Hello, and thanks for taking time to read my problem and hopefully offer up some advice. let me start by saying I have a 1991 XJ, beautiful jeep and my daily driver. no problems except the drivers side dome light switch was flakey. so I pulled off the drivers side kick panel and unscrewed the door switch, and pushed in and out on the plunger that turns on and off the dome light, it seemed like it was slugish and sticking, so I sprayed a little WD40 on it and it loosened up and worked everytime now, wow that's all it took...I was happy. I reassmbled the kick panel, and guess what it didn't work anymore...now not even the passenger side worked and it always did....I opened up the kick panel and didn't see anything obvious, and checked fuses and they were not blown. also now when I turn on the key my gas guage goes full max, and when I start the motor, the gas guage goes max empty and the low fuel light comes on. I am at my wits end trying to figure out what happened when I re assembled the kick panel, I don't even screw it in so I don't think i pinched or broke a wire.and why did it effect the passenger side also, and the gas guage. this is a good one and I sure would appreaciate any help anypne can offer me about this. OH I checked the voltage at the fuse and it was 6.2 volts, I would have thought it would be like 12 volts or close to it. any ideas folks ? Thank you

 

The door switch is a ground. It is either open or closed as a connection. The switch at the passenger's is the same. The overhead lights shouldn't be side door dependent. I believe that all overhead lights come on when one of the two front doors is ajar. That includes the rear cargo area's overhead light. If you have lost the ground or shorted to ground, then you may have your current symptoms. I would guess that the switch in the overhead console for one side had a problem with its contacts inside of the overhead console.

I'll try to send you some images of the circuits involved. Test your door switch with a multimeter for continuity and discontinuity. You should find many YouTube videos on this in the meantime.

 

well I gave up on the dome lights...don't need the stupid things anyway, but the gas gage i need. it always pegs left and the low fuel light is on. I noticed when I played with the wires behind the drivers side kick panel it would read correctly, so I reassembled everything and it was still good...took it for a drive and everything is ok...got in the jeep this morning to go to work and again the gas gage is pegged left and the low fuel light is on...so, either the wire comming from the tank is bad/pinched /loose/or shorted, or the one going up to the cluster is bad...does anyone know the colors of those 2 wires are ? I need to get this gas gage thing fixed. thanks in advance and I hope to hear from you soon.

 

Your 1991 may be like my 1992. The wiring harness on the driver's side is below the mat on top of the floor board where you put your feet Everytime that you enter and exit.

Your wiring may be worn there as mine was. To check for continuity between wires unplug the black connector leading that way and use your multimeter on continuity. Disconnected I don't think (remember) any of them should be continuous with another. Also, this is where the power travels for the dome lights as well.

I think that you can backprobe the fuel pump connector, then try to find it's other end with continuity tests on these wires. I'm not sure what its path to the gauge is. You can easily figure which one of the wires to the pump is ground. One should be +12v when starting from the fuel pump relay. One should be +5v from the fuel pump ballast resistor near the front deiver's side under the hood. The other should go to the gauge.

 

Well I fix my problem with the gas gage. The kick panel has a long support sticking out on the backside of it where a screw goes. I cut it off. Put the kick panel back and no more issues. I think that support was pushing or pinching wires because behind my kick panel NOTHING is where it should be. Just a bumch of wires and connectors.anyway no problem anymore. Thanks for all the great suggestions. Until next Time. Thanks again

 

Did that fix your lighting as well?

 

No on the Dome light. I gave up on it. I just pulled the fuse and will save it for a rainy day. I'm sure there's a short or something in the dome light circuit.