Instrument panel acting up

[moviestar]

So my gauges have decided to start acting up. Speedo will work for a while....10-20 minutes. then will go all over the range from 0-110, finally resting at 0. Sometimes the fuel gauge will hit down to E even though it has gas. I recently replaced an o2 sensor, but thats all i did. What could be the problem? Fuses?


Checked fuses. They look ok.

Any other ideas?

[Buurin]

Looks to me some wires are going bad. You'll need some troubleshooting and frequent probing at back of gauge. I recommend until you get this solved to remove the black gauge bezel and leave it off until you get this fixed.

To rule out power issues, do you see the CEL or brake light flickering during bulb check with handbrake up?

Speedo jumping means it's picking up spurious pulses or losing pulses. Fuel gauge going E means it sensed increased resistance (or an open). So you'll need to check for possible opens in a few wires.

First some terminology to make my explanation easier. The gauge has 4 plugs on the back. Brown is A, white is B, blue is C, gray is D. Pin 1 is leftmost pin looking at plug side - or maybe even stamped right on the plug. I'll say C1 is the pin 1 of plug C for example.

Speedo input is C10. Fuel gauge sender is D9. D2 is key "ON" power. Ground is B15.

Fuel gauge wires end up with the black plug with two big terminals by the driver's door kick panel. Match wire color and probe for open. Try wiggle them some or point a hairdryer somewhere close , seeing the problem doesn't show up until after 10-20 mins of driving.

The other end of speedo wires is at IG2, the blue plug with teensy pins. To get at it you need to pull of the lower console bezel around storage cubby/box and cup holder, then remove the cubby/box itself. Yeah it's a lot of work. Again match wire color on both ends and probe the male end.

Good luck. I know you'll need it.

[moviestar]

Originally Posted by Buurin

Looks to me some wires are going bad. You'll need some troubleshooting and frequent probing at back of gauge. I recommend until you get this solved to remove the black gauge bezel and leave it off until you get this fixed.

To rule out power issues, do you see the CEL or brake light flickering during bulb check with handbrake up?

Speedo jumping means it's picking up spurious pulses or losing pulses. Fuel gauge going E means it sensed increased resistance (or an open). So you'll need to check for possible opens in a few wires.

First some terminology to make my explanation easier. The gauge has 4 plugs on the back. Brown is A, white is B, blue is C, gray is D. Pin 1 is leftmost pin looking at plug side - or maybe even stamped right on the plug. I'll say C1 is the pin 1 of plug C for example.

Speedo input is C10. Fuel gauge sender is D9. D2 is key "ON" power. Ground is B15.

Fuel gauge wires end up with the black plug with two big terminals by the driver's door kick panel. Match wire color and probe for open. Try wiggle them some or point a hairdryer somewhere close , seeing the problem doesn't show up until after 10-20 mins of driving.

The other end of speedo wires is at IG2, the blue plug with teensy pins. To get at it you need to pull of the lower console bezel around storage cubby/box and cup holder, then remove the cubby/box itself. Yeah it's a lot of work. Again match wire color on both ends and probe the male end.

Good luck. I know you'll need it.

that just blew my mind. i reset the plug in the back and it lasts a little longer now...but still eventually dies out. Ill take a look at teh wires you recommended...but if you wouldnt mind can you put up a diagram? based on your knowledge at least so i can just see something for reference. doesnt have to have everything just the ones you mentioned...


Haynes manual doesnt have shit

[blb]

Originally Posted by moviestar

So my gauges have decided to start acting up. Speedo will work for a while....10-20 minutes. then will go all over the range from 0-110, finally resting at 0. Sometimes the fuel gauge will hit down to E even though it has gas. I recently replaced an o2 sensor, but thats all i did. What could be the problem? Fuses?


Checked fuses. They look ok.

Any other ideas?

I'm betting you have a bad trace or two on the back of the instrument cluster. If you could swap in a known good cluster and try it out, it may speed up the diagnostic process.

[Buurin]

^ Agreed. I should have had you check the back of the cluster itself first. Much easier and you can do it on a table indoors.

[moviestar]

Originally Posted by blb

I'm betting you have a bad trace or two on the back of the instrument cluster. If you could swap in a known good cluster and try it out, it may speed up the diagnostic process.

what would this look like? I have the stock cluster that game with my car but it doesn't have a tach.


I haven't had any problems this week so far.

edit: im using a 98 LE cluster w/ tach in my car. Incase you were wondering

[Buurin]

Originally Posted by moviestar

what would this look like? I have the stock cluster that game with my car but it doesn't have a tach.


I haven't had any problems this week so far.

edit: im using a 98 LE cluster w/ tach in my car. Incase you were wondering

Look for cuts on the circuit film or oxidation on the contact fingers that mate with the plugs. You could take a swab, dab some lemon juice/vinegar/isopropyl alcohol and wipe down the fingers.

[moviestar]

Originally Posted by Buurin

Look for cuts on the circuit film or oxidation on the contact fingers that mate with the plugs. You could take a swab, dab some lemon juice/vinegar/isopropyl alcohol and wipe down the fingers.

will check it out tomorrow.dash fucked up last night.

thanks for the advice

[moviestar]

Buurin you;re teh shit yo.....i resoldered the entire wiring harness 1 by 1. stacked em back in their slots while their still hot so they are in place for good. no problems thus far. even took it up to the drag strip (still running high 15s at altitude)


thanks for suggesting it

[Buurin]

Originally Posted by moviestar

i resoldered the entire wiring harness 1 by 1. stacked em back in their slots while their still hot so they are in place for good.

You went much farther than I had thought!

Congrats still for having taken care of the problem.

[moviestar]

Originally Posted by Buurin

You went much farther than I had thought!

Congrats still for having taken care of the problem.

meh it worked. I soldered the ones in the back of the cluster only. some of them were falling out so it needed to be done. was a pain in the ass. so far so good though.

[moviestar]

so it started acting up again....and this time its wierd electrical stuff all over the car. the front doors, when opened, dont trigger the sensor and wont turn the light on. but the backdoors will turn the dome light on. hrmmm soo do you think it is just a bad cluster? or could the cluster relay be bad?

[Buurin]

Originally Posted by moviestar

so it started acting up again....and this time its wierd electrical stuff all over the car. the front doors, when opened, dont trigger the sensor and wont turn the light on. but the backdoors will turn the dome light on. hrmmm soo do you think it is just a bad cluster? or could the cluster relay be bad?

The gauge didn't cause this problem. It could be the little blue or brown "integration relay" on the back of the coin drawer fuse panel. Or more wiring woes.

[moviestar]

Originally Posted by Buurin

The gauge didn't cause this problem. It could be the little blue or brown "integration relay" on the back of the coin drawer fuse panel. Or more wiring woes.

Going with the o2 sensor fuckin up my ECU. got a 0420 code again today. Taking it back to the shop who replaced my engine and seeing if the warranty will cover this....My car was having accleration problems after the speedo died


edit: well i fixed the check engine light by myself because i didnt want to pay them 300 dollars, check engine went away and the acceleration is back to what it should be...grandma fast...havent had any problems with the speedo in a while either....it turned out my pcv valve was bad, causing my acceleration to be all funky monkey.