. The clockspring is located between the steering wheel and the steering column.

They tend to fail on TJs that get rained into a lot due to the top being left off.

The only reason I even brought it up is because you mentioned the air bag light.

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Spyder05

· #6 · Mar 26, 2013

was it raining or really humid when you were having issues??

pull your gauge cluster and look at the connectors on the back of it....they are known for bad connections and randomly loosing the cluster.

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cptkarla

Discussion Starter · #7 · Mar 26, 2013

The horn used to go off in cold weather, but we got a button for it.
The car interior has never been exposed to rain, for sure.
We've checked the fuses, not the problem.
So the only theories left are clockspring and wiring. Any other ideas?

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cptkarla

Discussion Starter · #8 · Mar 26, 2013

Spyder05,
No, it's actually cold today and a little on the dry side.

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cptkarla

Discussion Starter · #9 · Mar 26, 2013

Spyder05 said:
was it raining or really humid when you were having issues??

pull your gauge cluster and look at the connectors on the back of it....they are known for bad connections and randomly loosing the cluster.

This is what I'm looking at right now. What am I looking for exactly?

Game controller Input device Electronic instrument Gadget Video game accessory

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SpcRodeo

· #10 · Mar 26, 2013

I had the same issue when I bought my 98 TJ. Took it back to the dealer who sent it off. I got it back and couldn't read my odometer and it quit working again after a month. So I would love to know how to fix it myself as well.

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cptkarla

Discussion Starter · #11 · Mar 26, 2013

Not sure if the banging on the dashboard fixed it, but it seems to work now. We put some dielectric grease on the clusters!

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biffgnar

· #12 · Mar 26, 2013

In XJs very common for the wire looms that plug into those two plugs to come loose. I think less common in TJs, but what you describe is similar to what I've seen happen in my XJ. Clean the connections, try to tighten up the plugs and put conducter on them (and dielectric grease is not a conductor).

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