'99 XJ gauges go out??

[NWDave]

The instrument cluster keeps going dead on my Daughter's '99 XJ Sport 4WD. The first time it happened, the Jeep was low on fuel, and when she filled up the tank, the gauges came back to life (???). This time, a month later, they again went dead, when she was low on fuel, but they didn't come back on when she filled the tank. She lives a ways away from me, so I'm trying to get some answers as to what it might be, before I leave to help her out.

Thanks!

 

[lazyxj]

One possible cause is dirty contacts on the gauge cluster.
To fix, the cluster must be removed and the contacts, on the rear of the cluster, cleaned and buttered with dielectric grease.

 

[webby1987]

I just tap my dash resets everything. Lol!

 

[Original_MudButt]

I just tap my dash resets everything. Lol!

Yep... Smack the top of the dash in the middle, right above the air conditioning outlets... The gauges will come back.....Temporarily.

The fix is as lazyxj said... Tear out the gauge cluster and clean the contacts. There is a tsb on this....

 

[g36pilot]

My '98 fuel gage only (as far as I can tell) does the same thing. Taping the cluster restores it. Will be pulling the gage cluster for contact cleaning eventually.

 

[CharlesS]

My 1998 has been doing that since 2000. I had the factory TSB performed by the dealer where they cut and splice in new bus connectors. This corrected the problem about 3-6 months and the problem came back. A friend that is a dealership mechanic attempted to correct the problem and it returned within 2 weeks.
I personally have had the instrument cluster out 6 times and the last time I thoroughly cleaned the contacts on the bus and the cluster terminals with scotch bright and contact cleaner then applied a small amount of dielectric grease to the surfaces. The problem was gone for a week and then returned.

In 2001 I discovered a procedure that works everytime without abusing the cluster or dash panel. When your instrument cluster goes dead (as long as the words NO BUS are not displayed) just flip the directional lever as you would when making a right turn and the cluster should return back to life. The only time I have observed this not to work is when you have a NO BUS displayed on the odometer, if you have a bad ground or if the CPS is shorted.