general problems of the 1998 Jeep Wrangler

Airbag light come on and speedo and tach stops working. Vehicle has not been in an accident and this is occuring on numerous Jeeps of this year. Why has there not been a recall? if something isn't done about this I will be getting a lot of Jeep owners together and filing a class action lawsuit!! it is a serious safety problem. I just purchased the vehicle and after researching this its happening to the majority on this years Wranglers.

The contact owns a 1998 Jeep Wrangler. While driving at an unknown speed, the speedometer failed to display the speed intermittently. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 124,000.

I was driving and running the heater and noticed a burning smell. I immediately shut down the hvac unit and smell subsided. I pulled the hvac head unit out and had a vacuum line and it's insulation melted. This could have caused a fire. The heat and ac now only work on the highest setting.

I have had numerous times that my gauges just stop working and then one day I went to drive it and I had no turn signals or brake lights. It is in the mechanic shop as we speak. They have found the electrical connector under the left side of the dash has completely melted and all the wires have fused together. I was very lucky that it didn't catch on fire. Now the other problem is finding the part my mechanic has tried everywhere to fin it. So now my Jeep is just sitting in the shop going on three days now until a part can be found. Why is there no recall on this as I see on here and other sites that it is dangerous and many have had the same issues??.

Instrument cluster/gauges intermittently stop functioning while driving and the airbag light also comes on. There is no warning, just a shut down of all gauges. I have read several reports of this same problem occurring on this same year and model of Wrangler. I have also read that the airbag will not function when this problem occurs. This appears to be a wide spread problem and a serious safety hazard. What would be the reason that there has been no recall to correct this?.

When cold or damp or raining and with light throttle the engine stumbles/shuts off. The tachometer and speedometer register nothing. This is very frightening when amidst heavy traffic at 55 or 65 mph. I searched the web and found other instances of the same problem, but no recall??? and no cure??? for this very unsafe condition.

After parking our 1998 Wrangler at the hospital to visit my mother my car was reported on fire. The firemen stated and wrote a report it was an electrical fire. The Wrangler is totaled and the insurance company will not pay the vehicle off. We are short $3,000 of the pay off. My immediate concern is I was glad I was not driving at the time of the fire and did this happen to other owners of a Wrangler. This car is only going into 5 years old and has had the rear end replaced at our expense and the gauges go on and off and this was fixed once. What caused this electrical fire? I want Jeep to respond to why this happened.

I have had numerous problems with my Jeep Wrangler 1998. This is a partial list I sent to Chrysler: I bought my Jeep with just 3600 miles on it from a dealer in 1999. From day one I started experiencing problems. Many of them I returned to the service department. Some they were able to fix, others, after many return trips, they were 'unable to duplicate the problem'. 1. Gauges would stop working while driving - I brought the vehicle in 5 times before they were able to duplicate and finally fix the problem. 2. This was also true of the blinkers that not always worked - or worked all at the same time. 3. My hazards still do not work every time. 4. The air conditioner goes out when driving,very uncomfortable when it is hot and raining. 5. The sound bar has never worked properly - first it would only come in some times - now never. 6. Headers are cracked - bad. They have been welded several times. When I went to have them welded it was found they were welded before my purchase - at 3600 mil! they are still cracked, welding does not hold. I can not get anyone to replace them because even exhaust specialists say it is too cumbersome. The dealer charges way more than I have considering the number of repairs and the price of gas - at 12 mpg. 7. Drivers seat belt locks tightly with any amount of pressure on the brakes - it has now gotten to the point it locks just while driving. 8. Windows - the zippers broke almost immediately - I paid alot to have these replaced. The back window now has a cut in it and is very difficult to see through. 9. The top has never quite fit right; it has always leaked and been extremely noisy - more so than anyone else's that I know. It has also come apart at the seams. The dealership has not been of any help. They wanted to charge outrageous amounts just for diagnostics, even when I had the best warranty. I've also had problems with the door molding coming out immediately, grinding in the steering wheel, grinding while trying to put it in reverse and more.

1998 Jeep Wrangler 4. 0l, exhaust manifold crack at 30,000 miles. Jeep/Chrysler refused to fix, stating only catalytic converter covered under warranty. Crack occurred in a weld joining the two pipe, almost 3/4 of the way around the pipe, causing cosiderable noise, and loss of power. Guages fail periodically, but come back on there own, after a few minutes. Air conditioner drains onto floor inside vehicle on long drives and can even short out the radio. The steering column also sqeals like an old door when its cold outside.

Electrical system and cruise control.