gauge's

[Running Target]

All of my gauges went out, i took off the dash to look for a bad connection but all the pulgs feel tight, looked for a blown fuse with no luck. Any one have any ideas? (its a 98 Tj)

 

[TwistedCU]

Possibly a fuseable link. They are often wires connecting the battery to the main fuse block. Sometimes the main fuse in the fuseblock (under the hood) is called a "fuseable link". If it is a wire (a true fuseable link), it may have an open which will be recognizeable by a section of the wire being flimsy because it has burned open and only the insulation remains.

 

[TWDJ]

My 93 YJ had a similar experience, if it can be used for comparison. Turned out the fuse socket within the fuseblock was loose.

In my case the dash lights did not work either so, with headlights on, wiggle the fuse in its socket to see if intermittant contact is made. You will know this by the dash lights flickering. To "fix" mine, I put a drop of solder on each of the fuse prongs which made the socket fit much tighter.

Much success as troubleshooting some of these issues can be VERY frustrating.

 

[Jeepr]

There is a TSB on that problem. You need to put a jumper wire in across one of the connections in the dash. Mine was done on a recall (99 TJ).

The '98 Jeep Wrangler (TJ) and Cherokee (XJ) both were affected by poor connection at the instrument cluster. This condition may cause erratic operation of the speedometer, tachometer, and the airbag-warning light, along with setting a fault code in the Airbag Electronic Control Module. The connection problem is actually caused by oxidation at two of the male electrical terminals on the back of the instrument cluster assembly. DaimlerChrysler has come out with Technical Service Bulletin 08-20-98A, which we pulled up on the ALLDATA information system. This bulletin gives detailed instructions on removing the oxidation with the use of a scraping tool and an electrical contact cleaner. The connection is then protected by applying a specified dielectric grease. We recommend having the job done at a Jeep service department. A poor-quality repair may result in damage to the instrument cluster and/or a repeat of the original problem.

 

[Running Target]

thanks, i check to see about the fuseable link, if not i swing by the dearler and see what they have to say