Just got done posting this on another forum, finally a summarized list of my life!
Hey folks! I bought my WJ about 6 months and I’ve been loving it, the ruggedness of the outside of the vehicle with all of the interior space it has is amazing! I’ve taken it to the trail twice and nothing broke either time, it’s been great!
Since I’ve had it I’ve gotten it in a better state, replaced the battery, heater core, blend doors, spark plugs, filters, etc
And then the electrical gremlin came in!
Here’s the symptoms:
- All gauges will start to flicker, by dropping to 0 or low and then jump back up. After a short bit they stay at 0.
- All warning indicators come on, and will flicker until they eventually stay on.
- A/C blend doors stop working, if A/C clutch was disengaged when the gauges stop working, the A/C clutch will stay off.
- Mileage stops being tracked entirely on the EVIC and dash
- Power windows stop working
- Interior door locks do not work, key fob does and continues to work.
- Heated seats stop working, if you don’t engage them before the gauges die
- Power mirrors will make a adjustment noise and then settle
- The engine and transmission continue to run like a beast, no noticeable performance drops or issues in the drivetrain.
- If I check with an OBDII reader, it shows all tach and speed readings correctly.
- Two codes pop up on the OBDII, P1686 and P1698, neither of them show up if the gauges do not act up.
This all happens very randomly. In the beginning it seemed to happen the most when it rained, now it’s random. I drove 500 miles last weekend and didn’t see the problem once. On my commute to work yesterday it happened the whole time. The major thing of note is once it happens it will continue until the vehicle is shut off. Removing the negative contact on the battery used to fix it, so did removing the IOD fuse, however those are less likely to work now.
I’ve done the following:
- Replaced Battery
- Cleaned and reseated all engine compartment grounds
- Replaced various fuses and ensured they are of correct amps
- Taken the entire dash apart to look for stray / frayed wire
- Taken the PCM and ECU out, investigated the contacts and put dielectric grease in them
- Remove the driver & passenger door frames and investigated wires that could be crimped when closing.
- Disconnected front & rear wiring harnesses at footwells, investigated all contact points and reseated.
- Removed wiring harness from steering wheel, center console, and all of the junction blocks to investigate and clean grounds
- I also followed the service manual diagnostics for the gauge cluster, measuring each ground and voltage. All pass.
The jeep is a 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited v8 4.7, no funky electrical modifications or audio enhancements.
I think my next steps are to replace the BCM and the finally, after I give up, the ECU.
investigated the whole harness for the doors twice