I recently acquired an 89 IROCZ from a friend, and theres a few problems. First off, 3 guages dont work, the fuel, temperature and voltmeter. Im really a bit lost on that one, do I need to replace the instrument panel? ive changed out the fuses. Second is a headlight issue, I have bright lights, but when I switch them to dim, they all go out, no lights at all. The dimmer switch went out on me recently also(no clicking when you pull back), but the lights had this problem before it went bad. Thats about it, theres some other problems im working on, window motor, trunk motor/relay, but those are just replacements I think. Thanks for any help/ideas!

 

still nothing.

 

I'm new to this whole gauge thing...but I've been doing a lot of reading. Check the printed circuit board on the back of the gauge cluster for breaks in the circuit or signs of a short. You'll have to pull the gauge cluster. It's kind of a pain in the ***. Here's some quick instructions on how:

*remove your hush panel from the driver side under your dash

*remove the plate just under the steering column (7mm screws)

*remove the 2 13MM nuts from your steering column and lower the column down slightly

*remove the black face from the speedo (torx head screws)

*look inside the housings for the idiots lights, you'll see 2 10mm nuts one on each side, remove these with a deep well socket

*after removing the 10mm nuts grab onto the cluster and pull it out gently from the right side this will unplug the cluster from behind the tach but the speedo cable will hold it in on the left, reach in behind the cluster with your right hand while your pulling the cluster to it's outward limits with your left, then feel for the cable connector where the cable meets the cluster, there will be a piece of spring steel that goes around the base of the connector, put your finger on this clip and push it down against the cluster, this will release the cable and then the cluster will be free to remove.....


I just swapped speedometers, and am having electrical problems of my own now (no gauge lights). Check my post above

Hope this helps.

-AJ

 

pulled the instrument panel, on the printed circuit, looks like at the bottom, the guy before me didnt take out the screws and they ate through the bottom a bit. On one of the plug portions of the circuit, the connectors are flapping around, not attached to the circuit well at all. Which would be my best bet though, try to get a new one from chevy, or maybe yank one from a junkyard?

 

Actually, you have three options here. The first, and cheapest, is to search local junkyards for clusters. They may have the one you are looking for. The second is to go to online catalogs and search for Dash Printed Circuit Overlays, I think they are called, and get one for your cluster. Those run around $90 at the top, depending on the model of the car and the year it was produced. Or the third option is to buy a new dash or whatver from GM. Can anyone say "Hand over the limbs, please?"

 

as far as the headlights work on brights but not on dims it's most likely the bright light switch on the column that as gone bad replace that and the headlights should work fine