Two problems related to dash wiring have been reported for the 1997 Jeep Wrangler. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
Instrument panel: all instrument panel gauges are driven by a microprocessor, such that it tells the panel what the gauges should read. When the instrument panel cpu fails, all gauges; fuel/temp/oil/volt and tachometer, speedometer an d odometer) fail simultaneously. This is disconcerting at best, highly dangerous (say if one were on a freeway) at worst. Also, transmission: the 5-speed transmission used with the 4. 0l has major problems shifting into second when cold. Jeep's answer for years has been "they all do that" yet they have continued to use the same transmission and have no fixed for the problem to this date.
At 9773 miles air bag light came on and all gauges including speedometer and tachometer showed zero. When vehicle hits bump while driving, gagues come back only to eventually read zero again. Ongoing problem since July 1998 and dealer cannot fix problem. Been to dealer 8 times since initial problem, and still have same problem as of April 1999. Need some assistance for this problem since dealer is no help at all. Everytime they fix problem, happens a couple of months later again.