1999 Cherokee - Check Gauges/High Temp Prob

[glockman1]

Hello all. My name is Bob and I just purchased a used 1999 Jeep Cherokee Sport with 84K miles. Today the "Check Gauges" light came on a few times for short periods of time. Each time the light came on, the temp gauge jumped up dramatically. After a couple minutes the light went off and the temp gauge dropped back down to mid range. Any ideas???? Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

[gtmud]

Its either one of 2 things. The "CHECK GUAGES" light sounds like its working properly, however if your temp guage is jumping around, I would first change the temp sending unit. See if this fixes the problem. If not you have become the owner of an XJ with the all too common overheating issue. That is another can of worms we'll open, ONLY if this doesn't fix the problem.

[dignan]

You may want to look at replacing the thermostat. You can get one for about $6.

[petejeep2000]

Originally Posted by gtmud

Its either one of 2 things. The "CHECK GUAGES" light sounds like its working properly, however if your temp guage is jumping around, I would first change the temp sending unit. See if this fixes the problem. If not you have become the owner of an XJ with the all too common overheating issue. That is another can of worms we'll open, ONLY if this doesn't fix the problem.

Hi, My name is Pete. I've read your post, and maybe you can give me some advice on what yo do. Here it is:
It started last month, the check gauge light popped on, and I quickly checked the antifreeze, oil, transmission, power steering fluids - all seem ok. I blamed the heat we've been having. BUT, that darn light appears after about 10-15 min of local driving. When I come to a complete stop - the engine oil drops from 40 to zero, and when I speed back up, the oil pressure level indicator goes back up to 40. I took this into Jeep - they replaced/removed oil pressure sending unit. This problem is still happening. WTF!! Any ideas on what to tell my jeep service to check for or replace. Also, what is 'XJ'??