98 Instrument gauges quit

[sjx40250]

My daughter is in the Seattle area and drives a 98 XJ.
Yesterday there was a wisp of smoke that came out of the hood and her instrument gauges quite working.
She has not found a shop that hasn't ripped her off in repairs. I have tried to help from Virginia but can't do much.
I think there may be a problem in the power distribution block, if it has one. I have a 90 so not the same.
She has interior lights and it runs but no gauges.
Her fan was not working in all four positions. Last week it starte working well and the A/C worked really good. The cruise control quit!

Any Ideas where to start?

 

[sjx40250]

Looks like it might be an intermittent failure or short of a bare wire somewhere. It came back

 

[jeep ride]

My 98 instrument panel would go on and off but I never saw any smoke .

 

[Jeeptruck82]

I just fixed mine. Gauges and radio went out. Turns out the battery power at the radio was dead. Powered it up from the power outlet with a fuse and all working again.

 

[Dragonslayer]

98 XJ Limited. 2WD. AW4.

The first place I would look are the ground wires that are attached to the block via the engine oil dipstick tube bracket. Undo the nut there and inspect the wires for loose fraying at the ring connectors. Repair as needed. Clean off
any oil and dirt before putting it back together.

On some 97-01 XJs, the connector plug that powers the instrument cluster can work itself loose. For me, all I did was to sit in the driver’s seat, and use the
finger tips on both hands to firmly press the gauge pack into the dash - especially around the area where the odometer display is located (because
the gauge pack connector plug is located near behind that area. Doing this brought my gauges back, no tools needed.