98 Wrangler Tach and Speedometer stop

[firstjeep]

Every once in a while the guages on my dash stop working. All the needles act as if the key was turned off, but I'm driving while this is happening!! A few moments later they will start working again!!
All the fuses look good...and they do work most of the time.

Anyone run into this before?

[fredjacksonsan]

Had the same on my wife's 99 Cherokee before we sold it, never did find the cause. Thought it might have been a connection to/in the instrument pod under the dash. Good luck with it.

[Blair25]

Originally Posted by firstjeep

Every once in a while the guages on my dash stop working. All the needles act as if the key was turned off, but I'm driving while this is happening!! A few moments later they will start working again!!
All the fuses look good...and they do work most of the time.

Anyone run into this before?

I have a 98tj Sport and have had same prob. since purchase, they go off when I hit a bump and airbag light also comes on. It is not a big deal for me usually a smack on the dash above gauge brings them back for me.

[stangfreak7]

Well since you have checked everything electrical, what i would do is pull the gauge cluster out from the dash and unplug them from the wiring harness. then i would go over each plug in with a qutip and alcohol to clean them really well. I had that exact same problem with a 95 cobra drop top. What happened was that the moisture from late night driving etc caused my connectors to tarnish and create a bad connection. This in trun caused my gauges every now and then to either tach out or just turn off all together. That would be the next thing i try. But only clean them with alcohol or something similiar...

[montana_griz]

I too am having this problem in a 98 Jeep Wrangler Sport. I'm driving along and pow! All the guages die and the Airbag light comes on. I see that the 97 Jeep Wrangler had a recall for a loose grounding wire, but says that it only affects the guages on the left. Obviously there is a problem since so many of us have had identical situations.

[CanaMark]

I had a rig that the needle got stuck and broke off. This was during -35C weather. Probably -31F. And no it wasnt up in the NWT, southern alberta. Basically montana weather. I am rebuilding the engine now, its a pet project. It will get me ready to rebuild the 4L I6 5spd. It also stuck, ever since then its been off. But I can judge speed good.

[JeeperRich]

I had the same prob. on my '98 Sahara a few years ago -- took it to the dealer (under warranty) -- they said it was a loose connection on the pod, supposedly a "known problem" with the model. I didn't look, but they said they soldered a connection on the plug (???), and I haven't had a problem since.