Hello everyone,
Wanted to see what people thought of this electrical problem I'm having in my gauge cluster.

For one I know I need to replace my headlight switch / dimmer because some positions will cause dash lights to turn off completely, I'm fairly sure it's just an old dimmer causing that.

But the problem I'm posting about that I believe is unrelated, if I turn on my turn singals, the gas gauge and other gaguges will bounce, with the turn singal lol.

Does this sound like a short in the cluster itself, or would it be somewhere else? Would I need to replace the entire cluster, or can I get just the circuit board somewhere and replace only that?

 

I would pull the cluster and clean the contacts. Sounds like you may have a ground issue. That would be a good place to start, and its free

 

Good call BradsRS. Definitely look at ground connections to the cluster.

 

i agree with the guys above me, seems like you may have a bad ground.. but i would also change out the turn signal when you do that bc you may be chasing ghosts..

 

actualy the two may be related from whats stated above about grounds (im assuming the gauge lights use the same grounds as the gauges themselves) your gauge lights aren't getting enough ground connection in the higher voltage areas of the dimmer and causing the lights to go out so cleaning the connections may fix both problems

 

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. Where are the ground contacts located? Are these one of the contacts on the bottom of the cluster that slides over the contacts in the dash whenever you push the cluster in?

I've replaced all the bulbs in the cluster before, and I noticed when I did noticed that there were some scratches in the plastic around these contacts. Could that have something to do with it?

Also for the dimmer switch, I was looking at replacing it, I'm guessing this is the part I would need?

http://www.1aauto.com/1A/HeadlightSw...22/273217/1986

That picture doens't show the rod and **** so guessing I just use my current one for that, but I wouldn't mind replacing the **** as well as mine is pretty faded.

One other electrical question while I'm here, although I may need to start a new thread. Would it be possible for me to replace the cigarette lighter in the car with an accessory port? I know the cigarette lighter can provide power just like an accessory port but would be really nice to replace it and have some sort of snap cover over it or something to hide it.

 

just coat all the conacts with contact cleaner like crazy and wait 30min for it all to dry im not sure about the switch for i have a bird and they have different ones

 

Sorry, forgot this thread. The switch in the link is the headlight switch. You can replace the rod and **** with that from any 3rd gen Camaro. the ground contacts are among those that the unit slides onto when you install it. It was a poor design but GM got away with it for decades. Inspect the cluster side, where the conacts are printed on the vinyl sheet, for any darkened areas or other signs of damage. Be sure that all contacts align when installed. Check the metal terminals on the dash side for alignment and tension. Carefully retension any that may not make good contact.