Guage Cluster Dead?

rangerd77 · **Joined:** Sat May 03, 2008 10:48 am **Posts:** 512

hey i have no idea what the he77 is going on with this thing but im fed up sort of. on the way home, i home driving, and all of a sudden BAM no lights. and as you know that the lights in the guage cluster run on the same fuse that the AC cluster runs off of. so heres what i did. took off the fuse panel box and got out the manual to find the right fuse. located it (0ne of many i think 3 ) and put the spare fuses in the place of the #9 slot, and it kept blowing. :evil:

. so at this time im running out of fuses and decieded to use the rear power outlet fuse thats 20amp (#9 calls for 10amp) and it blew. cleaned it out and made sure there was nothing in it and still the same thing, it keeps blowing. so now im out fuese and patience at this time and really just want crap to work like its supposed to. so 2morow morning i have to go to the auto store and get a crap load of fuses and try to beat this A$$hole of a problem.

has anyone ever had this problem with theirs, or am i the only one?

also this maybe need to be move to the "electronic" section, dont know but oh well.

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Thu Sep 04, 2008 10:03 pm

You either have a short in the wiring to/in the cluster or you just got unlucky and had your cluster fry(not cheap).Have you added any aftermarket accesories to that circuit?

rangerd77 · **Joined:** Sat May 03, 2008 10:48 am **Posts:** 512

i have in the past but disconnected all the wires. im just not understanding why is it that everytime i put a damm fuse in it was blowing.

tommudd · **Posted:** Thu Sep 04, 2008 10:26 pm

rangerd77 wrote:

i have in the past but disconnected all the wires. im just not understanding why is it that everytime i put a damm fuse in it was blowing.

You have to have a direct short there somewhere if it blows right away. pull out where you have/had the wires connected before and look real close for anything that maybe touching/bare wires/ etc has to be something there sometimes one little strand of wire will do it

rangerd77 · **Joined:** Sat May 03, 2008 10:48 am **Posts:** 512

thats what im thinking TOM. i just didnt want to do that. and if i dont find it, i can just loop it with a wire. might cause a fire, but maybe ill get to ise mire fire extinguisher thats been in there for about 3 years. i have no idea if it works anymore.

Blue KJ in PA · **Posted:** Thu Sep 04, 2008 10:56 pm

It the revenge of the KJ... :twisted:

...getting back attcha for this...

rangerd77 · **Joined:** Sat May 03, 2008 10:48 am **Posts:** 512

hahhaha. i have to addmiit, that was pretty funny. and at one i thought the same thing.

well what i did this morning was went to the local autu stoe and bought all of the 25 & 30 amp fuses. pulled all of the fuses in the box and replaced them with the 25 & 30 amp ones. hopefully this will solve and more electrical problems that i have in the future.

also i why, in the spare fuse spots in the box, when you put a fuse in the that slot, it doesnt stay there. like there is no "grabber" for the spare fuses, they just fall out?

tommudd · **Posted:** Fri Sep 05, 2008 11:36 am

The problem with replacing all the fuses with higher rated ones is the fact that now the fuse will not blow it will melt or burn up something on down the line, or what ever it controls. Everything in a vehicle has a certain limit as to what it will take, with replacing all the fuses you have created another problem I am afraid. hate to see that thing with flames everywhere :shock:

rangerd77 · **Joined:** Sat May 03, 2008 10:48 am **Posts:** 512

if everything is rated for a 10, 15, and 20 amp fuses no higher, how is it possible that that could happen if i out higher amped fuses in the slots and have nothing going to them anymore. i used to, but not anymore. now everything is on a seperate fuses. im not an electrical guy so i may not be understanding something.

ATXKJ · **Posted:** Fri Sep 05, 2008 12:17 pm

If you have nothing connected to the circuit - then it can't blow the fuse -
if it blows the fuse - then something is connected - you just don't know what it is.

by increasing the size of the fuses - you have dramatically increased the odds of melting/burning something

The only saving grace would be if the current is high enough to blow the new fuses

understand - when a fuse blows - it is doing what it's supposed to - it is selfdestructing to protect the rest of the vehicle.

you really need to find the short - fix it - and put standard fuses back in the box.

rangerd77 · **Joined:** Sat May 03, 2008 10:48 am **Posts:** 512

so i have solved the "fuse" problem and now i have a another one. only half of the guage cluster lights up, the HVAC lights dont light up, the floor light on the passenger side doesnt light up. all of this happened after i changed the radio out to a Kenwood. what im wondering if the stock radio has a "light control" in it to make the other lights work or what. has anyone else had this problem with changing a radio and if so what did you do to fix it? or if you know how to fix it, let me know please. i can tell how fast im going by the RPM's and what gear im in, but i dont wanna keep judging my speed by that for long. another thing i was thinking was that maybe i didnt hook up a certain wire that i need to for that problem.

i really hate to keep bringing this up but im just gettting tired of the BS thats came along with the radio switch.

zzack92 · **Joined:** Mon Jul 28, 2008 6:50 pm **Posts:** 371

curently have the same problem with my kj idk what it is not blowing fuses, i checked em and there fine but no lights

i have blue leds on the inside so i can still se but still no fun

Jeepjeepster · **Posted:** Mon Sep 08, 2008 8:47 pm

If it started happening right after you put the head unit in then I would double check the wiring.

There is a wire for a dimmer on the radio wiring. That way when you turn the head lights on it dims the radio.

Idk if there is anything else that would cause any problems like that though.

rangerd77 · **Joined:** Sat May 03, 2008 10:48 am **Posts:** 512

thanks Jeepster, you know i can remember that i didnt hook that up. i guess i can hook that up to the yellow wires frim the radio, yellow being constant feed?

that may be my answer

take a picture of that LED situation you have in you KJ ZACK, let me see what it looks like

zzack92 · **Joined:** Mon Jul 28, 2008 6:50 pm **Posts:** 371

alright will do give me a day or so and ill put some up

Guest · **Posted:** Tue Sep 09, 2008 12:25 am

Whoa hold on a minute here.

You have floor lights?

rangerd77 · **Joined:** Sat May 03, 2008 10:48 am **Posts:** 512

yeah bro, you dont? one on eanch side underneath the dash facing down. not very bright but they are there. trust me they're there bro, ive seen them :shock:

sleeve84028 · **Posted:** Tue Sep 09, 2008 11:01 am

I think those lights were removed in the later models... Not certain about that tough.

ATXKJ · **Posted:** Tue Sep 09, 2008 11:32 am

The wiring still there - you just have to add the lights
http://www.jeepkj.com/forum/showthread.php?t=25559&highlight=floor+lights

Guest · **Posted:** Wed Sep 10, 2008 6:07 pm

rangerd77 wrote:

yeah bro, you dont? one on eanch side underneath the dash facing down. not very bright but they are there. trust me they're there bro, ive seen them :shock:

Yeah, they would've helped me a lot in the past 3 years if I've had 'em!

sleeve84028 wrote:

I think those lights were removed in the later models... Not certain about that tough.

Mine's an '02 Sport;)

Thanks ATX! I'm gonna have to check all that out!

Guage Cluster Dead?

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