The speedometer and fuel gauge on my son's 1998 Jeep Cherokee, see to 'go dead', 'lose power' sporadically. Wish I could see it myself, but... Anyway he says that he can tap on the dash and get the speedometer back, and (perhaps) the fuel gage as well.

I expect the speedometer to be a 'mechanical device', and hence fail to see why it would tend to fail at the same time as the fuel gage (and maybe some other gages - I have never personally seen it). The fuel gage is surely electircal, so a flacky connection is a reasonable assessment. BUT... is there really a connection between the fuel gage and the speedometer?? Is the speedometer really an electrically powered device vs the old traditional mechanical linkage / spinning magnet things?

Your feedback will be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

Thats pretty common on the 97-01 models. Pull out the gauge cluster and there is a main plug in the back of it that goes bad. You can either get a new plug for fairly cheap or clean and tighten the plug in back.

Edit: The speedometer is electronic also, they havent used speedometer cables since the early 90s.

 

sorry, double post

 

yep. take the guage cluster out and give each of the pins a slight bend so they make better contact and smear some die electric grease on as good measure to keep gunk out of the plug.