1999 Jeep Cherokee Gives me a message thru the odometer

1999 JEEP CHEROKEE
118,500 MILES • 6 CYL • 4WD • AUTOMATIC
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MYJEEPIE
  • MEMBER
  • 1 POST
I don't understand what's going on with my Jeep when occasionally (usually when on hwy using cruise control), my odometer displays an alpha-numeric msg: BU5 for awhile (i.e.15-20 min), the RPM and speedometer goes to ZERO (i.e. doesn't register anything). WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? IT'S WEIRD TO SEE THAT WHERE I USUALLY SEE MILEAGE NUMBERS. I'd like to know what's going on with my Jeep and what I should do about it! Thanks for your help!!
Nov 8, 2010 at 1:31 PM
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BLUELIGHTNIN6
  • ✓Experienced Mechanic
  • 16,542 POSTS
that means that the vehicle is experiencing a network communications BUS problem. In other words, all the NODES on the BUS need to talk to eachother all the time. When on of them fails to talk, this will happen. The cluster itself could be bad, so a scan tool needs to be hooked up to the computer sysytem, and all the NODES need to be PINGED and talked to bi-directionally. Then a lab scope will reveal the communications of each NODE
Nov 8, 2010 at 3:26 PM
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