comancheman Posted April 11, 2007 Share Posted April 11, 2007 my 88 comanche pioneer had the idiot lights and fuel gauge for the blind. i have a cluster from an 89 cherokee limited with the tac and gauges. today i swapped the clusters. once everything was hooked up i no longer had a working fuel gauge it did work when it was in the donor vehicle. then i hit the right turn signal good so far, now for the left turn signal. . . on comes my right blinker my left blinker and the light on the floor by the t case shift lever help me please!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeepcoMJ Posted April 11, 2007 Share Posted April 11, 2007 flip the wires that go into it over. i don't think it's possible to put them upside down but perhaps you have. furthermore, what engine option is in your truck, and what option was in the truck the gauges came out of? generally, it's best to attempt to swap out items from similarly equipped vehicles. but it's a wiring issue OR the "circuit board" on the back of your gauge cluster could have shorts in it. oh! is the new cluster out of a high output unit? or is your truck a HO and the cluster out of a regular 4.0? Jeep reversed sensor polarity or something like that in 1991. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comancheman Posted April 11, 2007 Author Share Posted April 11, 2007 both 4.0 automatic neither have the h.o. motor. harness will only go in one way i checked twice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeepcoMJ Posted April 11, 2007 Share Posted April 11, 2007 bad connectors? and check the circuit board thing like I said. oh, did you swap out the oil pressure and temperature sending units to the gauge type? your temp and oil pressure gauges will not work if you didn't... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comancheman Posted April 11, 2007 Author Share Posted April 11, 2007 i swapped the oil pressure sender but not the coolant one because i need to buy it but the oil pressure and voltage gauge work fine. and how should i go about checking for shorts on the board? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comancheman Posted April 12, 2007 Author Share Posted April 12, 2007 just had a thought. is the t case shift lever light even connected to the cluster? not the one on the cluster the one on the floor. maybe i bumped a coonection while pulling of the speedo cable from underneath the dash? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeepcoMJ Posted April 12, 2007 Share Posted April 12, 2007 that light is connected to your light switch. when you turn on your lights, that light comes on and your gauge cluster lights come on. to check for shorts, about the best you can do is look at the back of the gauge cluster and see if anything looks corroded. check your connector for corrosion AND see if it's plugged in all the way. also see if your gauge lights come on when you turn your running lights on. if they don't, then you have a wiring gremlin. put your old cluster back in and see if everything works then. if it does, then you need a different full gauge cluster as that one is dysfunctional. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle Posted April 13, 2007 Share Posted April 13, 2007 If your truck is really an '88 Pioneer and it had idiot lights, a previous owner has swapped out the gauge cluster because the Pioneer came with full gauges (except that tachometer was optional). If a previous owner got rid of gauges in favor of idiot lights ... one wonders why. Screwy wiring that would be hidden by the presence of idiot lights sounds like as good a theory as any. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeepaholic Posted April 13, 2007 Share Posted April 13, 2007 Could be a bad ground....things get whacky with no ground. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjcanoe Posted April 13, 2007 Share Posted April 13, 2007 Perhaps this will help. Your 1st step would be to check wire colors & locations on the 2 connectors for main i/p, ther were minor changes between '88/'89 models. Also between auto & stick's. If you have access, alldata online has wiring diagrams that might help.On certain applications, all jeep did was leave a white piece of non-conductive tape over the c/b of i/p. The other thing I've noticed over the years for that vintage jeep was that the contact points on the wire harness connectors would lose their tension which could be fixed by using a "90 degree" dental pick (snap-on,etc.) to get behind contact & pull up a little,Gently!! take care, mjcanoe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comancheman Posted April 13, 2007 Author Share Posted April 13, 2007 well i tried putting the old cluster back in and same thing happened so i tried it with no cluster and it still happened. when i turn on the right blinker no problem when i turn on the left blinker the right and left signal go on and the tcase lever light. the same thing happens when i turn on my hazards. wtf??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjcanoe Posted April 13, 2007 Share Posted April 13, 2007 comancheman, sounds interesting. make sure your hazard switch is not engaged, then I would start looking for ground problem as mentioned earlier. Over the years I have seen very odd manifestations of bad grounds & if hazard was "bumped" on during swap could be giving you fits now. Let me know. Take care, mjcanoe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjcanoe Posted April 13, 2007 Share Posted April 13, 2007 comancheman, Sorry I forgot to mention that only direct connection (no pun intended) between lamp circuit & T/s circuit is the ground as I recall. take care, mjcanoe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
87manche Posted April 13, 2007 Share Posted April 13, 2007 check the grounds in the sockets themselves. Mine were shot and the turn signals were grounding through my indicator lamps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comancheman Posted April 13, 2007 Author Share Posted April 13, 2007 sorry but whats the T/s ciruit. where could i find the ground? if i could understand my wiring diagram i could find it myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjcanoe Posted April 13, 2007 Share Posted April 13, 2007 87manche, Good point. Frt's. were bad for bad grounds, I've even seen that if an 1156 bulb were installed instead of proper 1157 they could cross circuit over from brake/ hazard circuit to park lamp circuit. mjcanoe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjcanoe Posted April 13, 2007 Share Posted April 13, 2007 comancheman, Sorry, T/S circuit is Turn signal circuit, if I remember correctly there is a ground on left inner kick panel, by park brake. Also ground in engine bay by battery. Not to discourage, but ground has to have good contact thru all connectors. mjcanoe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjcanoe Posted April 13, 2007 Share Posted April 13, 2007 comancheman, Don't give up on swap, I have'86 I swapped '91 into & everything worked out(w/some research). Only could not get OEM tach. online due to Renix/Chrysler difference in PCM. Your problem is due to existing issue brought on by swap, not diffrence of I/P. mjcanoe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comancheman Posted April 14, 2007 Author Share Posted April 14, 2007 i know that something weird is goin on because even before i did the swap and everything was working ok, my left turn signal was lit up like i had a bulb out but all my lights worked fine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjcanoe Posted April 14, 2007 Share Posted April 14, 2007 comancheman, Have you checked the wire colors & placement in the 2 main connectors for i/p? Double check grounds. mjcanoe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comancheman Posted April 14, 2007 Author Share Posted April 14, 2007 would the wires be in different places from 88 to 90? ill check those grounds tomorrow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjcanoe Posted April 14, 2007 Share Posted April 14, 2007 comancheman, connectors are the same shape, size, location, but, individual wires may be different color, location in connector depending on eng., trans. application, etc. Printed circuit board (plastic) were usally the same for those years. May just need to relocate wire (s) in harness connecter, mjcanoe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comancheman Posted April 14, 2007 Author Share Posted April 14, 2007 ok i have a harness from a 1990 ill compare those tomorrow also but I'm gonna start with the ground Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comancheman Posted April 14, 2007 Author Share Posted April 14, 2007 actually, i know its not the harness or the cluster at all because it does the same thing now with no cluster intalled or the original cluster installed. i must have hit somthing pulling the speedo cable off the back Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjcanoe Posted April 14, 2007 Share Posted April 14, 2007 comancheman, Sorry I can't thick of anything else but grouds right now, if I have an epiphany between now & AM will get back to you. mjcanoe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now