Along with playing with the hood louvers, I also took apart the dash in an attempt to fix my horn, cruise control, and airbag. Recall I lost those after a hard smack on a rock on the Deer Valley trail during Sierra Fest. After doing some research on this forum, I learned that this is a common problem with XJs and fairly easy to fix. Some have had this happen repeatedly, but I figured I'd give it a shot.
First, I began tearing apart the dash. I found this easy, as a few panels are fasted with quick disconnect connections and the rest have just a few small screws holding them in place. I started with the screws around the instrument bezel and then pulled off anything that I thought was in the way.
I was amused by the old cob webs. I took advantage of this job and vacuumed and cleaned everything I could. The instrument panel is held in place by four screws. Once they are out, you simply give it a tug and it comes right off.
Here's the instrument panel on my seat. Pay no attention to my cell phone and sweet Frog wallpaper. (How many of us do that? How sick are we, anyway?)
I used CRC electrical contact cleaner on the pins, and then coated the female ends with dielectric grease, as per something I read on this forum. Seemed like a good idea.
Below is a nice shot of what the connectors look like after you yank the instrument panel off. I expected to see one large connection, not two.
The rectangular connectors are loosely positioned in their housing, and I wanted to know what was behind the plastic panel...so off it came. Six screws held that in place, I think.
After you remove that backing plate, you have better access to your wiring harness. The flex hose belongs to the left vent. I also removed the left side of the dash and hosed off the dirt and cobwebs.
I also learned that you can easily remove the top of the dash panel without taking off any screws. There are about 8 fasteners you have to pop off, but it is very easy to remove. So cool. I hoped to find some loose change, but no such luck.
Here's a shot of the backside of the connectors looking through the windshield. Keep in mind, with the top of the dash off, you can easily wiggle the connectors if you suspect a bad connection, in hopes for a better contact. Before putting everything back together, I turned on the key and checked for proper horn and cruise control connection, and if the airbag light extinguished, then wiggled, checked, wiggled, checked, cleaned, reconnected, wiggled, checked....
After thoroughly cleaning everything, I put it all back together and called it a day (well...I did have ONE extra screw when I was done...but that's not too bad). I got my cruise control back, but I still have
no horn and I am still showing a
red airbag light, indicating a bad connection someplace. I'll research this some more and try again another day.
More on next page...
I'm picking up my rice burner early next week so I will just need a few bits and its jeep transformation time! :yelclap:
