I hate to post problems as soon as I join a forum, but I figure... a lot of people probably do this! I searched around a bit but didn't find a solid answer for my question.. so here it is.


When I dim or brighten my dash lights, it throws all of my gauges off! My tach won't work, my speedo will but that's it. I just feel like maybe I have a ground issue but I just can't find it.

Any suggestions?

 

im having the same problems with my 87 iroc-z?? any help would be greatfull

 

anybody??

 

You might be on the right track with the ground issue. I would start going through all of wiring looking for shorts, and of course check all grounds.

 

Head light switch?

JamesC

 

its not the headlight switch i just replaced mine and it was a bit of a bi... and it still does the same thing??

 

I'm betting this is on a Camaro. And that the cluster works normally with the dash lights off - even though the headlights are on.
The cause is that some of the PC traces on the back of the instrument cluster have broken and are not carrying any current.
You'll have to remove the cluster, check all the traces and find a way to run a jumper across the break(s).
I had pictures of the repairs I did many years ago, but they are long gone...

 

This is indeed, a Camaro. Thank you for the information. I will tackle it tomorrow and hopefully have some sort of results. Good or bad. :-x

 

Speedo still works cause it's mechanical.
I would go with a ground or like Petes 84Z28 said, one of the "wires" on the back of the cluster.

 

Pulled the cluster, no broken traces. No crappy looking wires, gonna replace em all anyways. Will take pictures if my camera cooperates.

 

I don't know what the cluster grounds too. It may be a mounting screw or two, pretty sure it's not though.
That would be my next guess.
Does the plug connect well?
Are the connections clean?

 

Connections look perfect, so I'm going to splice and dice, throw some good wires on there with good connections (Aka SOLDER) and tape em up. If that fixes it, I'll write a tutorial with pictures to fix this problem. (As I like to do when I'm taking on a project, haha)

 

I could be wrong, but some of those "wires" should be grounds for the guage, don't know if they all go to one or not, I would think so.
You should be able to use a multimeter to see if the harness is grounding.
Put one side in the harness ground, then the other on something metal, should have continuity. (beep setting, should beep, if not it's not grounding)

 

Thanks, I will use the multimeter today.


I didn't see any 'going into one' - but we'll see what I find out. I'll be back!

 

any luck??

 

Much. I got annoyed, went crazy on the dash punched the hell out of it and it works fine now.

 

Interesting approach to auto repair.

JamesC

 

really? what u punch the speedo? lol

 

Well...I happened across my old cluster and took a pic or six. Check the copper traces inside the two red circles; this is the ground trace for some of the lighting and gauges. The green bulb holder in the center of the image is the right turn indicator.
The black wire is a repair for the fuel sender.