Hi everyone,
About 3 weeks ago I started having lighting issues.
I don't drive my jeep a lot at night so I'm not sure exactly when this started happening, but for sure 3 weeks ago it was happening and continues, just seems to be getting progressively worse.
3 weeks ago we found out that we had no instrument cluster lighting. The digital odometer lights up, high beam lights up but no other lights in the instrument cluster. All gauges work they just aren't being illuminated. Drove back home 2 hours without seeing speed. On that same trip home someone kept flipping the head lights at me and we found out we had no tail lights, no break lights but we did have reverse lights. Turn signals worked. No problem... The next day I checked the fuses behind the glove box for the instrument cluster & break lights. Yep they worked. Next day we took the jeep out for a ride around town and when we hit a bump we heard a fuse pop. After checking, it was the fuse for the instrument cluster.
Jumped on forums to see how others had fixed the issue. Most common cause was bare wire short out or a faulty multi-function switch.
I took off the glove box , front facing dash cover, instrument cluster cover, instrument cluster and steering column cover. All wiring were still in their sheeting and attached to their harnesses. Amazingly clean and organized for a 19 year old vehicle. The TJ still has all it's original equipment like radio, speakers etc. It's a plain Jane.
What wires I could see all looked good. (I did not take the fuzzy covering off the wires but what I did see looked good)
When all that looked good, I removed the multi function switch and bought a new one and installed it. 1st Question: The MFS has a relay. The new one didn't come with one so I used the one out of the old switch. How do you know if these relays are working correctly?
We then replaced the blown fuses took it for a test drive and once we hit a decent bump the instrument cluster fuse blew.
Today, we took the jeep out for a drive and it was getting close to dusk so we started toward the house knowing our cluster lights wouldn't be working. On a whim I pulled over and asked my wife to check to make sure we had break lights. We had NO rear lights whatsoever. No tail lights, no break lights, no reverse lights.
We went straight home and we checked the lights again. no change except the turn signals.
The right turn signal was very dim (front turn signal was fine) and each time the signal would blink there was a weird "whirring" sound coming from the front passenger side under the hood. The light would occasionally start blinking correctly (brighter) and the "whirring" sound would stop then a minute or two later it would go dim and you would hear that "whirring" sound again. Left blink didn't display the dimming issue.
Also, only when the right turn signal was dim, each time the turn signal came on the headlights would dim slightly. If it was not making the sound and the turn signal was not dim the headlights would not dim when they blinked. This was all while the TJ was on and running btw.
Really not sure what the problem is. I plan on looking under the hood and see where that sound is coming from.
Hopefully someone here has had this weird situation and can point me in the right direction...
Any help you all could provide would be greatly appreciated.
About 3 weeks ago I started having lighting issues.
I don't drive my jeep a lot at night so I'm not sure exactly when this started happening, but for sure 3 weeks ago it was happening and continues, just seems to be getting progressively worse.
3 weeks ago we found out that we had no instrument cluster lighting. The digital odometer lights up, high beam lights up but no other lights in the instrument cluster. All gauges work they just aren't being illuminated. Drove back home 2 hours without seeing speed. On that same trip home someone kept flipping the head lights at me and we found out we had no tail lights, no break lights but we did have reverse lights. Turn signals worked. No problem... The next day I checked the fuses behind the glove box for the instrument cluster & break lights. Yep they worked. Next day we took the jeep out for a ride around town and when we hit a bump we heard a fuse pop. After checking, it was the fuse for the instrument cluster.
Jumped on forums to see how others had fixed the issue. Most common cause was bare wire short out or a faulty multi-function switch.
I took off the glove box , front facing dash cover, instrument cluster cover, instrument cluster and steering column cover. All wiring were still in their sheeting and attached to their harnesses. Amazingly clean and organized for a 19 year old vehicle. The TJ still has all it's original equipment like radio, speakers etc. It's a plain Jane.
What wires I could see all looked good. (I did not take the fuzzy covering off the wires but what I did see looked good)
When all that looked good, I removed the multi function switch and bought a new one and installed it. 1st Question: The MFS has a relay. The new one didn't come with one so I used the one out of the old switch. How do you know if these relays are working correctly?
We then replaced the blown fuses took it for a test drive and once we hit a decent bump the instrument cluster fuse blew.
Today, we took the jeep out for a drive and it was getting close to dusk so we started toward the house knowing our cluster lights wouldn't be working. On a whim I pulled over and asked my wife to check to make sure we had break lights. We had NO rear lights whatsoever. No tail lights, no break lights, no reverse lights.
We went straight home and we checked the lights again. no change except the turn signals.
The right turn signal was very dim (front turn signal was fine) and each time the signal would blink there was a weird "whirring" sound coming from the front passenger side under the hood. The light would occasionally start blinking correctly (brighter) and the "whirring" sound would stop then a minute or two later it would go dim and you would hear that "whirring" sound again. Left blink didn't display the dimming issue.
Also, only when the right turn signal was dim, each time the turn signal came on the headlights would dim slightly. If it was not making the sound and the turn signal was not dim the headlights would not dim when they blinked. This was all while the TJ was on and running btw.
Really not sure what the problem is. I plan on looking under the hood and see where that sound is coming from.
Hopefully someone here has had this weird situation and can point me in the right direction...
Any help you all could provide would be greatly appreciated.
yeah wiring is a pain to troubleshoot in my experience