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dash gauges.

957 views 10 replies 0 participants last post by  NitrouSS Nick 
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#1 ·
I've asked you guys this before, but a solution still eludes me, and a shop that has been fixing electrical gremlins for members of my family for years, its all they do. My gas gauge constantly reads full, and the float is not stuck. My temp gauge constantly reads all the way over to the right, even when the car has sat all night in the blistering cold driveway. My oil pressure gauge never moves. All the other B bodies I've driven have oil pressure gauges that move up and down with engine RPM's, mine is stationary, even if the engine is off and the ignition is in the on position. To top it off, the only idiot light that works is the fasten seatbelts light, the rest of them all never light up, even the ones that are supposed to when you start the car like the check engine ABS, airbag, the brake light that supposed to go when I set the parking brake. My cooling fans, both electric never shut off, I realize the secondary one only is supposed to come on if the engine is very hot or I have the A/C on, but they both turn on and never shut off. I start the engine, a few seconds later, the primary fan comes on, a few seconds after that, the secondary fan comes on. I can't figure it out. I also seem to have a disconnected rear defrost switch, nothing happens when I hit it, it doesn't light up, the window stays foggy and the mirrors stay icy.

If anybody has any insights on this at all, please let me know. I tried unhooking the fuel gauge sender too, to see if the gauge would move to empty, but it didn't, so I'm almost positive the problem lies somewhere in the dashboard.
 
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#3 ·
This one sounds like a classic grounding problem. I don't have the FSM wth me here at work (SHHHH), but you should look at the wiring diagrams, focusing on the ground distribution diagram and check every ground that you can. If I remember right, just about everything on the dash (as well as the fan controls) grounds through the PCM. Maybe you have a bad PCM ground or damaged wire.

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Gene, 96 DGGM
 
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#5 ·
I've checked every fuse, its a 95, it isn't an SS, its a 9C1 with the LT1, so its almost an SS. I was fishing around with all the wires under the dashboard today, and I found one clip with 2 wires in it, not connected to anything. I really wish I knew what it was supposed to be connected to, maybe it would fix my problem. I forgot to add, the voltage gauge works just fine, along the digital stuff. I think on sunday, or saturday afternoon, depending on if I can get a shift at work or not, I'm going to take my dash apart and look for anything that seems funny. I was worried about that Aux battery post connection, but I found out mine is already brass, so I don't think its causing any of my electrical gremlins.
 
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#6 ·
Mike, if the 2-wire connector under the dash is near the top of the pedals I don't think that is connected to anything. As I recall all 3 of my cars have the same thing. Like Gene said, check your grounds, including the engine and chassis grounds underhood. BTW, 9C1's oil gauges are the only ones that read properly (due to the sender). Also, only power mirrors are heated (optional on 9C1). The rear defrost has a relay and fuse in the panel to left of the dash, check them and the wiring. If both of your fans come on right away you may have a trouble code, this is a pcm response to a problem. You have many problems at the same time so it seems likely that they are related. Good luck.
 
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#7 ·
Well, I fixed it, I can't believe it, but I at age 18 managed to outsmart about 8 electrical specialists who all told me I was going to need a new dash cluster for what they thought would run me about 600 to 700 dollars after they got the mileage set.

Heres what I did, I went to the trunk, looked at all the wires in there, they all looked good to me, nothing broken frayed or disconnected. I went into the trim panels in the car near the rear window, yoinked them out, the wires to defrost were connected just fine. Put the trim back, dissasembled the dashboard completely. took out the metal stuff under the steering collum, one piece looked like a shield, one piece looked like a rounded thing to connect it to. Took out the cluster, realized theres no wires on the back of it, put it back in, fished around for wires while my dad sat in the passenger seat seeing if there was any more dashboard he could remove. Found nothing loose so I put the dash back together, completely and fully. Went to the fuse panel, pulled out every fuse again, checked every one, put them all back, one by one, none were blown. I decided at this point that since the labels on the fuses are pathetic at best, and the owners manual doesn't exactly tell the truth about them all, to reconnect the battery, and start the car, and pull out every fuse I could while everything I have in the car was running, to see just what they do. As I shoved fuse #22 back in, the cluster blinked to life and died again, so I went on with the rest of the fuses, then I decided to try wiggling the fuse panel, finally after lots of wiggling the cluster came to life again, all the gauges went to good looking readings and the check engine and airbag and change oil lights stayed on. I figured maybe I had to reset them, so I shut the engine off, and restarted. All the idiot lights blinked just like they should, and they all went out, except the change oil and brake light, but I had the parking brake set. I looked up in behind the panel and pushed every wire tight up against the panel, figuring maybe one of them was loose, must have been cause everything is still working. I decided to try my luck and I hit the defrost button, it lit up, and the rear window got less foggy, and the mirrors deiced (I do have power mirrors). I said holy crap, I think I just fixed my car, and continued checking everything thoroughly. Then I remembered how the guys on the forum and the owners manual had both said, with the engine off, and the ignition on, to floor it 3 times rapidly while the cluster was going through its power up cycle, so I did that, the change oil light blinked and went out, along with the rest of the lights. I now have a working gas gauge, oil pressure, temp and voltage, and working idiot lights.

[This message has been edited by Mike454SS (edited December 23, 2000).]
 
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#11 ·
lol,lol,lol
. I hear you bro. All in good time tho.

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94 Gold 9C1/CAI,airfoil,
T/B bypass,March pullies MSD,LT4 K/M,Ed Wright PCM,2500 Pro Torque conv.,4.10s`,cat delete,H-pipe,2 chamber flomasters w/factory resonators,Holley 255lph intank 275/60-15 all around,D/R on back,Buick brace,Bonnie seats.13.97@97
 
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